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Surprised Tiger is in the Hunt? – Not Me!

doug — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 14:09:26 +0000

Maybe it’s the curse of getting older, I’m not really sure, but not a whole heck of a lot seems to surprise me. So to see Tiger Woods 2 back at the Masters going into the weekend doesn’t really surprise me.

Why doesn’t it surprise me? because you just don’t lose talent like Tiger has. Sure there is going to be some rust but Tiger has been working with Hank Haney prior to the Master’s and working hard to get the machine working optimally again.

So he has been working on his game and he still looks like an NFL strong safety so it appears he has been hitting the gym hard, too.

Even Rory Sabbantini mentioned this prior to the Master’s tournament about Tiger:

“We all know Tiger is a great player,” Sabbatini said. “I don’t think anybody is going to be disappointed in his performance. I think he’ll come back out and play well. We all know you don’t just have a talent like that and it disappears. It’s going to be there, it’s going to return. He’s going to be playing well. It’s going to be interesting to see how his mental game is and how his head is in regards to keeping his focus.”

More importantly, he appears to be becoming more psychically whole. Recently I wrote about this in the article, Tiger Woods and and a New Kind of Power.

It’s fun to think now what Tiger might do in the future now that he is (appearing to anyway) becoming a more integrated, powerful person. A person no longer living lies, or warping the truth to himself. A Tiger who is now free.

After all, It takes ENERGY to keep all those lies and deception in check and now that (again, hopefully) that is being released we could be seeing hints of what this could do to his game. A pretty scary thought.

What is surprising is his mental focus and concentration. It would be an easy excuse I guess for anyone but Tiger. Then again, what can Tiger really control? He can only control his golf game – not the media, not the tabloids, not the fans.

I suspect Tiger playing golf again must feel really great to him. In his own element, having fun, creating 205 yard draws around trees, making clutch putts – free (maybe for the 1st time in a long, long while), in mind, body and spirit – just playing golf.

Shame On Golf Journalists in Augusta

John — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 23:24:48 +0000

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that 33 out of 35 minutes of Tiger’s press conference in Augusta today was about his personal life and not about golf. Afterall, this is the country where Pamela Anderson is more watched than Steve Jobs or Warren Buffet.

I had high hopes that handpicked golf reporters would keep the personal questions to a minimum and focus on golf. I mean, this is the return of the era’s greatest golfer after a layoff of 4 months. I can think of million questions I would like to have Tiger answer about his game, getting ready, preparing for competition and what comes next after the Masters. Based on the press conference I don’t really know anymore about any of that than I did yesterday.

I did see a few interesting things during the event. Yes, Tiger is a more humble person. You also got the feeling you were seeing Tiger the person and not Tiger the corporation. Like Anthony Kim, Tiger says he’s much more aware of how blessed he has been to be a professional golfer and how important we, the fans, are to the game in general and to him in particular. Don’t discount what that same attitude has done for Kim. He was a joy to watch in Houston last week.

He said more than once that winning is not the most important thing now. Rather, it’s how he can use golf to better the common good. The cynics will say it’s just good marketing, but I got the sense he was speaking from some new place that he’s found. Through therapy, he really appears to have stripped away some of the shallow layers of his psyche crafted by fame and fortune.

I don’t expect Tiger to win at Augusta, but as always you risk being made to look foolish if you bet against him. I do expect to see him amaze us during the course of the season.

Values and Golf

doug — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:06:43 +0000

I was just reading this piece on the Golf Channel site on how Tom Watson expressed his concern about how Tiger’s off-the-course behavior is affecting the game:

“It’s bad for our game,” Watson said of the Woods’ sex scandal in an interview with KSHB-TV, a Kansas City NBC affiliate. “It’s something he needs to get control of and a handle on and make some amends and show some humility to the public when he comes back.”

Watson said some of Woods’ questionable behavior on the course can’t be ignored, either.

“His swearing and his club throwing, that should end,” Watson said. “That’s not part of what we want to project as far as the professional golf tour is concerned.”

I love listening to guys like Trevino, Watson, Nicklaus, Palmer, Player and others of this generation talk about values and golf – maybe because they remind me of my father. They tend to be very black and white, resolute and, by golly, KNOW the difference between right and wrong.

And, I’m not saying they’re perfect at all, but as far as I can see, have practiced living these values in a commendable way.

After all, they are keepers of the golf’s values and traditions and they are serious and steadfast about defending these values. I find it very refreshing. I wish there were more players who were steeped in values that are not only good for the game but good for families and good for society.

Values like honesty, integrity, responsibility, and professionalism. What did we do, forget about these? Maybe – but I know one thing – if you don’t practice them, you won’t live them either. Guys like Watson live these principles because they’re bigger than themselves – they are guideposts on how to live a principle-centered life

So much of this seems lost nowadays. It’s just a different culture. There are a lot more single parents today and often, can’t (or won’t) spend the time instilling these values.

And Tiger had a father who came from the military and had good values – although there is questionable information on how he conducted his relationships.

So what happened? Tiger made some poor decisions in moments he could have practiced integrity and doing the right thing – for his reputation and his family. He had that choice.

You might say “Who cares what Nicklaus or Watson or Trevino or Palmer have to say about the modern game” well, I would listen to these guys over *most* any of today’s modern players, why? because they know what they’re talking about.

Pro Golf Takes, But Does It Give Enough?

John — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:31:43 +0000

Who can question the taking, with record professional purses and at least one golf superstar earning in excess of $100 million a year. To put that in perspective, that’s the amount that the U.S. government has pledged for Haiti relief, a country were it is estimated 200,000 people may have lost their lives in an earthquake and its aftermath.

And what do we, the public who ultimately funds the PGA Tour and professional sports in general, get out of these businesses that throw off fantastic wealth for a few? For one, the privilege to watch professional sports on TV. Is that about it? How about insight into the lives of the golfing heroes we strive to emulate in vain on the course. How about some honesty into who they are, what they really think about the game, their fellow competitors and themselves.

Unfortunately Tiger is the poster child now for a sport that seems bereft of soul. Professional golf is now too often a sport where players with cookie cutter personalities have all gotten the message to keep individual thoughts to themselves. Don’t let the occasional aberration, like John Daly fool you. 99% of today’s tour players are on message all the time.

In Tiger’s case, his pre and post game interviews could have been written by Bill Belichick and reviewed by an IMG attorney. Add them all up and what do you know about Tiger and how he really sees the sport and his role. The unsatisfying answer is – NADA.

If you believe the stories that pop up in local papers these days, then Tiger’s fellow competitors didn’t really know him either. Apparently in pro golf it’s easy to be the reigning star of the decade and have almost no contact with any other competitor except on the course, and we know how much talking goes on there. If players have to learn to keep their emotions in check when they play, is it a surprise that they become disciplined talking robots for the public when they’re in front of reporters?

But let’s not get down on the individuals players, afterall they have been bred for their roles from an early age. The message is just play golf and blend in and you too can live a life that 99.99% of the world can only dream about. If I had the talent to be offered that deal, I doubt I’d turn it down either.

My question is how did it get this way. If you’re like me, you spend too much time seeing what’s wrong with the modern world, trying desperately to convince yourself that it’s your thinking that is out of whack, not the reality of what you see. I still can’t rationalize that a pro golfer can make more in a year than the government of this country is willing to give to a nation that has been virtually destroyed by a natural disaster. I don’t care how good the golfer is, it’s not right just like Wall Street 2009 bonuses aren’t right.

Maybe it’s time for the millions of us who ultimately fund the fiascos we call modern professional sports to start demanding more, demanding that the recipients of our largesse show us who they really are. Maybe the coach of one of the best football teams of the decade owes us more than one sentence answers that are completely devoid of anything insightful or real.

How do we let these people get away with double talk that would have made Satch Mahoney of the Bowery Boys proud. And how is the best golfer in the world able to keep a trunk full of secrets from everyone as his corporation deftly picks our pockets. Maybe it’s time for us – the spectators who supposedly drive the train - to demand some real and in-depth answers from modern sports royalty. Maybe it’s time for us to put some mouth with our money is!

Tiger’s Priorities and The Future of Golf

John — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:15:20 +0000

As everyone knows by now, Tiger has stopped playing competitive golf concentrating instead on being a husband and a father. No one but Tiger, Elin, and maybe his business manager, know what that really means so let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and take it at face value.

Because ‘golf’ has dominated his life, he will have to mothball it if he is really committed to rebuilding his personal relationships. In the process, something else may become the driving force in his life other than golf, like his wife and family.

What will it all mean to professional golf? Looking back at David Duval’s career may give us some insight. In 1999 he was number 1 in the world for awhile. A couple of years and a few injuries later he had almost disappeared.

David himself would later share some of the emotional and mental challenges he faced during this period as he tried to rebuild his life around something other than golf.

As a result he prospered and grew as a husband and father, but his golf game suffered considerably. It’s easy to conclude that as he rearranged his life’s priorities golf moved down the list significantly.

If Tiger really decides to remake his life, and Elin let’s him, then golf will no longer be his muse. Tiger will end up putting some things higher on his ‘To Do’ list than beating Jack’s record in the majors. That doesn’t mean he won’t do it.

Nobody knows how the future will unfold. Perhaps his focus on winning was becoming too intense. Like the Zen archer, he may get better when he learns to not care after he releases the arrow. If Tiger is our model, then to win at the highest levels of professional golf over a period of decades you have to remake your game many times. Maybe you have to redo your priorities as well!

Tiger – Forgive or Condemn?

John — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:17:41 +0000

Since I wrote about Tigergate’s effect on golf, opinions have varied widely from forgiveness to condemnation. Should he be condemned for not living up to his image, or is he just a golfer who should only be judged by his on-course performance?

Remember when Charles Barkley was attacked for not being a role model and his response was he never signed up to be one, he was just doing a job where he could make millions.

Just making a lot of money doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be a role model. We’ve come to expect that many athletes making the big bucks are also out of step with the average Joe or Jane when it comes to off-field/ballpark/court behavior.

There have been so many transgressors that no one really expects them to be role models anymore, except for golf and that may be changing. If it does, it won’t be good for the game.

Golf in the early to mid 19th century had it’s share of characters. But after WWII that all changed with players like Nelson and Hogan taking center stage. By the late 60′s and early 70′s Palmer, Nicklaus and Player were the role models, and they were just golfers. They weren’t corporations.

They didn’t enter our homes selling us products and services for the best known and most respected brands. They also didn’t come to tournaments with an entourage. Jack Nicklaus has stated numerous times that he never had any kind of coach at a tournament.

Now players come with swing, putting, short game, mental and conditioning coaches. Ah, the good old days when players went head to head and not team to team. (Jim Furyk, I’m loving you now, babe.)

My point is that many of the leading golfers are not just golfers anymore, they are brands. Tiger’s success, commitment to perfection and dedication to being the best have been acquired by the likes of Accenture, AT&T, Nike, Gatorade and American Express to name a few. We are sold their products as if they are the ’Tigers’ of their markets. Why would you go to the Paul Casey of consulting when you can have Tiger (Accenture)?

What do we know about Tiger the human – almost next to nothing. His contact with the real world is managed to the last atom. If you’re the media you interface with Tiger the way his handlers tell you or you don’t interface at all – two questions and you’re done. The Tiger we know is a packaged commodity, a brand just like any other corporation.

This is where he, or I should say Tiger Inc. crossed the line. Tiger has made more money from endorsements than golf and because of that he’s required to live up to a higher standard than if he was just a golfer. What would you think about GE if you found out they were trafficking in humans? Right, they’d be history and you’d have to scratch out their logo on your kitchen appliances.

Tiger the golfer will go on, but Tiger the brand is now toast and we can hold him accountable just like we would GE. If he accepts the demise of his brand, he can probably go on to break all of golf’s records, but if he insists on clinging to it he may just cut his own achilles tendon.

To save golf’s image, maybe it’s time for the pro tour to reduce purses and start the trek back to golfers being just golfers. Otherwise, it risks being just another commercialized sport taken to excess. Good marketing is about differentiation and golf’s success will be based on how different it is from other pro sports, not how much it is like them.

If the golf industry does nothing, audiences may still grow in the short term as golf goes global, but it will ultimately end up falling on its own sword. What’s made the sport so appealing for so long is it’s not like other sports. It’s always had it’s own rules and culture that have inspired the best in all of us. I hope it continues!

You, Me and Tiger’s Transgressions

John — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:18:02 +0000

When the story of Tiger’s ‘problems’ first broke, I vowed to myself I wouldn’t write about it. But I find that I can’t resist (et tu Tiger?) because there is something valuable to think about here besides the possibly lurid details that may come to light.

First, do any of us really know Tiger the human being. The answer for at least 99% of us has to be NO. What we know is Tiger Inc.

Mr. Woods has been packaged and presented to us as a corporation since he turned pro (I won’t argue if you say it began even sooner).

For those of you who were dismayed when the story first broke, relax, this isn’t about Tiger the person because he really only exists for a close circle of family and friends.

What’s really happened is betrayal of the brand. It’s like finding out that Starkist doesn’t only use the best tuna, they actually have packed Charlie and a lot of his closest friends in there.

How can I prove to you that Tiger is a corporation, because individuals can’t make a billion dollars, only corporations. Both Arnie and Jack were individuals because they played when professional golf was still a sport and not an industry. Tournament purses are obscene these days.

It’s a slap in the face of every fan that their sports heroes can make more in a season than many will in a lifetime, all for playing what is ostensibly a kids’ game while regular people, who do the heavy lifting in real life, labor in obscurity and wonder if they can retire before they die.

But what about Tiger - the human golfer in this mess? I, as many others, have believed that Tiger’s greatest strength in competitive golf was his mental toughness. How else can you explain his uncanny ability to come through time and again in the clutch. As Earl Wood’s once remarked, you’ll never meet anyone mentally tougher. How does that jibe with someone who may have cheated on his wife – and kids?

Is he not as tough as we thought or did he – gasp – do this willfully instead of just giving in to the siren of temptation? Perhaps we’d better not go there, but we can conjecture about his golfing future. If Tiger has excelled because of his own belief in his father’s words, will he now show a chink in his armor?

Could this be the fatal blow to his quest to top Jack’s records in the majors? If nothing else, thinking about this can keep us busy until Tiger decides it’s time to tee it up on Thursday sometime next year.

And, lastly, what about Golf? Have Tiger’s problems only hurt himself or will it bring down an entire sport? I know a lot of people who enjoy watching professional golf who have never played the game. I always thought a significant part of the attraction was golf’s image as squeeky clean.

Will fans continue to watch if they think it’s really being played by the same guys that play baseball, football and basketball, where too many players use too many drugs, have too many tatoos and treat too many women poorly?

Maybe we should just put it all out of our minds, put that old coffee cup on the living room carpet and focus on improving our putting strokes for next season!

Professional Golf in 2010

John — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:35:52 +0000

Looking back at this year in professional golf, can we get some insight into where it might be headed in the next couple of years. 2009 definitely had it’s challenges all around.

The global economic crash affected just about everybody everywhere and golf was no exception. While the U.S. PGA tour held it’s own, the LPGA lost sponsorship and it seems the European PGA has begun to fade along with the Dubai Championship purse.

Golf is expensive compared to a lot of leisure-time activities. I’m no economist, but I have to say it’s going to be a long time before the job market starts to grow and no jobs means no cash for things that aren’t necessities. Under those circumstances I don’t envy the new LPGA commissioner. It’s going to be a tough job to even maintain the status quo. Don’t be surprised to see the tour lose more tournaments.

I don’t think the European PGA is much better off. For better or worse they have to compete with the U.S. PGA and they are losing. They just don’t have the fan/consumer base to compete purse-wise. That means the young pros like Rory McIlroy have to play here if they want to make a name and lots of money for themselves. The solution is to incorporate both tours together, but don’t count on it happening, there are too many big egos involved.

It’s not a bed of roses for the U.S. Tour either. If not for Tiger Woods, viewership would be down and fewer viewers ultimately means shrinking purses. There are so many tournaments for so much money that we fans have become numb. Somehow the Tour has to breathe new life into tournaments and that means doing something other than waiting for ‘The Next Tiger’.

In the past, professional golf seems to have always relied upon individuals to increase the games popularity with the likes of Ouimet, Jones, Hogan, Nelson, Palmer, Nicklaus and Woods. I’m not sure adding one more name to that list will make a difference. A great rivalry like Palmer/Nicklaus or Nicklaus/Player/Trevino/Watson would help but where are the players today who can take on Tiger every tournament.

While Tiger has saved the Tour, he also may be killing it if no one can compete with him on a regular basis. I’ve heard a lot of speculation that 2010 may be Phil’s year, but I’ll have to see it to believe it. If no one does take up the long-term challenge and Tiger rides into the sunset as the undisputed best golfer with more than 18 majors, then what happens?

By then we may be sick of Tiger sinking twisting 18 footers on the 18th green to win and with our savings obliterated and our golf budget gone we may not care. The younger generation probably won’t even recognize a real golf course, the only thing they’ll know is their living room walls and the 8 foot by 6 foot digital display where they play the only golf they know. Could it be that the rules of engagement need some freshening?

Asia Has It’s Own Francis Oiumet Now

John — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:21:50 +0000

First, my hat off to Doug for a great piece on Monday called The Beauty of Tiger Losing. Read it below if you haven’t already. It says more about sports and what attracts us as players and spectators than you’ll read in 100 magazine articles.

Now to the 2009 PGA Championship. Congratulations to Y.E. Yang on a brilliant performance last Sunday at Hazeltine. His victory in a Major shows once again the magic of golf that keeps all of us fanatics coming back for more. Nobody wins all the time, including Tiger. Let’s not forget that Jack has more second place finishes than anyone. Perhaps Tiger will have that record some day as well.

Y.E. Yang’s story sounds so much like Francis Ouimet’s that it’s eerie, and it’s likely to start a love affair with golf for the middle and lower class in Asia as much as Ouimet’s did in the U.S. back in 1913. It’s not just that an Asian has won a men’s Major for the first time. It’s that a kid of humble means, takes up the game late in life (19 seems ancient compared to the stars of today who start when they’re 2), against the wishes of his parents and somehow goes on to win one of the year’s major golf championships against the world’s greatest player (Harry Vardon anyone?).

Yang is not a child of privilege. He started as a golf facility employee, fell in love with the game and somehow overcame the odds in a country that doesn’t have the golf facilities and infrastructure of the U.S. or U.K. His parents didn’t send him to the Leadbetter Academy at age 12 and Butch Harmon didn’t start coaching him in his early teens. He also didn’t cut his teeth in competition at a big U.S. University. Once again golf shows us that somehow it’s the great leveler of playing fields.

Is Tiger less the great golfer for his loss? Of course not. He’s as susceptible to the immutable rules of golf as anyone. No one, not even the greatest, win all the time. A player can only do so much and then the golf gods take over. How else do you explain lost balls in the fairway and the miraculous reemergence of those destined for 50 yards deep into the woods.

The game of golf is alive and well and so is Tiger. He was never going to win every tournament that he leads by 54 holes. Tiger’s had a lot of miraculous wins, but good bounces are always offset by bad ones. For every chip-in at Augusta there is a price to be paid. As golfers we should rejoice in our good luck and never condemn the bad bounces because they make the game what it is. This loss won’t make Tiger less competitive, it will only drive him more, as is the case with all the greats.

The Beauty of Tiger Losing

doug — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:03:28 +0000

I say this somewhat *tongue in cheek* because I mean no disrespect for Mr. Woods and his many amazing golfing accomplishments but the beauty of Tiger losing IS the beauty of sport itself.

Tiger 2 up going into the last round of a major is/was a forgone conclusion for a win. After all, he has done it every single time he has been in the lead. So why watch? We could do something else rather than watch the boob tube and then pick up the next mornings newspaper with the headlines “Tiger Captures Number 15″

But, as we all know, that did not happen. Y.E. Yang (the 110th ranked golfer in the world) stuck like crazy glue to Tiger, played some downright exceptional golf and ended up doing the “impossible” by prevailing over world number 1 Tiger Woods and winning his first major championship.

Now the beauty of sport is really the unpredictability of it. In other sports: The Patriots going 19-0 and losing in the Superbowl, The US hockey team beats the USSR in the 1980 Olympics, Boxer Buster Douglas knocks out Mike Tyson in 1990, The 1969 Miracle Mets and so many more.

In golf: Jack Fleck Beats Ben Hogan in the 1955 US Open, Jack Nicklaus wins the Masters at age 46, John Daly comes from nowhere to win the 1991 PGA Championship, Y.E. Yang beats Tiger in 2009 PGA.

Along with the unpredictability goes the hope of the regular guy beating the heroic champ. It feels “real” to us. It doesn’t always happen, like Rocco almost slaying the invincible Tiger at last years US Open or Tom Watson (2009) almost winning the British Open or Greg Norman’s quest for the same Claret Jug in 2008.

But sports gives us all the feeling at times that we (you and I) CAN do amazing things in our lives, that we can overcome adversity, that we can reveal our own greatness, that we can prevail and win. That we can do what YE Yang did. It gives us hope.

That’s why Tiger losing is a good thing. It puts sport above the individual. The “game” is bigger than all of us and we know we can never win all the time. Tiger has been proving us wrong every time. Until yesterday. When the game of golf became bigger than Tiger himself.