Retief Goosen has the perfect demeanor for both golf and poker. Getting a read on him is not unlike looking at a book written in Sanskrit. His emotions don’t run too high or too low. His steady-as-it-goes approach that has paid him dividends in golf.
Currently ranked 5th in the world he has just come off a victory at the International proving again to himself and the world that he can win. Any doubt about his ability to win would have never entered the picture, had he not stumbled in the final round of this year’s U.S. Open. Goosen, after all, is Mr. Clutch.
You may have seen the David Leadbetter Swing Setter on television and wondered, “What in the heck can a golf club that makes clacking noises and looks like a weapon do for my game?” As I began this review I intended to find out if using this goofy looking contraption could improve my grip, swing plane, release, and tempo like it promised.
While John Daly has lived one of the most turbulent lives on the PGA Tour in recent years, he has walked away from wreck after self-inflicted wreck looking pretty good. While others whose lives are pristine by comparison try to maintain a “positive image,” Daly, who has wallowed in the mud, has come out looking pretty clean. Probably the biggest reason so many folks love Daly is that his life has been an open book. Daly’s best PR tool has been his honesty. What you see is what you get.
Fred Couples has become a familiar face to golf fans since he turned pro in 1980. Born in Seattle, Washington, Couples got his PGA Tour start in 1981. He is a favorite for many who live in the Pacific Northwest. Nicknamed “Boom Boom” for his length off the tee, Freddy has a total of 15 PGA victories to date. You might recognize him from a certain Bridgestone commercial. All together now, “Boom, boom, boom, boom.”
“The Golden Bear” doesn’t need much of an introduction to anyone familiar with the game of golf. Many have considered him the greatest to have ever played the game. He is very simply, the most decorated golfer of all time. After joining the professional ranks in 1962 he amassed an impressive 73 PGA titles, including 18 major championships. If it weren’t for a certain player named Woods we could only dream of someone with such dominance in our era.
I’ve never been to Louisiana, but I can picture some of the folks who live there sitting on the front porch sipping lemonade on a hot summer day. David Toms fits that image well. David Toms is a low-profile man with a high-profile game. Low-profile comes naturally to a guy who grew up, not in New York, Seattle, or Beverly Hills, but in Shreveport, Louisiana. The pace there is a bit slower than in almost any part of the country and that is the way Toms seems to like it.
This column marks the beginning of a weekly feature called “ProFiles.” Our aim is to highlight high profile people associated with golf’s biggest stage. You can expect to see current PGA players, past greats, architects and influential people in the game featured one at a time every week. I’m looking foreword to looking at colorful characters in golf each week with you.