2006 wish list: A PGA Tour player with something to say
As we enter 2006, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that golf needs one thing more than anything else: a competent bad boy.
John Daly had the title for a while, but he’s gone way too mainstream. They could find Daly passed out naked with a brigade of hookers at the first tee of the U.S. Open this year, and everyone would laugh it off. “Oh that John, isn’t he colorful. Grip it and rip it, eh John?”
At least the LPGA has their bevy of bodacious babies to keep an eye on. But really, how controversial do you expect Michelle Wie, Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel to be? These are the corporate kids, and they will likely keep their mind on golf and selling whatever products they’re told to sell.
We do get to see Creamer in a bathing suit now and again. But in this post-Britney Spears world, it’s not like she’s breaking any new ground or anything. Mostly our best bet with the young LPGA stars is to wait until one or more of them go Jennifer Capriati on us, but that just seems morbid.
The PGA doesn’t even have the flesh factor going for it. Not that we’d want it to, mind you. Craig Stadler in a thong would likely only appeal to the seriously fetishistic.
The Europeans have guys like Darren Clarke who’s willing to say whatever comes to mind and is funny. Unfortunately, in 2005, studies have shown that 98 percent of all sentences used by U.S. PGA players included the phrase “my ‘A’ game.”
Now I’m not saying the PGA Tour needs to bring out a few tattooed ex-convicts to roam the course and occasionally beat down an official with a wedge (though that would be fantastic). What I am saying is that a little color won’t kill them.
Golf used to have guys like Sam Snead and Lee Trevino wandering around, producing great quips that showed they weren’t overly impressed with themselves.
“Columbus went around the world in 1492. That isn’t a lot of strokes when you consider the course,” Trevino is quoted as saying.
At very least, the PGA Tour needs someone like Mac O’Grady to come back. Someone anti-establishment who would have the courage and outright stupidity to use old forged Hogan irons and persimmon woods to qualify for a major tournament. Someone who gets there their own way and then spends the rest of the time flipping off the establishment.
Nowadays, either PGA golfers are produced in some farm on Amish land, or they prefer to act that way. Or everyone’s too terrified to have too much personality and risk the endorsement dollars.
Here’s hoping someone out there starts risking it. Talk religion, politics, space travel or whatever. Just stop talking about your ‘A’ game.
–WKW
| « Bribery and soul selling make Tom DeLay 2005's most important golfer | Yes, Gulf Coast golf, there is no Santa Claus » |
7 comments
I disagree with you.
1. A little color DOES kill players. Want to know why Tiger doesn't "open up"? It's because he's been burnt, and was smart enough to learn his lesson early.
Give the media an inch, and they MAKE the mile. The media reaps what it sows. They have to live with it.
2. I really don't want to know the innermost thoughts of the PGA Tour players, or any "famous" person, for that matter, on any personal, social or political issue. It makes me sick. Our society is so screwed up in its idolatry of famous people. If I see one more 45 year old man muscle a kid out of the way to get TW's autograph, I think I'll puke.
And what qualifies Barbara Streisand, Jane Fonda, or Sean Penn to speak on anything besides their latest projects to the lay press? NOTHING. They USE their reputation to further their own agenda, with little to no credibility to support it. Yet the masses eat it up, and the media is there to report it.
Famous people should just shut the hell up, and speak only about what they are qualified to discuss.
It's like I could actually see you getting worked up in that comment. ;)
I do understand you're point. I'm really not looking for Phil Mickelson to sit down and outline his political philosophies and why we all should follow them.
But it would be fantastic if someone out there had a personality greater than "GOLFER."
It's why Daly's popularity continues unabated. He is more than a golfer, he's a person. And an interesting one at that. Other players have had more success than Daly, but he far exceeds them in popularity. Fans like to see the person behind the player.
Really the main gripe for me is that I KNOW there are plenty of interesting guys on the PGA Tour. More than anything, with such massive corporate involvement, I really think players go out of their way to keep their personalities as benign as possible.
Plus, the PC police put a lot of guys out. Ask Vijay Singh.
And Steven, I agree. We need a Happy Gilmore. I would not be against seeing Adam Sandler or Bill Murray get honorary tour cards. Ok, maybe I would be against it, but it's nice to think about.
--WKW
I'm rambling, but the point is that the players do sometimes show some personality out on the course, but it is rarely ever captured. Anybody who's ever attended a Tour event or Major usually has a story or two about what they saw a player do or say. Maybe they could experiment with miking the caddies or the bags.
Comments are closed for this post.


Recent comments