While sitting here eating lunch by myself, I happened to turn on the tv and the Golf Channel was up. There was breaking news. It seems Tiger Woods had back surgery and will not participate in the upcoming Master Tournament in Augusta next week. The talking heads at the Golf Channel were wringing their hands and wailing their grief that Woods wont be participating this year. To them, apparently, any non-participation by Woods is tragic. They fear that golf as a sport (and a cash cow for them) will dry up and disappear if they have to actually go out and write and report about events in golf that are happening without a Woods victory or participation. Then there is the matter of the elusive record of Major championships currently held by Jack Nicklaus. Nicklaus has won eighteen major championships over a period of twenty-five years, and he also has seventy-three victories on the PGA tour. You see, everyone in the golf media has assumed that it is only a formality and a matter of time until Woods will eclipse Nicklaus record. They have endlessly reported on this projected feat. It just HAS to be thus. Everyone who is anyone in golf knows it. Well hold on a minute, Sparky. While it is certainly possible, there remains a formality or two. You see, no matter what is projected by reporters and personalities (who probably should know better), there is still the game and the tournaments to be played. No one gives you the trophy until youve won the tournament. Woods is 0 in major wins in his last 23 attempts. Records, you see, dont read the papers, nor do they give themselves up easily. What Woods has done, which has perhaps inadvertently added to his travails, is to bring the idea and reality of the benefits of physical fitness to professional golf. More and more golfers are athletes in a very true sense. Slowly, the playing field has become a little more levelled. Inevitably, more and more pros are beating him and demonstrating to others that it can be done. The mental mojo is not what it once was. His swing, perhaps one of the best in the games history, is, nonetheless, a fast and violent action. This has resulted in physical ailments and injuries and they have taken their toll. In the end though, sympathy and handwringing are wasted on Woods. He will be alright if he never plays another round of golf. He is a bazillionaire and a celebrity and will never have to buy the drinks at the bar. Who we ought to feel a little sorry for are those smug, lazy, sorry excuses for reporters who persist in acting as if no accomplishment in mens golf is important or newsworthy unless and until it involves Woods. What is hurting golf as a sport now is not the fact that Woods isnt winning every tourney he enters, its that golf is pricing itself out of the range of those everyday folks (and youngsters) who would play if they could afford the equipment and the green or membership fees. What will hurt golf in the future is the certain future restriction on the amount of water that can be used to provide those lush, green private playgrounds. You golf writers and reporters...grow up, get off your ass and go find the stories that are out there. Stop with the hero worship. Its misplaced. The game isnt about the same guy winning every outing. Go discover that and write about it...
Posted on: Tue, 01 Apr 2014 18:31:56 +0000
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