The Rorywagon is Getting More Passengers

by Ryan Ballengee on Mar 16, 2009 12:10 PM EDT Comment 9 comments

As you probably well know at this point, Tiger Woods said over the weekend that 19 year old Rory McIlroy has all of the tools to become the number one player in the world someday. In case you didn't, here's the Woods quote:

"He has all of the components to be the best player in the world, there's no doubt. It's just a matter of time and experience, and then basically gaining that experience in big events, that takes time, and I mean, geez, he's only 19. Just give him some time, and I'm sure he'll be there."

McIlroy represented himself very well at Doral this week. He was in contention for the better part of the tournament, but his back nine on Saturday and sideways Sunday round left Rory in Mickelson's dust. It is hard to be critical of a 19 year old kid that contended on the weekend in a pretty elite tournament. Seems like Rory also won himself a lot of American admirers for his quality of play - deservedly so.

Still, that growing American admiration may be taken too far by Mark Reason in the Telegraph.

The ivory-toothed Mickelson is Mr Middle America, but it may just be that Rory McIlroy is now the third most popular current golfer in the land. McIlroy had slipped out of contention in the final round, but still NBC was showing shots of the 19-year-old. That is the sort of obsessive coverage usually reserved for only Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.

I won't disagree that Rory got a lot of time over the weekend. With his Thursday-Friday showing, he deserved it. Also, compared to folks like Jeev Milkha Singh and Prayad Markesaeng, he was much more familiar to American fans. That says a lot about McIlroy's surging popularity, but to place him third in the Mt. Rushmore of American golf fans is a bit much in my mind.

Maybe I'm wrong, though. Personally, I'm an Ogilvy guy. Also, love to see Fred Couples do well. Americans love watching the Daly trainwreck. How about Camilo for the ladies, or Sergio just to jeer? Give me your top five golfers to watch, even if you're not an American. I'd be curious to see if Reason is right. Bad pun, sorry.

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the shot coverage was better than usual...

…NBC actually did a decent job spreading out the coverage over the weekend. I was shocked that they ran pieces to educate the audience on who guys like Singh and Marksaeng are, and kept up with their shots until. They even scaled back on the Tiger coverage – mostly because he wasn’t playing all that well on the back 9. (Leave it to Johnny Miller to say something stupid like “don’t count out a 28 on the back 9 from TIger.” What an idiot)

The coverage of Mickelnuts’ conferences with Bones were classic. Bones, the voice of reason, giving Mickelnuts sound advice, and Phil ignoring him to pick the most bizarre shot choice available on Saturday AND Sunday.

Johnny Miller is the worst – and getting worse by the week. Berating Watney for missing his bunker shot on the same hole as Mickelson’s right handed shot (12 ?) and giving Mickelson a chance to not lose ground with his bogey. VERY difficult bunker shot. But when Zach Johnson and Jim Furyk flubbed shots, they were just tough bunker shots.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Mar 16, 2009 12:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, Miller was simply awful this week. Going to do a post about that later.

I really enjoyed NBC’s coverage otherwise. That conversation with Bones and Mickelson was so perfect. I’ve been saying they should do more of it when the time is right and they sure did this weekend!

by Ryan Ballengee on Mar 16, 2009 12:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

only one problem with it...

…Mickelson and Bones carried on for almost 5 minutes – twice. Where was the official telling them to pick up the pace ? I don’t care that they were going head to head for a huge title and check – you can’t allow that kind of thing when the ball is in play.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Mar 16, 2009 12:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

True, they were carrying on for much too long.

by Ryan Ballengee on Mar 16, 2009 1:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

the original question

Who I like to watch?

At the top of my list are Tiger and Phil because of their incredible creativity getting out of trouble. They are so much fun to watch.

Next is Geoff Ogilvy — he has the absolute prettiest swing on the men’s tour.

Sergio, Camilo and whoever is the current phenom of interest complete my favorites. OK, so that’s six — shoot me.

The remainder of the players on tour strike me as unemotional clones.

Truth has a well-known liberal bias.

by dianemarie on Mar 16, 2009 7:40 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I don’t like hearing Sergio talk to anyone, but I admit that I do enjoy watching him play.

by Ryan Ballengee on Mar 16, 2009 7:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

"Unemotional clones"

Ok – that has become an unacceptable cliche thanks to our lazy media. Just how many golfers get enough TV time to make an assessment like that ? Is Jim Furyk “unemotional” ? How about Henrik Stenson ?

Golf is a calm game – but we all get frustrated with bad breaks or our own bad performance. The pros – men AND women – are classy people who don’t throw temper tantrums or do hip hop dances in front of cameras, or bang their chests after making a layup. Does that make them “unemotional clones” ? Tiger Woods gets caught on video swearing up a blue streak – that is called unacceptable behavior.

Wouldn’t most of us fall into that same “unemotional clone” catagory if someone watched one or two shots we hit during a round, then calmly put the club back in the bag and move on to the next shot ?

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Mar 17, 2009 10:13 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I think a lot of the unemotional clone business comes from guys like Henrik and Ogilvy who are megacalm. Also, it comes from the fact that the PGA Tour will fine players that show anger or too much emotion. Henrik was pretty cool yesterday at the Tavistock Cup. No threat of a fine!

by Ryan Ballengee on Mar 17, 2009 10:28 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I can see Stenson – he’s a Swede and that’s just the way things are with most Swedes since Bjorn Borg. “Stoic” is always the word connected with them. Ogilvy isn’t always very demonstrative, but when he’s angry, he lets you know about it – and when he’s really happy, he seems almost a little embarrassed.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Mar 18, 2009 10:25 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

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