Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Takeaways from the 2015 PGA Major Championships
Another year of Major
championship golf is in the books and it was one filled with history, drama,
heartbreak and great shots. I had the honour and pleasure of working as a story
editor on all four events for TSN this season. The following are
noteworthy observations of the impact of the Majors on the game we all know and
love.
Golf’s New Shining Star
Did anyone expect Jordan
Spieth to have the incredible year he did at this year’s Major championships?
Probably not. In fact, before the season, Spieth was quoted as saying his goal
for this year’s Majors was just to make the cut at all of them. Instead,
he won the first two, was one putt away from making a playoff in the third, and
finished 17-under at the fourth, which would be good enough to win 95% of the
time. He’s obviously had a spectacular season, but what’s almost even more
impressive is his off-course demeanor.
A big part of my job is to
listen to players speak to the media, and pick the best 15 or 20 second
soundbite to air on TSN. It’s generally very difficult to pick the best one whenever
I listen to Spieth’s press conferences because there are so many to choose from.
Spieth is very methodical, candid and descriptive when summarizing his play during his round. He doesn’t speak in
generalities and clichés (something Tiger Woods has always been known for).
Whenever I listen to Spieth, I feel like I actually learn something, whether
it’s why he looks at the hole for certain putts, or how he blocks out the
thought of going for a career grand slam.
The other aspect of Spieth’s
off-course demeanor that is incredibly impressive is his selflessness. Whenever
he talks to the media, instead of saying “I played well” he says “we
played well”. The we is mainly including his caddy, Michael Greller, as
well as the rest of his team who helps him prepare for his round. Every
player’s caddy is obviously incredibly influential with every shot on the
course, and the inclusive way that Spieth
appreciates that by saying “we made a good birdie on 2” is defines his
personality and is something we’ve rarely witnessed before.
Why Tiger Woods Doesn’t Matter
Anymore
A question for anyone reading this: how
many of you who watched the golf this weekend actually missed Tiger Woods
playing? For this first time in his career, he missed 3 straight cuts at Major
championships. To put that into perspective, Woods has missed more cuts at
major championships in the past 2 years (4), than the rest of his pro
career combined (3).
Throughout his latest swing change, Woods
has been candid about how this “process” is getting “closer”. Many media-types
have blasted Woods since he’s made the swing changes with Chris Como. Even as
he continued to struggle, Woods consistently got the most TV coverage on
Thursday and Friday at the PGA Championship. When Woods was dominating, he was
one of the longest drivers on tour, as well as one of the best putters.
Unfortunately for him he’s not getting any younger and now at 39 years old, the
majority of the younger players coming up are flying it by him. As for his
putting, during Tiger’s prime, he would drain all of the “must-make putts”.
Nowadays, his putting is only average, and he’s admitted that he hasn’t worked
on it as hard this season, since he’s tried to overcome the issues surrounding
the rest of his game. One thing is very clear: Tiger is on the back nine of his
career right now.
The New Big Three
Now that Woods and Phil
Mickelson are the declining elder statesmen, we’re certainly witnessing a new
era of golf. The next generation is taking golf to a whole new level of play. Rory
McIlroy dominated the Majors during the 2014 season. Spieth dominated them this
year and Jason Day battled through vertigo at the US Open, left a putt short to
make a playoff at the Open Championship, and won the PGA Championship in
historic fashion. These three are all very young, (the oldest being Day, at
27), they’re all personable with the media, and are all marketing dreams for
both TV networks and corporate sponsors. It’s certainly going to be exciting to
watch these three duke it out for years to come on the PGA Tour. The game of
golf is definitely in great shape right now and the future looks very bright.
Stay tuned!
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Monday, June 17, 2013
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