Young Guns Gone Bad

I am always excited to see young talent make their way to the PGA Tour. There are always going to be young guns that overachieve and young guns that unfortunately underachieve. Tiger Woods obviously burst upon the scene in late 1996, and he has elevated the sport to new heights ever since. In the past five or six years, there have been a handful of golfers with the “next great challenger to Tiger” stamp on them. This group has included names such as Sergio Garcia and Adam Scott. These two golfers haven’t won a major yet, but they have still had very solid careers and have lived up the hype.

This brings me to my main topic this week. What about the other golfers who have failed so far in living up to their hype? I know there are mixed feelings on who falls into this group, but I chose three of the easiest ones for this column. This isn’t an easy topic for me to talk about because one of the golfers on my list is my favorite golfer in the world. The three young guns on my dubious list are Charles Howell III, Aaron Baddeley, and Justin Rose.

CHIII
It’s no secret I love Oklahoma State University and all their athletes. Charles Howell III won a national championship while playing there and was highly touted as one of the next big things in golf. Howell burst onto the PGA Tour late in 2000 and finished in third place at the John Deere Classic. He lost in a playoff at the Greater Milwaukee Open in 2001 and picked up his first win at the Michelob Championship in late 2002. He had six top-ten finishes in 2002, including that win at Kingsmill and a runner-up finish in the Tour Championship.

Howell had two more runner-up finishes in 2003 and was also a member of the United States Presidents Cup team. I remember watching him in singles action on Sunday against Adam Scott. I was very excited about that match-up, and I was very happy to see Howell III dominate the young Aussie. I thought Howell III would have a dominant year in 2004, but I was definitely wrong in assuming that. He did have five more top-ten finishes, but he should have been winning tournaments by then.

The same goes for this season: Howell came out on fire in 2005, with a third-place finish and a second-place finish. Since the hot start, it has been a different story. Howell has missed six cuts out of his last eleven starts and looks lost. Don’t get me wrong, he is still making a great living playing golf. He is 39th on the money list with about $1.1 million earned. CH3 should be winning and winning often on the PGA Tour. He is ranked 174th in driving accuracy and 147th in putting average. No more needs to be said after looking at those numbers. Charles Howell III has the talent to win any golf tournament on the PGA Tour, and I just hope he finds his golf game again and dominates like he is capable of doing.

The Rose
The next guy on my not-so-desirable list is Justin Rose. This Englishman made his mark at the 1998 British Open at Royal Birkdale. Just days before turning 18, Rose chipped in for birdie at the 18th on Sunday and finished in a tie for fourth. I think everyone thought he would be a great player for years to come. I know I sure did, but he has been a huge dissapointment since that great British Open showing.

Rose played on the European Tour until 2004 and never really had much success. He did show positive signs in 2004 by finishing in the top seven four times. So far in 2005, however, Rose has zero top-ten finishes and just three top-20 finishes. The word “underachiever” definitely fits this guy’s performance so far. Luckily, Rose is still young and has a world of talent.

Just Badd
The last guy on my list is Aaron Baddeley. Baddeley may be most famous for his MacGregor commercials on TV. That is never really a good thing, considering he hasn’t had much success on the PGA Tour. Baddeley was highly touted as one of the next great Australian golfers along with Adam Scott. Greg Norman put his stamp on this kid from day one.

“Badds” officially joined the PGA Tour in 2003 and had three top-six finishes. He showed great potential and has always putted the ball very well. He’s just never been able to stay out of trouble off the tee. Baddeley had a runner-up finish at the Chrysler Classic in 2004 and has fallen on hard times ever since. He does have four top-ten finishes in 2005, but he has also missed the cut in six of his last seven tournaments. Baddeley has shown great potential at times, but “inconsistency” has plagued him just like it has Howell and Rose. Like those two, “Badds” is young and has a lot of time left to get things going.

Common Threads
So what is the cause of this underachieving? The answer to that question is simple in my opinion. These three golfers are just as talented as any other golfers in the world. They could easily get things together and win three or four tournaments in any given year. The hype dominated these young guys before they even had a chance to see it coming. Some guys take the pressure head-on and beat it. That is the case with Sergio and Adam Scott. They have both won numerous times on big stages and have made it through the “hype” stage. Howell won very early on the PGA Tour but a couple runner-up finishes hurt his confidence more than it helped.

Rose and Baddeley haven’t picked up their first PGA Tour victory yet and they aren’t living up to the hype like many expected. They are putting too much pressure on themselves and it’s going to be very tough to get things back on the positive side. They are still making a decent living on the PGA Tour and aren’t exactly going to lose their tour card, but that isn’t the point. They shouldn’t just be surviving – they should be winning numerous tournaments worldwide and ranked in the top 20 in the world.

Final Thought
This article was really tough on me because I have been fighting these thoughts for awhile. I didn’t want to admit that Charles Howell III was underachieving. But he definitely is, and I had to break down and write about it. There is no doubt in my mind he can get things together and become a dominant player on the PGA Tour. I think CH3 is very capable of winning major championships at the highest level, but I’m just not sure he ever will. He needs to get over that hump of being an “underachiever” and just become one of the guys on tour.

The same goes for Rose and Baddeley. They need to forget all about being highly talked about around the golfing world the past five or six years. The task for them will be even tougher than it is for Howell III because they have yet to taste true victory on the PGA Tour. The hurdles will be tough to get over, but they could be very successful if they pick up that first victory.

These guys are still viewed as the young guns on the PGA Tour, and I honestly think they will struggle until that title is gone from their names. Once the new generation of guys enter the PGA Tour scene, these three will have trouble finding their identities. Once that little bit of pressure is lifted and placed on other young golfers, these three will definitely become a part of the cream of the crop worldwide. I see a lot of Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup berths in their future and even a few majors along the way. Come on guys, step it up and start overachieving!

What are your thoughts about these three golfers? Was the pressure too much for them to handle? Do they have what it takes to be a great golfer on the PGA Tour? What other young golfers fit this category? Thanks for reading this week’s Thrash Talk, and I hope you enjoyed it. As always, I hope to see some comments on this subject. If so, feel free to comment below or discuss it in our forum. Have a great week and be sure to play a round or two of golf.

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