We all witnessed the future of the PGA Tour this week at the Masters Tournament. Jordan Spieth, the 20 year old, from Dallas, TX started the final round tied for the lead. After 6 holes he was 2 strokes ahead and seemed to be cruising to victory. However, as usual the Masters provided drama, excitement and disappointment. Jordan had a few loose shots and then Bubba Watson took control by the 9th hole. Lets be realistic though...Spieth is 20 years old. Winning a major at 20 is something unheard of especially in the first attempt. Jordan Spieth never gave up, he showed grit and he showed some emotion. The media is beating him up over that fact that he showed frustration and slammed a club into the ground, yelled at himself and basically did what most golfers are doing every week. Who cares? Sure, he is a professional. I like that he isn't a robot of non-emotion. I like that he actually cares about winning. Do we all really want to watch stoic expressionless golf (i.e. Jason Dufner)? Every other sport the athletes are yelling, talking trash, fighting, or worse. Why can't golfers show that they are human. Its not like he even cussed or threw a club. I am not saying that the PGA Tour stars should start swearing or do anything to disrupt other competitors but lets stop beating people down for being normal. Jordan Spieth is the future of the PGA Tour. He will have many many more chances to win Majors. His golf swing will stand up to the test of time and to the pressure. The number one part of his game that will make him a champion is his short game. Spieth's putting and all the shots around the green are already in top form. I honestly think that in the next few years he will be a multiple major champion and could get to number 1 in the world rankings by 2015. The future of the PGA Tour is Now!
On Sunday Bubba Watson won his second green jacket at the 2014 Masters Tournament. Bubba finished with an 8 under par score for the week for a three shot victory. You have to respect the way Bubba plays the game. He knows what he can do and he goes for it. The 360+ yard drive on the 13th hole was something out of this world. Driver then wedge to a par 5...WOW! Hmmmm...think back to 1997 when Tiger Woods took apart Augusta National at the par 5s in similar fashion. A few years later Augusta's leadership decided to "Tiger Proof" the course. Makes me wonder what they will do now with the way Bubba Watson can literally overwhelm the course with his length off the tee. Anyway...Bubba played great on Sunday and never wavered from his game plan. Congrats Bubba on the win and love the tweet later of you and your friends at Waffle House!
Tiger Woods announced this week that he had surgery to repair his back injury and consequently would not play in The Masters golf tournament. This will be the first time since turning pro that Tiger will miss the event. What's the impact of Tiger missing The Masters?
We all know that when Tiger Woods plays any golf tournament that the TV ratings go up, attendance at the event goes up, excitement about the event goes up, and overall his impact is huge every week in the golf world. It always amazes me that no matter what Tiger Woods does the golf media and for that matter every golfer in the world reacts. We either love him or hate him. No matter how you feel about him as a person we all love to see Tiger compete. Tiger Woods missing The Masters to some of us is huge. If you have followed golf at all the last 20 years you have seen Tiger dominate The Masters, you have seen him come close and lose, but you have never seen him quit. There is always a feeling that no matter where he is placed going into the last round that Tiger has a chance to win. You can't help but be disappointed with Tiger not competing at The Masters. Instead of watching every shot and planning our weekend around the event some people will just tune in once in awhile. We will check the scores and see who is leading and eventually on Sunday we will all sit down and watch the back 9 at The Masters. So...What's the impact of Tiger Woods missing The Masters? The Masters is an event that we all look forward to watching every year. We all dream of our own pilgrimage to Augusta National one day. In the long run the game of of golf and The Masters are bigger than one person...even Tiger Woods. There is so much history and so many great players that we can count on another great week at The Masters. Let us not worry too much about Tiger Woods. He is a phenomenal athlete and in my opinion has already proven he is the greatest golfer ever. Tiger Woods will recover from this latest physical set back and he will win more golf tournaments. Will he win more majors? Will he pass Jack Nicklaus' records of 18 Majors? Only God knows! So far we have loved watching the highs and lows of Tiger Woods. I for one hope that the best, most charismatic, and influential golfer in history comes back stronger than ever! |
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