Tour Talk - Golf Podcast

Prodigies are often given high expectations but only a few times in a lifetime do prodigies easily exceed expectations in as spectacular fashion as Tiger Woods has.

John Daly is the cool guy at your country club, who is everyone's friend, that is always modest, funny, and shoots 65 while cracking jokes.

Mini golf purists are losing their minds over modern golf course is being negated by golfers bulking up in playing the long ball but, those that have been around for a while like myself recognize that the long ball was introduced not with the emergence on tour of Bryson DeChambeau but with Tiger Woods in 1997.

Brooks Koepka and Brandel Chamblee are complete opposites and their clashing personalities fueled the most recent conflict that continues to rage. Many love Brooks Koepka because of his social media attention getting antics that provide headlines and a bunch of good-natured laughs, such as his decision to do the ESPN Body Issue. Brandel Chamblee has his fans, but can get prickly if pressed. The PGA Tour has many personalities and the intersection of these headstrong individuals makes for some clashes that are very interesting to see unfold.

Tom watson had one of the most epic an impressive careers in the history of golf. Many lists have him about 10th of all time and I would give him a placement right about that but his dominance in the late 70s and early 80s should not be forgotten. He's one of the best links players of all time and demonstrates an ability to play wind golf with bump-and-runs and wind-specific shots search that he was able to play second in nearly best stewart cink at 59 years of age.

Being a modest mid-westerner, however, he took it all in stride and despite still having a natural reaction in it “ripping his guts out,” as it would for anyone and it did for the golfing world, he can use it as a teaching tool for other golfers to be able to embrace bad bounces and poor breaks and still roll with the punches.

The way that Rory McIlroy and Caroline Wozniacki relationship imploded typifies how a savvy public relations team can diffuse the tension with the situation deftly. Rory was able to emerge relatively unscathed, despite some blistering press from Caroline, and he spent time at subsequent events speaking openly on the dissolution of the relationship. Caroline largely stonewalled questions until later, at which time there still lingers questions that reporters at all advance want to sneak in to press conference, despite a hard-line no-Rory policy instituted by her people.

Being a good golf commentator and being controversial doesn't have to be mutually exclusive. If you watch golf in the last 20 years you know that Johnny Miller was a golf commentator force to be reckoned with. While others bristled over his straight talk, I felt that he I said what needed to be said and represented a personality like David Feherty, Gary McCord, and Roger Maltbie, whose personalities were fun, relaxed, and knowledgeable.
From what I understand many of the players bristled at speaking with him before around because they didn't know if they would say something that would end up on the telecast that may get them in trouble. So many of The PGA Tour players have PR People who manage their image and to have real people in the booth that cut through all of this phoniness in favor of some real talk is a breath of fresh air that should not be stifled. This is entertainment after all and we're trying to get to know these personalities and appreciate their determination to achieve at the highest level there chosen craft.

Tiger Woods is the greatest ever to play golf.

Top 5 Tiger Woods Major Championships
Major champions 15, Jack has 18
108 pro wins, 81 on the PGA tour, one behind Sam Snead?
All time greatest? An Emphatic Yes

2005 Open Championship (5)
Wire to Wire over Colin Montgomery, who never won a major on the PGA tour, but did win 3 on the senior tour
2nd career grand slam at the Old Course at St Andrews at 29

2006 PGA Championship (5)
Medinah in Illinois
Longest in Major Championship history as people tried to “Tiger Proof courses”
12-0 when leading or tied for lead after 54 holes
Tied his own record of -18 at the PGA Championship in 2000

2000 Open Championship (8)
Youngest to hit Grand Slam by 2 years younger than Jack Nicklaus
-19 major championship score stood as the lowest for 15 years
First to be broadcast in High Definition

1997 Masters (12)
+4 in the first 9 holes
$40 million Nike contract
Notable for Fuzzy Zeller and getting cold reception from many past winners
44 million viewers, an explosive golf number

2000 US Open (15)
Tiger himself said this is the best 4 rounds he has ever put together
Rough was so thick that he would take swings into it not even seeing the ball, as was the case in the 3rd round on the 3rd hole
Muscled irons to par fives from the rough, commentators marveled that he was one of the few, if not only, players that could accomplish that feat.

For years we came to know Matt Kuchar as a good guy, and I believe him still be be this good guy, but this just highlights the importance of being self-aware. Perception can be reality and if people think that you're not a good guy then that has a tendency to stick, especially with 100+ personalities on the tour with very compelling stories that tend to block out any efforts to recover one's image.