Monday, August 17, 2015

A comeback for golf?

Golf has been in crisis mode. Tiger Woods, who had spurred golf's emergence to the masses, ran into trouble off the course after being injured, and simply hasn't been the same, not winning a major since  the 2008 U.S. Open. The Great Recession hurt golf even more than other industries at the participation level. It's also a difficult game that takes considerable time to play and learn, and more and more people are finding they don't have that time.
Spieth and Day: Impressive
But the recently-completed PGA Championship, and the 2015 season overall, has provided genuine hope for golf. Jordan Spieth is just 22, and played at a level this season only accomplished before by the likes of Woods and Jack Nicklaus.
Unlike Woods, he has a number of strong rivals. Jason Day, who won the PGA, hits the ball with extraordinary length. He is just 27 and decidedly likeable, too. Rory Mcilroy has already won four majors at 26, and was just passed by Spieth as the No.1 player in the world. Looks like there will be quite a back and forth between the two for the No.1 spot in ensuring years.
Dustin Johnson is as talented as any player ever on the Tour. Could be he gets his act together and threatens all the above. He is just 31.Whistling Straits is an imposing golf course, and Day and Spieth tore it up this weekend. It was great golf, and tremendous competition. It's the type of thing that could save the struggling entity of golf.

My column. Jim Harbaugh, Mark Dantonio and how unwillingly ESPN did MSU Spartans a big favor: http://www.theoaklandpress.com/sports/20150816/pat-caputo-jim-harbaugh-mark-dantonio-and-how-unwillingly-espn-did-big-favor-for-msu-Spartans

My column. Former Brother Rice, Notre Dame All-American and NFL linebacker Greg Collins making it as an actor in Hollywood, including role in "Straight Outta Compton." http://www.theoaklandpress.com/sports/20150814/pat-caputo-straight-outta-brother-rice-ex-football-star-greg-collins-living-hollywood-dream

My column. A lot more good than bad from the Lions in preseason opener: http://www.theoaklandpress.com/sports/20150813/pat-caputo-a-lot-more-good-than-bad-by-detroit-lions-in-preseason-opener

1 Comments:

Blogger John Leach said...

People will do what they will do with whatever leisure time and money they have available to them. Golf is just one of many options. However, at the PGA level, the game has never been better since the collapse of Tiger Woods. TV Viewers get to see much more evenly distributed coverage of all the players in contention, rather than being force-fed a Tiger moment every two minutes. Amazingly, a post-round Tiger press conference is still mandatory, even if he's woefully out of contention. But this will fade as well. Tiger-mania drove me away from the game. Now that he's all but gone, I find it much more interesting.

4:32 AM 

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