Senior PGA Championship is Off and Running
by Ryan Ballengee on May 21, 2009 5:33 PM EDT
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PrintThe first Champions Tour major of the year kicked off today at Canterbury Golf Club in Ohio. So far, the first round lead is -4. The first round lead last year was also -4.Then Jay Haas won the thing at +7. Here's hoping that doesn't happen again!
The PGA of America has a nice blog going that I found by complete mistake while looking for a picture for this post. Has some pretty interesting facts in it, including this one.
A total of 11 players who competed in the 1979 U.S. Amateur are back this week at Canterbury for the 2009 Senior PGA Championship. Joining O’Meara and Cook from that list:
- Dan Forsman
- Ken Green
- Gary Hallberg
- Scott Hoch
- Larry Mize
- Brent Murray
- Joey Sindelar
- Hal Sutton
- Bob Tway
This stellar group has accounted for 84 PGA Tour victories and five major championships. Some of the other participants in the 1979 U.S. Amateur included the late Payne Stewart, Fred Couples and Bobby Clampett.
Clampett is wasting away in the booth at the Byron Nelson Championship on Golf Channel. And by wasting away, I mean wasting our time. Why are you not at Canterbury, Bobby?!
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Stellar?
These are the guys, among others, that almost put the tour from 1985-2006 into a slumber from which no one ever awakened. You left out
Keith Fergus
Jay Don Blake
Tim Simpson
Scott Simpson
Bob Gilder
Mark Wiebe
Mike Hulbert
Phil Blackmar
Andy Bean
by One-Eyed Golfer Guy on May 22, 2009 9:24 AM EDT reply actions
Hey! Scott Simpson won a US Open! But, pretty much the rest didn’t do too too much.
Email me any comments or questions at ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.
by Ryan Ballengee on May 22, 2009 9:51 AM EDT up reply actions
it's statements like that...
…that make me wish golf marketers had never decided that “everybody” should be drawn into the game. This adrenaline rush, professional rassling, video game, ESPN highlights mentality doesn’t fit well with golf.
Statements like that make it sound like you would prefer that professional golfers slash across their crotches, or have the mantra "if you ain’t cheatin’ you ain’t tryin’ ", or make death threats or steal cars, or scream at each other, or get into fist fights, or flash gang signs, or cause drug and steroid scandals, or shoot themselves in the leg in a club, or run around with posse’s…or any of a hundred other things people think are “exciting”.
ESPN shows highlights – but they don’t show you the other 70 to 100 plays that don’t put points on the board. Basketball scores would be 8-4 if the highlights were all the scoring. You can’t show highlights of basketball defense, so people only like the superstars.
Ryan brings up that the first round lead at this tournament was -4 and Haas won at +7 on the weekend – not a single word about the conditions that made low scores impossible. They didn’t have perfect weather and these guys turned into 10 handicappers.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
Oak Hill wasn’t that bad last year. The rough was absurd. I know the weather wasn’t great, but it is awfully rare that a lead turns 11 shots worse during a tournament. The PGA set that place up like Murderer’s Row.
And I think that the occasional crotch slash has really helped professional bowling. Think about Pete Weber, Jr!
Email me any comments or questions at ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.
by Ryan Ballengee on May 22, 2009 10:20 AM EDT up reply actions
it wasn’t rain last year at Oak Hill – it was wind blowing balls into that rough.
and Weber is about as classless a human being as there is in any walk of life. His father would not be proud. Thankfully, he’s the only one doing that rip off of professional wrestling. yes – there’s the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and of course…the PBA. (lol)
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
Where are the Champions?
When the “Champions” Tour actually had champions playing (Nicklaus, Palmer, Player, Trevino) it was called the Senior Tour and people actually watched it (occasionally). Now we have the “Champions” Tour and it’s PGA Tour has-beens with very few champions to be found. I’ve heard that these guys do a great job with their corporate sponsors and charitable organizations, and that’s great, but watching the 30th – 100th best players from 25 years ago doesn’t do it for me.
I’m not sure what your point was court, or how golfers “slashing across their crotches” or Plaxico Burress shooting himself has any relevance to OEG’s point that the “Champions Tour” is an extremely mediocre product. However, you are certainly entitled to your own opinion. Feel free to watch Mark Wiebe storm the field at a Champions Tour event and I hope you have a great time doing so.
I’m sorry that you feel as though golf isn’t for everybody, but the people marketing the Champions Tour clearly agree with you and have created a Tour that nobody enjoys!
Matt – how much time would you spend watching 50+ year old football or baseball or basketball players suit up ? What athlete is as good at age 50 compared to age 25 or 30 ?
How many of these 50+ year old Champions Tour golfers could you beat on your best day ? Think you’d have any chance against Mark Weibe ? I’d take a 70+ year old Gary Player over you or anybody on here any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
The Champions Tour was put together for two reasons – to give fans a chance to see the greats of the game tee it up and have a chance to win, and to give them a chance to continue making a paycheck.
You are correct that the Tour has lost a lot of luster as the great players of the 60’s 70’s and 80’s get too old to want to play a season schedule – but these guys are far from mediocre. They can do things with a golf ball that 99% of the people in the world will never be able to do.
The problem is that the top PGA Tour guys are making so much money that they don’t NEED to play the Champions Tour, so that tour just doesn’t have the marquee names it used to have – but there are still names like Tom Watson and Tom Kite playing, and these guys are fan friendly and very capable golfers. They may not hit 340 yard drives, but most of these guys can put it out there close to 300 yards.
“A Tour that nobody enjoys” ?? There are more people going to these tournaments than most LPGA events.
I didn’t say that golf isn’t for everybody – but it isn’t. Just like the NFL – NBA – MLB – MMA – Soccer – tennis…or any other sport. There’s no such thing as a game that is for “everybody”.
Golf is a game where cheating is frowned upon. Golf is a pastoral game that moves at a leisurely pace. People who think that golf should be like other sports with all the hype and needs to have full contact or lots of crowd noise are missing the point.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
I'd take Gary too...
I would much rather watch Gary Player and Arnie try to shoot their age than watch Mark Weibe shoot 54. I never claimed that the players were mediocre, just that the “Champions” Tour is a mediocre product. I have little-to-no interest in 95% of the players currently out there. I can make time to watch Arnie or Jack, but Bob Gilder has no shot at keeping me on a couch in front of the TV! The tour no longer lives up to what it was meant to be, and you hit the nail on the head as to why.
As we have seen in recent years with Vijay, Kenny Perry & Fred Couples (to a lesser extent) is that players are finding a way to compete into their late 40s. I think the age range for winning on the PGA Tour has gone from 24 – 42 (with some notable exceptions) to possibly 18 – 54. Kenny Perry has already expressed his desire to stay on the big tour beyond his 50th birthday. I’m guessing Vijay will probably try to do the same. Couples has said he will split time and hopefully he can make up for all those big alimony checks he wrote over the years!
As competing at the highest level for a longer period of time becomes more common, the “Champions” Tour is in for even more of a decline than it has already experienced.
Watson plays a fairly limited schedule and is closing in on 60. In my opinion, he is the only legendary player that competes on the tour regularly. Unfortunately, the best players from the past 20 years who have recently turned 50 don’t have the desire to play, the need for the cash (as you mentioned), or their game went south. The tour might have a chance if Watson, Kite & Langer were joined by Norman, Faldo & Seve. However, the future looks worse than the present.
Maybe I’m just being too particular. I choose not to watch it, so I should probably choose not to type about it either! ;-)
there is a solution...
…I checked with the broadcasting authorities – there is no requirement that you or anyone watch the Champions Tour, LPGA, Nationwide, OR PGA Tour.
But calling a tour mediocre tells me that you are in with the crowd that only watches if a Tiger or Phil is in the field. You aren’t a fan of watching great players play – you are a fan of the stars only. Not a problem – nobody can tell you what to watch and what not to watch. Personally, the 200th ranked player on Tour is interesting because he can do things with a golf ball that I only dream of doing – so I can learn from him. I love watching Woods and Mickelson because they do things you don’t see very often – but I will never call a tournament “mediocre” if they aren’t in the field.
You’re probably right about Vijay – unless his wife exerts the wifely pressure to spend more time at home, of course. I don’t see Couples spending a lot of time out there with his back. He’ll play some, but we may see him in the booth more than the course.
How do you mean Couples “to a lesser extent” ? Because of his physical limitations ? The guy is hugely popular – and is still top 15 in driving distance on the PGA Tour.
Don’t hold your breath on a lot of appearances from Norman and even fewer from Faldo.
I’m thinking Seve would appreciate you putting his name in the mix – never hurts to have as many possitive encouragments as you can get. :-D
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
...and I'm thankful for that!
With some exceptions, I will almost always opt for golf over non-golf programming. However, I also play golf 3-4 times/week, workout 4-5 times/week and work 50 hours/week. If I’m going to commit my precious time to watching TV, it’s going to be a premier event, at a great venue, with a great field. It so happens those are the only events Tiger plays.
For the vast majority of other tour events, I’m content to catch the early scoring online and maybe catch the last few holes Saturday & Sunday in the grille room after I finish my round.
While I’m sure there is something everyone can learn from any given tour player, I find working with a golf pro is far more effective than watching an exceptionally talented player hit a certain shot on television and then trying to work it into my own game.
Fred Couples, who is one of my all-time favorite golfers, has competed in his 40s to a far lesser extent than Perry & Vijay. I’m sure a lot of that has to do with his back, but since 1999 Freddie has won 1 PGA Tour event. In that same time frame, Kenny Perry has won 10 events and Vijay has won 27. Freddie still hits it great, but he is not the threat to win on a week-in, week-out basis that Vijay and Perry are.
Now, you see, that’s not the same thing you said the first two times. In those posts, you declared that the Champions Tour players to be mediocre and not worth your time to watch. In THIS post, you didn’t say anything bad about the players – you said that you didn’t have hours in the day to watch everything and only MADE time for certain events. Completely different.
You are absolutely right about Couples. His back has kept him from playing his best all the way through a tournament…but you have to admit, his career before he hit 40 was better than Perry or Vijay. Freddy is going to make a big dent in the Champion’s Tour when he gets there.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
Good job, court, Matt
has been my son for 27 years and I haven’t won a ‘discussion’ yet..!!
There is no questioning their golfing ability. But they are from the gray area of the late 20th century that did not include Arnie, Jack & Lee. Phil & Tiger were not there yet and only Greg Norman and Boom Boom generated any spark out there. Even, actually especially, Lehman, Love & Azinger were dull.
I am 60 and a little late to fully appreciate Hogan in his prime, but I have been blessed to be around when both Jack and Tiger have lit it up. Tiger has ruined golf for me to a certain extent, because I cannot genuinely enjoy a full golf tournament unless he is contending. Fortunately, when he is playing, he is usually in contention somewhere on the board. I am excited about the prospects of Shane Lowry, McIlroy, Danny Lee, Ishikawa (??) and a bunch more young guys. But, I was also excited in 2000 about Adam Scott, Sergio, Baddelely, Howell III and the rest. They have a dozen wins between them.
by One-Eyed Golfer Guy on May 22, 2009 8:43 PM EDT reply actions
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