Tees2Greens on Golf

February 2009 - Posts

• The Triumphant Return of Tiger Woods

  By the time you read this Tiger Woods could have already been eliminated from the Accenture Match Play Championship, or he could have won his first two matches 10 up.  I don’t suppose either outcome would be a total surprise. Eight months is a long time in a Champion’s lifetime and time steals what no man can. I’ll be the first to admit that I sometimes treat Tiger like a golf god and often forget that he is not undefeated; but doesn’t it say something that we have to remind ourselves of that fact. Obviously, he is not unbeatable, but I can’t recall when a golfer was such a heavy favorite every time out, even coming off an injury.  Jack wasn’t. Neither was Arnie, or Ben, or Bobby Jones. There seem to be little question that Tiger is the best player in the world, and with all due respect to Jack, he is likely to be recognized as the best that ever played before he turns forty. He is greatness and we are lucky to be able to watch him even when he falls short. I haven’t looked at the brackets to even see if it is possible, but it would be great theater to see Tiger and Phil hook up for the Championship. For some reason I’ve never been a Phil guy. Perhaps because he’s too Phil, or I’m too Tiger, but he’s rarely dull, which means he’s often stupid and heroes shouldn’t be stupid. On the other hand, Tiger is rarely stupid and often spectacular, which is how I like my heroes. The rest of the field is filled with more humans like Geoff Ogilvy who’s biggest win came when Phil and Monty both got stupid sequentially. How about Henrik Stenson and Robert Karlsson; could either be Nordic hero this week? Perhaps, but I predict that the blond getting the most attention this week will be Mrs. Tiger Woods. It might be fun to watch Anthony Kim try Tiger on for size. He's brash and has enough ego to believe that he could get the job done. It would be belt-buckle versus biceps and I’d pay to see that.  Somehow I don’t see Sergio with the same bravado. After Ten years of being the “Great Spanish Hope” trying to challenge Tiger, Sergio seems happy with something less than first. Steve Stricker and Stewart Cink are also bridesmaids, very good looking bridesmaids to be sure, but bridesmaids nevertheless. I’d like to see Fred Couples give it one more shot this week. He has the temperament, or more precisely he has no temperament at all.  Even after all but shanking his second shot on 18 last week he simply smiled and shook his head. Oh, well. But one thing is for sure at 2:02 on Wednesday February 25th Brendan Jones had the most unenviable job on the planet. If he beats Tiger it’s because Tiger is not fully recovered. If he loses to Tiger he wasn’t supposed to win anyway? What’s a man to do … What’s a golf god to do? Posted Feb 26 2009, 09:52 AM by Sam 'Bogey' Johnson with 2 comment(s) Filed under: Sam Johnson, Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson, Fred Couples, Robert Karlsson, Brendan Jones, Henrik Stenson

• Why Ryo Ishikawa Is Not The Next Tiger

  At 17 years old it may not be fair to compare the good looking young player known as the “Shy Prince” to Tiger Woods and his abs of steel, but the rest of the world, which includes yours truly, don’t get paid the big bucks (or the small bucks) by being fair. There seems to be little doubt that Ryo Ishikawa is a phenomenon. He turned pro at 16 and won the second tournament that he entered. In 2008 he pocketed a cool 100 million yen ($1.1 million greenbacks) making him a yenionaire and a millionaire at the same time. By the end of 2008, Ryo had become the youngest player ever to crack the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking. And at 60th in the world, Ishikawa has snagged an invitation to the Masters where he is set to square off with his idol, you guessed it, Tiger Woods. His invite to the Masters will also provide Ryo with the first opportunity to accomplish his goal to be the youngest winner of the Masters. It could happen, if he continues to play well enough to get a second, third, fourth and fifth invite to Augusta; at 17 he’ll get that many chances to become the youngest champion. The problem I see for Ryo is that he is only 5-foot-7-inches tall and weighs 150 pounds, which is the same as Tiger’s bag. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against short people, as a matter of fact my Mother was one, but my Mother could never stuff a basketball. Different sport and totally unfair, true, but you get the point. I hear all you Gary Player fan club members gathering at Camilo Villegas’ house for a protest march, however I hope you will remember the famous words of Tom Thumb who once said after losing a round of miniature golf, “I feel three feet tall.” There’s an old saying about the betting on the favorite that says, “The favorite doesn’t always win, but that’s where the smart money is bet.”  The same goes for size; the biggest, strongest and fastest don’t always win, but don’t bet against them. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing but admiration for the young Japanese player, and as you have read right here on these pages, I want someone to challenge Tiger because I think it is good for the game; I just don’t think that Ryo is the guy. Who is the guy? Probably someone named Alastair or Clive. Someone who grew up in the slums of London and fought his way to become a caddie, then a golf hustler, and then a struggling golf pro. Perhaps he becomes famous by winning a game show and becomes a slumdog millionaire golfer. Granted, that’s a tall tale, which is exactly my point. Ryo Ishikawa, the son of a Japanese banker is by no means a slumdog millionaire fighting his way to the top. He is an upper, middle class 17 year old that needs to grow about six inches and add about fifty pounds before he tugs on Superman’s cape. That’s not my rule, that’s evolution; the big fish eat the little fish…but then there was the blind Master Po who said to Grasshopper, “Because a man can see, he does not look.” Which is exactly the same thing I said when I saw David Carradine playing a Chinese guy.   Posted Feb 17 2009, 10:34 AM by Sam 'Bogey' Johnson with no comments Filed under: Sam Johnson, Tiger Woods, Ryo Ishikawa

• Will The Pressure To Win Make You Harry?

  A few years ago I wondered out loud how golf has avoided the drug problems that every other sport in the world has.  Is it possible that golf is the only clean sport? Has golf somehow cornered the market on honest athletes who would never damage their bodies or their sport by using performance-enhancing drugs? Is Alex Rodriguez’s quest to be the best player in the history of baseball any different than a young golfer’s quest for fame and fortune?  And is the 300 yard-drive on the 7,500-yard golf course something we should be impressed by, or is it a warning sign? Unlike baseball, golf has designed bigger clubs and livelier balls, and everybody is bigger, stronger and faster, but so is Alex Rodriguez. He was not some third-rate player just trying to make it to the big leagues. He’s a stud with or without steroid and male sex hormone testosterone, but he still did it. Why? He said it was the pressure to live up to his giant contract… a guaranteed contract. The truth is that had Alex Rodriguez hit 185 and with no homeruns the season after he signed the big contract he would have still gotten paid. He would have been embarrassed but would have done so with $25,000,000 in the bank. So, in the end it was his ego that made him cheat, not his bank account. You can count the number of golfers on one hand who are guaranteed $25,000,000 annually.  However, most PGA Tour professionals are guaranteed a good living, at least while they own a card. Which makes me wonder; what would I do to keep my card? What would you do? Better yet, what would you do to put a few million in your pocket? You don’t have to rob a bank, or steal money from your friends like Bernie Madoff; all you have to do is rub on some gel or get a shot in the butt and you wake up the next day and you can hit the ball a mile. Would you be like Alex Rodriguez and try to feed an ego that always wants more, or would you be satisfied with a few top tens? I don’t know if steroids and male sex hormone testosterone will shorten your life. There is some evidence that says it will, and frankly it can’t be a good thing to take something that changes your hat size like Barry Bonds. But that’s not the real question. People, including me, have always done stupid things for frivolous reasons, especially very profitable frivolous reasons. The important question is should anyone be allowed, for any reason, to damage a sport you love to play? There are so many stories about golfers calling penalties on themselves even when no one would ever know that the infraction ever occurred. Forget the pressure, forget the money; that’s the question that Alex Rodriguez and the rest of us should be asking; would we do the right thing when no one else is watching? Sport, every sport, is about competing. It is a mini human drama played out on the pitch, court, field and course of every game. May the best man win and well done old sport, these are our mantras. Being a sportsman, or a sportswoman, is a high honor. Cherish it and don’t let anybody tell you differently.   Posted Feb 11 2009, 07:19 AM by Sam 'Bogey' Johnson with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Sam Johnson, Steroids, Bernie Madoff, Alex Rodriguez

• Surf’s Up at Torrey Pines; The Buick Invitational Without Tiger

  To start with, I was wondering if Tiger Woods actually ever drove a Buick? Since Tiger is still sunning himself back in Florida, the Buick Invitational will finally have to cough up a few extra bucks to engrave the name a of a new champion on the trophy. How many times has Tiger won this thing?  Four out of the last five years, right? However, Torrey Pines is still Torrey Pines and I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t like to tee it up in SoCal… even at 7,500 yards. I’m sorry, but if they keep making these courses longer and longer I’m going to need to move up to the front tees, previously know as the ladies' tees. If you’re into handicapping golf you'd best be taking a long-knocker because the one year out of the last five that Tiger didn’t win at Torrey Pines John Daly did. However, these days it might be easier to name the shortest guys off the tees than the longest. For some reason, Phil Mickelson is one of the favorites this week even after missing the cut last week at the FCB Open and even though I promised you he would win. Come to find out that he didn’t have his new driver last week because it had not been approved by whoever approved those things. According to Butch Harmon and all the suits at Callaway, Phil’s new driver is going to change his life and make him a better person. That’s a tall order. How many fairways did he hit last week before being sent home, something like two out of twenty?  Granted, I’m not Butch Harmon, but after I put about five or six balls into the desert, I might have gone to a 3-wood, or a 3-iron, or anything just to keep the ball in play. But that’s just me. The name of Rory Sabbatini has come up as a favorite for some odd reason. Truthfully, I thought he had gone back to South Africa to star in a new Tarzan movie or something. Camilo Villegas is always a top pick these days. Isn’t it funny how things change so quickly? Last year, before the FedEx Cup, Camilo was one of the “great potential” guys, meaning that he hadn’t won squat.  Now he’s the next coming even though he’s not tall enough for most of the rides at Disneyland. What a difference a win makes, or in his case two wins. I’m glad to see that Davis Love III is considered in the hunt at Torrey Pines. He’s got his twenty wins and a lifetime exemption and he’s swinging free and easy. Davis should be an inspiration for all the baby-boomers out there; at forty-something he’s hitting the ball longer than he did at twenty-something. From across the pond, Padraig Harrington and Luke Donald will bring their long ball game to Torrey Pines. Padraig is coming off a fifth place finish at Abu Dhabi, but he has also had to endure a 75-hour plane ride from halfway around the world. The steely-eyed look he is famous for is actually because his contacts are permanently stuck to his eyeballs after such a long flight. Luke Donald is returning to Torrey Pines after playing so well in the U.S. Open back in June. Like Tiger, he was also injured and had to have surgery afterward. Obviously he likes Torrey Pines, and why wouldn't he? He’s had two seconds, a seventh and two other top twenty-five finishes in only five starts. But for me, I want to see Anthony Kim get it into gear in 2009 and why not start at Torrey Pines? First, I love watching him play because he seems to be having so much fun. Secondly, assuming that Tiger will be Tiger when he returns, we need a challenger and AK would be a great one.  His free and easy spirit would be the perfect counter to Tiger’s stare. I can hardly wait. Golf is great. Let’s get it on. Posted Feb 05 2009, 07:26 AM by Sam 'Bogey' Johnson with no comments Filed under: Sam Johnson, Tiger Woods, Padraig Harrington, John Daly, Phil Mickelson, Butch Harmon, Torrey Pines, Davis Love III, Rory Sabbatini, Camilo Villegas, Luke Donald