As far as TV watching goes, the British Open is one of the best of the year. You get up early, make a pot of coffee, and switch on live golf, the antithesis of Kapalua.
Sadly, that process will not include one of the most prominent figures in golf next week, as Tiger Woods has announced he will not be making the trip to England to play, missing his second major championship in a row. Since you can read all about why he's missing out and everything, I figured I'd offer up some random thoughts on what all this means in the long run.
-- First and foremost, Tiger missing two majors at the age of 35 is and will be a huge hit to his chase of Nicklaus' record, no matter what he says about it. He can talk about how his "best years are ahead of him" all he wants, but as we've known, the average major winner these days is around 32-33-years-old, so Tiger is now past that, and not getting any younger.
-- Adding on that, what do you think the odds would have been for someone if they had gone to a sports book and offered up this bet; "Starting in 2010, three of the four majors will be played on golf course Tiger has absolutely demolished in major championships, setting records on all three, and the fourth is at a course that sets up well for him. I'll bet you he doesn't even finish in the top-three in any of those majors, and any of the majors in 2011." 400-to-1? 500-to-1?
-- We are going to look back on the moments of Tiger missing majors as seriously defining times for the future of golf. Sure, Padraig Harrington might have taken the reigns last time Tiger disappeared, but if another young gun can snag the Open next week, it really will be the changing of the guard, in a sense. Phil Mickelson isn't playing nearly as well as he was the last few years. Tiger is injured. Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen sure aren't what they used to be. The future of golf is just sitting there loving this I'm sure, because it's their time to shine.
-- If some no-name gets a big lead next week, these could be some of the worst ratings in golf history. Just my thought.
-- Tiger will be back for the PGA Championship, but I'd set his over/under on tournaments played for the rest of 2011 at 3.5, and take the under.
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1 comment:
Tiger needs a golf makeover along with his image makeover. I do know one thing. If he is interested in fixing the receding hair line, there no one better than Dr Density, (Dr Brett Bolton) in Ft Lauderdale Fl. The doctor to the stars, Dr Bolton will be step one in reshaping his image. Maybe with a little more hair, Tiger will score a few more birdies. My name is Steve Cook. I am a hair loss expert. Please check out www.GreatHairTransplants.com
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