Caution: For Golf Fans Only. Pictured above is Tiger Woods and Lee Westwood. Two professional golfers about as different as Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, Larry and Moe, and Bush and Obama. Guess who is number one in the world of professional golf? Not the one with the smiling brandishing chicklets. The current #1 in the world is Englishman, Lee Westwood. The one in blue fending off the glare of the chicklets. 2010 was Tiger Woods' and most of the US players "annus horribilis." On the other hand, 2010 for the Lee Westwood and the European Golf tribe was "annus mirabilis." Horrible year for the Americans. Year of wonders for the Euros. Can you imagine teeing off in 2011 and being introduced by the chirpy voice of Ivor Robson of the UK, "on the tee from Great Britain the #1 player in the world, Lee Westwood." Gulp. Westwood thinks for a moment, I'm the best player on the planet. And not only that, I'm better than Tiger Woods who grossly owned #1 position for 5 plus years, won 71 PGA events, 14 Majors, winless in 2010 yet still made $90mil on and off the course and has more girlfriends than George Clooney and I'm #1. Not bad for a bloke who has never won a Major, has bad teeth and a has swing only a West Texas driving range pro would like. I hope I hit the fairway. Hit away, please. It's the first year since 1994 (held then by the voluble Nick Faldo) that a Euro claimed the #1 Golfer in the World status. The British golf press appears to be in "gobsmacked" astonishment over Westwood's feat. True to form, the British scribes assign blame for Tiger's self-inflicted golf demise to "pranging his car against a fire hydrant in the middle of the night" thus rearranging his life, than simply, praising Lee for playing exceptional golf for the last year in claiming #1. Throw a guy a bone. Lee had 12 Top Ten finishes around the globe that included two victories and three top 3 finishes in The Masters, the US Open and The Open. He missed the PGA with a wrist injury. Notwithstanding Lee's success, 2010 also trumpeted the arrival of a mature band of brothers from Europe, most notably Graeme McDowell, who can flat out play against anybody...anywhere in the world. Don't believe me? Look at the current World Golf Ranking (11/28). In the top 11 players in the world, 7 are Euros. Westwood, Kaymar, Casey, Donald, McDowell, McIlroy and Poulter. In the top 30, 17 are Euros. In the top 50, 21 are Euros. The Euros are young, sanguine and fearless. Conversely, in the top 10, 4 are Americans. Woods, Phil, Stricker and Furyk. In the top 30, 11 are Americans. The Americans (less Ricky Fowler) appear old, choleric and unsure. Obviously, there is a movement going on here. Is this a trend or an aberration? I don't know. I'm not signaling a tectonic shift in power from them to us or abdicating anything to the fellas across the pond yet. As Englishman Paul Casey soberly stated when asked about the European dominance in golf in 2010, "Sure, we were good in 2010 but one year doesn't mean a whole lot." I'm from Missouri, show me one more time. Then I'll believe. Arguably, 2010 in the world of golf was the best non-American year in the history of professional golf. It was dominated by the Euros. The Americans were defeated at all the major tournaments including the Ryder Cup, less the Masters. Whatever happens in 2011 will be great drama on both tours for a golf fan like me. But as it looks now, I'll be following the Race to Dubai alot closer than the Fedex Cup in 2011 until I see some magic from the Americans. Suddenly, the talent rich World Tour with stops in Hong Kong, Valderamma, St. Andrews is seemingly more appealing to me than the US Tour with stops in LaQuinta, Charlotte and Memphis. And behind the curtains of this real life drama rests Chubby Chandler, agent to the current #1 player in the world, gleefully rubbing his fat big hands. Feasting at the prospects.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
The Euros are coming...the Euros are coming
Caution: For Golf Fans Only. Pictured above is Tiger Woods and Lee Westwood. Two professional golfers about as different as Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, Larry and Moe, and Bush and Obama. Guess who is number one in the world of professional golf? Not the one with the smiling brandishing chicklets. The current #1 in the world is Englishman, Lee Westwood. The one in blue fending off the glare of the chicklets. 2010 was Tiger Woods' and most of the US players "annus horribilis." On the other hand, 2010 for the Lee Westwood and the European Golf tribe was "annus mirabilis." Horrible year for the Americans. Year of wonders for the Euros. Can you imagine teeing off in 2011 and being introduced by the chirpy voice of Ivor Robson of the UK, "on the tee from Great Britain the #1 player in the world, Lee Westwood." Gulp. Westwood thinks for a moment, I'm the best player on the planet. And not only that, I'm better than Tiger Woods who grossly owned #1 position for 5 plus years, won 71 PGA events, 14 Majors, winless in 2010 yet still made $90mil on and off the course and has more girlfriends than George Clooney and I'm #1. Not bad for a bloke who has never won a Major, has bad teeth and a has swing only a West Texas driving range pro would like. I hope I hit the fairway. Hit away, please. It's the first year since 1994 (held then by the voluble Nick Faldo) that a Euro claimed the #1 Golfer in the World status. The British golf press appears to be in "gobsmacked" astonishment over Westwood's feat. True to form, the British scribes assign blame for Tiger's self-inflicted golf demise to "pranging his car against a fire hydrant in the middle of the night" thus rearranging his life, than simply, praising Lee for playing exceptional golf for the last year in claiming #1. Throw a guy a bone. Lee had 12 Top Ten finishes around the globe that included two victories and three top 3 finishes in The Masters, the US Open and The Open. He missed the PGA with a wrist injury. Notwithstanding Lee's success, 2010 also trumpeted the arrival of a mature band of brothers from Europe, most notably Graeme McDowell, who can flat out play against anybody...anywhere in the world. Don't believe me? Look at the current World Golf Ranking (11/28). In the top 11 players in the world, 7 are Euros. Westwood, Kaymar, Casey, Donald, McDowell, McIlroy and Poulter. In the top 30, 17 are Euros. In the top 50, 21 are Euros. The Euros are young, sanguine and fearless. Conversely, in the top 10, 4 are Americans. Woods, Phil, Stricker and Furyk. In the top 30, 11 are Americans. The Americans (less Ricky Fowler) appear old, choleric and unsure. Obviously, there is a movement going on here. Is this a trend or an aberration? I don't know. I'm not signaling a tectonic shift in power from them to us or abdicating anything to the fellas across the pond yet. As Englishman Paul Casey soberly stated when asked about the European dominance in golf in 2010, "Sure, we were good in 2010 but one year doesn't mean a whole lot." I'm from Missouri, show me one more time. Then I'll believe. Arguably, 2010 in the world of golf was the best non-American year in the history of professional golf. It was dominated by the Euros. The Americans were defeated at all the major tournaments including the Ryder Cup, less the Masters. Whatever happens in 2011 will be great drama on both tours for a golf fan like me. But as it looks now, I'll be following the Race to Dubai alot closer than the Fedex Cup in 2011 until I see some magic from the Americans. Suddenly, the talent rich World Tour with stops in Hong Kong, Valderamma, St. Andrews is seemingly more appealing to me than the US Tour with stops in LaQuinta, Charlotte and Memphis. And behind the curtains of this real life drama rests Chubby Chandler, agent to the current #1 player in the world, gleefully rubbing his fat big hands. Feasting at the prospects.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Of course you had to mention your boy toy Ricky!
ReplyDelete