Great field! I counted 26 majors in that bunch, maybe another 20 senior majors(?)
And now I read that Rory M has split with the g/f that he just recently said kept his so “grounded”. He get’s busted with some ranked tennis player that tweeted some stuff that she eventually “un-tweeted”.
Hope I don’t hurt myself jumping off the Rory bandwagon. Just when you think you have a newcomer who can play (although it now sounds like he prefers indoor conditions… a red flag for sure) you start getting this stupid behavior. Quite disappointing to say the least.
Nice going Tiger… you’ve made it look ok for a kid who got his 1st major to act like a dolt. The tour is looking more like the NBA/NFL every day.
Boy’s young.
He has not hid the fact he drinks alcohol and fast cars, or spending money.
Not saying he ever denied that stuff. But let’s face it… after the US Open we apparently had the new challenger to Jack’s record. Hey… I was right there with em! Then I hear that (by his own admission) he can’t play in adverse weather (???) and apparently the g/f he made such a big stink about a couple of weeks ago is a total non-factor now.
Confusing to say the least. And to say that I look at him the same way I did a couple of weeks ago would be a lie. Surely the image he tried to project 2 weeks ago is null and void now. Another spoiled tour player.
It must be real hard though Robbo. The money’s stupid and fame attracts all the wrong things–(superficially) stunning women that would never have approached him before. There aren’t too many celebrities in the world who haven’t been through drug/alcohol rehab and a couple of marriages. If we just respected someone for their play and didn’t have to idolize or dump on them, maybe they’d have a better chance. But we have to make them role models for our kids and constantly judge their every move.
There’s a word in our English language that has apparently been forgotten, it is called perspective. This kid is 22, talented & a multimillionaire. He could give a shit less what anyone out in TV land thinks & there’s no reason he should. He’s a human being, not a robot programmed with the masses’ insipid expectations of what a champion should totally encapsulate. He’s not a perfect player or person & he doesn’t have a perfect swing. Just because it’s happening today doesn’t mean the entire history of the planet doesn’t mean anything. And I highly doubt anyone scurrying off the bandwagon would care to have their private lives plastered all over the slam rags very much so allow a young man some privacy and an ability to live his life, it’s none of our business.
Quite interesting the silhouette, it actually looks like someone starting down from the top with a ton of throwaway.
Reminded me of:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcNc24A7xxk[/youtube]
If I watch golf … I just want to see a course set up that is going to really test these guys… where they are going to have to use all their clubs, and execute a wide variety of shot shapes, trajectories and play the game in a strategic way that works into their game. I want to see the course set up fairly… in that different styles of players can play into their own personal strengths and show how golf can be played properly in several ways… not just one way.
The British Open seems to be the only event now that typically offers such a test. Seeing an event where a good solid ball striker like Clarke can go out and get into contention on Sunday by playing golf his way… good touch, solid putting, smart strategic play is more than refreshing. The majority of events to me are a bore… one dimensional bomb and gouge putting contests.
Phil and Dustin paid up for their inconsistent executions. Clarke won because he simply played very solid golf, hit some really great shots, but didn’t make any big mistakes like the other guys.
The US Open was a total joke… it was nothing more than another tour event … except that when it was over they handed Rory a trophy with a lot of great names on it from a while back that won a totally different event, a real US Open. There is no more US Open.
Same thing with The Masters. I won’t go so far as to say anyone can win The Masters, but there are 10 times as many guys now that can… and this is why we are not seeing a few select superstars winning a lot of multiple majors. It simply does not require that special something that it used to because the element of extreme treachery no longer exists. These events have been watered down… dumbed down to where they just simply don’t have the innate “quality” they once had.
Tiger wins majors in any era with any gear… but a lot less of them if he were to drive it that crooked… and less of them if he were up against Nicklaus, Palmer, Player, Watson, Seve, Floyd, Faldo, Crenshaw, Norman…or going back to Snead, Nelson, Hogan, Casper, Thomson, and so on. He hasn’t been challenged the way he should. Who has Tiger really had to answer to?
Phil?.. sure… great player… but he’s driving it all over the lot… VJ? another fine player… again pretty crooked. My point is the competition is there… but it’s just the corn kernel version… whomever is popping hot this week. But the thing is… the intimidation factor is not there… I just don’t see it.
I would say the blame is on the modern gear… because it just let a lot of mediocre ball strikers into the game that would have not been there before. Now suddenly they are on the green also… maybe a bit farther from the hole, but they putt the lights out once in a while and the real premier ball strikers have lost their edge… to some degree… enough of a degree that we are seeing what we are seeing.
We certainly are not seeing the next Ben Hogan… or Nicklaus for that matter. Nowhere in sight.
Have fun watching The PGA Championship. I’ll more than likely be canning tomatoes from our garden about that time of the season.
22 y/o mulitimillionaires that make that kind of living in the “entertainment industry” are open to public critique… that’s part of the job description… fair or not. If the public didn’t have any interest they’d be 22 y/o thousandaires.
But what other choice do you have when you want to compete against the world’s best? If you donated nearly everything to charity you’d be worshiped for donating so much to charity and probably hated because you completely forgot to donate to the pet shelter. I think it would be an incredibly taxing life full of temptations and it would be hard to know the right move to make.
Andy Warhol & Truman Capote would be so proud. With a job description like that I can’t imagine why players have the kind of ingrained attitudes they do. A box full of fiat currency is most definitely worth having no privacy & becoming a 24/7 dancing monkey spectacle on 4 continents. It IS the best, most rewarding job in the world.
Robbo wrote:
Yep…everyone is “free” to do as they please, and the fishbowl is hard to live in. But where are the likes of Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Gary Player,and Jack Nicklaus today? Guys who made it to the very top of golf…and in spite of their imperfections, were apparently not terminally poisoned by all that came with it. “lives of great men remind us…” (Sandburg).
Jack Nicklaus…“The key thing is I kept my life in balance”
Barbara Nicklaus
5 children
20 grandchildren( at least)
200 plus golf courses
expert fisherman
Hopefully it’s way to early to make a call on Rory, it seems we’re all on his side. But, from recent examples in the past couple of decades, it’s starting to look like the poisoning is potent, mandatory and almost unavoidable.
correction:
That’s Longfellow, not Sandburg who penned those words.
Its my opinion popular sport star behaviour hasnt changes significantly over the years. We just have a far superior ability to spy on them in their down time. Every moment or missdeed is caught on tape now, I bet everyone has had moments in their lives they are not proud of.
I know what I was doing at 22 and it would fill a trashy magazine 10 times over, im sure 99% of people reading this are in the same boat 
oh oh oh!!!
trashy magazine don’t cut it!!!
and, well past 22!
everyone is a reporter now with smart phones and built-in video cameras. Everyone is wired. You know a million times more info on these guys than you ever knew about Ben, champagne, or Sneed.
I feel the need to clarify a bit from my somewhat “knee-jerk” reaction to RM’s latest escapades.
First… his personal life stuff imo was broadcast by himself, not some lurking, stalking press. He made a point in the press just a few weeks ago about getting back with his g/f and how “grounded” she had kept him. I wouldn’t have had a clue about it if it wasn’t splashed all over the font page of Yahoo. His subsequent hookup (in the following couple of weeks) with some tennis player was also put out there by that chick herself… not by the luring press and again ends up on Yahoo’s front page. He’s fully entitled to a personal life that’s just that… personal, but b/c he’s a multi-million dollar golfer on a very big stage he needs to be a bit more careful. I certainly don’t think he’s fair game for the public looking to dig up dirt, but when it’s self-generated then it becomes fair-game for critique.
Secondly… I found his comments about having a game that’s not suited to events where the weather is a factor seemed to be off the charts! I know that getting beat by a guy 40+ years your senior is a tough pill to swallow, much less the fact the you finished 12 back in an event you were considered a “lock” to win. I guess it was simply a disappointment to hear the stock excuse-making stuff from a guy that looked/acted like he was above that stuff. Perhaps Chubby needs to have a sit-down with him. 
I just expect less excuse-making from the euro’s and better behavior. In the end though I guess we’re all human.
robbo
Maybe Rory heard the rough was going to be to high in Canada to show up for this great historic event. Too much traveling? Burnout? Chad Campbell didn’t have a problem showing up after playing in The Open, and finding himself out in front Friday and Saturday afternoon. Maybe the US Open will move to an indoor venue in Vegas… then Rory might be a lock.
But in all seriousness, he’s a fine player, and I am sure will have a fine career… I just hope the majors will go back to actual majors… meaning they set up the events to properly test the players… not like what has been going on as of late with these watered down events. I would love to see Rory win a real major on a proper test… and not what he… by his own admission… said seemed like just another tour event… which is exactly what it was. In my mind he hasn’t passed the majors test… despite the 5 million dollar windfall coming his way. There was zero pressure on him hitting his tee shots… unlike what the guys are facing in Canada this week with proper championship rough.