The Golf Jock

The statistics tell us that Phil Mickelson is the world #2 golfer. That’s a remarkable feat until you see just how far he is behind Tiger.

Nevertheless, with Tiger out of action for the rest of 2008 and possibly into 2009, it is a great opportunity for another golfer on tour to emrge as the go-to guy. Prevailing wisdom would have Phil be that guy. But recent play has not given any indication that Phil is the guy. Maybe he never will be.

Case in point was last week at the WGC at Firestone. Phil was in control on the back nine, at one point sitting at -12 with a 2 shot lead. But poor play down the stretch really hurt Phil.

After coming back to the pack, he came to the 17th tee needing a par-par finish to most likely tie for the lead and go into a playoff. So what does he do? He pulls out a driver and promptly pushes his tee shot into the fairway bunkers on the left side of the narrow fairway. I emphasize “narrow.” In fact it is so narrow that Tiger (who usually “owns” Firestone) never hits more than a stinger 3 wood, and usually just goes with a 2 or 3 iron off the tee. Even shorter hitters like Jim Furyk never hit a driver there. It’s just too risky for the small reward you get if you atually do find the fairway.

In case you didn’t see the debacle, Phil bogied that hole and had to try to birdie the tough 18th to get back into a plyoff. Didn’t happen.

In my mind, I knew that Phil was going to lose the tournament as soon as I saw the driver in his hand on the tee at 17. It just didn’t make sense. I understand his desire to be aggressive and his need to play his own game. But what he has to make into his own game is the smart types of plays that win tournamets.

It’s hard to criticize a guy who’s won over 30 times on tour. No other active player has won more expcept for Tiger. And that’s the problem. Tiger is an aggressive player too, but he has learned how to temper his aggressiveness at the right time and play smarter. It’s why he has doubled Phil’s win total in half the time.

Phil has an awesome opportunity to really dominate on the tour with Tiger out. But unfortunately, it is the inconsistent course management strategies that will keep Phil from doing it this year. Unless he learns to be like Tiger in that regard, he will always play second fiddle, even when Tiger’s not in the field.

Tiger Woods recently had major reconstructive knee surgery after a heroic victory at the 2008 U.S. Open held at Torrey Pines. Tiger played the whole week on a knee that had never fully recovered from artroscopic surgery days after the 2008 Masters. In addition, he had multiple stress fractures that prompted his doctor to advise against him playing in the U.S. Open. Tiger ignored that advice and struggled through the pain for 4 full days. He then had to go another 19 holes against a feisty Rocco Mediate on Monday in a playoff. The victory was what Woods called “definitely” the biggest win of his pro career. But it came with a price, and his knee paid it dearly.

Woods hobbled off Torrey Pines on Monday evening with the U.S. Open trophy in hand, only to shock the (golfing) world the next day with news that his 2008 season was ended. Woods was forced to miss the Buick Open in Flint, Michigan which he had committed to, as well as his own AT&T National at Congressional Country Club in Washington, D.C.

On his blog, Woods said,

As you probably know, I had reconstructive surgery on my left knee after winning the U.S. Open. I’m not sure how I got through the week, but it was definitely the biggest win of my pro career…

I’m wearing a full leg brace and will be on crutches for a few weeks. To be honest, I’m not sure when my rehabilitation will start. I can’t put weight on my leg yet. These are the longest days – it feels like a 38-hour day.

Hopefully Tiger will be able to begin the rehab soon. His intial plans are that he won’t play in tournament action again until the 2009 Masters. That’s a long time to be away from competitive golf. Lesser men have had long layoffs after injuries and never made it back to top form (Jim Furyk, Ernie Els and David Duval just off the top of my head). If anyone can do it, Tiger is the guy most people would put their money on.

As it is, we can only wait and see. But the way it is now, professional golf is 90% less exciting without Tiger in the hunt.

Johnny Miller was forced to apologize for his on-air comments about Rocco Mediate. During the final round of the 2008 U.S.Open, televised on NBC, Miller said that Mediate “looks like the guy who cleans Tiger’s swimming pool.” Later on he also said, “Guys with the name ‘Rocco’ don’t get on the trophy, do they?”

In his apology, Miller said the comments had “absolutely nothing to do with his ethnicity.”

Mediate, a 45-year-old Pennsylvanian, is of Italian heritage.

At the time Miller made the comments, Mediate held a one-stroke lead over Tiger Woods with only a few holes left to play on the difficult Torrey Pines setup.

In a statement through NBC (which they most certainly forced him to make), Miller said:

“I apologize to anyone who was offended by my remarks. My intention was to convey my affection and admiration for Rocco’s everyman qualities and had absolutely nothing to do with his ethnicity. I chose my words poorly and in the future will be more careful.”

I believe Miller. Johnny is a former player, and a golf phenom. But he still identifies with the players. He knows them and knows what’s going on in their heads. He’s out there before the broadcast talking to the players. It would be absolutely ridiculous to think that Miller had any kind of malicious intentions with his comments. They were “poorly chosen” words considering the politically correct environment we live in. They were “poorly chosen” words considering that Tiger Woods draws a huge non-golf savvy audience who doesn’t know that Miller is a former player and is on friendly terms with most of the current players.

Miller says some harsh things about players at times. He can be caustic about a bad swing or a missed shot. He can also be playful with player quirks and amazed at some of the great shots he witnesses.

Johnny Miller isn’t my favorite golf announcer, but I think he’s in tune with the players. At times he is brutally honest. But to suggest that he was disrespecting Rocco Mediate is totally ridiculous. Those who took it wrong are the real losers in this story.

Okay, it’s really easy to second guess. I get it.

But the fact is, Tiger made a mistake.

I’m not talking about the fact that he continued playing in the U.S. Open on a hurt knee. I actually applaud him for that.

I’m talking about his decision to get knee surgery right after the Masters.

The key word here is “decision.” The surgery was not absolutely necessary at that point. He elected to have it done.

You might argue that his decision to continue playing in the U.S. Open was a worse decision. I would disagree. Here’s why.

Once Tiger made the decision to play in the Open, he made a commitment. He did what is lacking in a lot of people these days – he stuck with his commitment. He knew he may never get another chance to play in a major so close to home, let alone at Torrey Pines. He gutted it out and gave us a dramatic and thrilling victory that will surely go down as legendary. It may not have been “smart,” but it wasn’t a mistake.

The mistake was messing around with the knee in the middle of the season. He should have waited until the Fedex Cup was over in the Fall, or at least until the British Open was over. It would have allowed him to play in all the majors this year and would have given him a great chance to properly heal during the off season and prevented the major damage inflicted to his knee by playing on it too early.

I’m not saying his knee wasn’t hurting him right after the Masters. I just don’t think it was so bad that it had to be invaded with a knife. After all, on that knee he had already won 5 tournaments this year and had, at one point, the entire golf community asking the impossible question: “Could Tiger go undefeated for an entire season?”

Other golf pundits were saying this could be the year that Tiger won a real Grand Slam.

By not winning the Masters, that blew that possibility out the window. I think it also clouded Tiger’s judgment.

Look – I’m not trying to get into Tiger’s head. I’m not trying to second guess him. But let me ask this question: If Tiger had won the Masters, do you think he would have elected to get surgery on his knee two days later?

Me neither. That’s my point.

In the meantime, he missed the Players championship, regarded by most tour players as the 5th major, as well as Jack’s tournament (the Memorial) which is referred to by many as nearly as important as a major. And he seriously jeopardized his chance to even participate in the U.S. Open at a venue that he virtually “owns” (having won at Torrey Pines over a half-dozen times on tour). He made the decision with a calendar right in front of him, knowing he would miss all that, and knowing that it would be really tight trying to heal by the U.S. Open.

I like Tiger. I’m not dissing him here. I think he makes golf exciting to watch. He’s made the game more popular than ever. He’s made a lot of people filthy rich, including agents and caddies and Nike employes – and especially golfers like Rocco Mediate. Because of Tiger, Rocco made more money (and will continue to make more money with the exposure) by coming in 2nd place to Tiger at the 2008 U.S. Open than he had made his entire career before Tiger came along.

So Tiger is good for the game. That’s why his season ending surgery hurts so bad. It’s not just about Tiger. It’s about the whole tour and about the golf industry. And time will tell whether or not Tiger will ever be the same again.

That’s why I think Tiger made a mistake.