This Week in Sports: The US Open...where Pro's look like regular guys and we love it.
The US Open is my favorite golf tournament of the year. It's the one tournament every year that professional golfers are happy to shoot par. It is the closest they come to having a similar experience to everyone else trying to break 100/90/80. Not in the scores, but in the emotions and feelings that result from a good chip to set up a tap in par or missing the green on your approach shot.
Here Phil Mickelson comes up short on a false front and watches the ball roll 60 yards back to his feet...three times before finding the green on his sixth shot, only to three putt for a 9. Every golfer has experienced holes like this. I know EXACTLY how he feels. I have no idea what Tiger feels like when he goes driver-iron-20 foot putt for eagle on a par 5. The best I can realistically expect on a par 5 is driver-3 wood- two putt for birdie.
Now the caveat to loving the US Open is that I need to know how good these guys are to appreciate their struggles. You need a Northern Trust Open and a Waste Management Phoenix Open where the winner is 16-under par to be able to differentiate between the US Open and your local club championship. You first need to be impressed by the birdies and eagles these guys can get with regularity before understanding the triumph of par on a USGA-designed course.
Which would you rather watch? The best in the world displaying skills you do not have? Or the best going through the same trials and tribulations you regularly face?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I have Lee Westwood, Nick Watney, Ricky Barnes and David Duval for my Best Ball team. Who you got?
ReplyDeleteI feel like all my golf experiences have been like Phil's 9. Well, maybe not that bad; I've had one or two shots we're I've done what I wanted to do and it turned out to be a good shot.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, there's no way I'd want to watch 4 rounds of me out there. We watch sports to enjoy those who are our athletic superiors, no? I'm more impressed by the "How on EARTH did he do that?!?!" reaction than by the "Wow, I could do that!" reaction to a sports move.
Tiger had the most amazing "How on EARTH did he do that?!" moment of the US Open when he blasted a 3 wood from just underneath a tree branch on the 18th fairway (those trees in the middle of the 18th fairway are brutal) with a perfect fade all the way up onto the green to within maybe 25 feet of the hole. Had an eagle opportunity but ended up with a birdie. Seemed like an impossible shot but he played it perfectly.
ReplyDeleteSee? And isn't that better television than watching me slam my 7-iron into the tree in exasperation?
ReplyDelete