Hello golf fans, and Welcome again to Hittin’ the Links. What’s happening out there in golf land? I tell you the chill is in the air, the leaves are turning colors, and like it or not the 2009 golf season is drawing to a close. That is unless you live in a southern state like I do – we are just getting started!
In this issue of HTL we say hello to the first billion dollar athlete, then take a look at golf’s first showman, and investigate the Shark’s breakup with Chris Evert. Also in this volume we find out why some golf balls shouldn’t be retrieved, take a peek at the Presidents Cup, and do a wrap-up of the week’s events. Read on!
Frank Razzaia is a 4.0 index golfer hoping to build a more reliable, tournament ready swing. At normal speed, I am a big fan of Frank’s swing. However, watch his swing frame by frame and you will notice he lacks one of the most important attributes in golf: lag.
At some point in the past decade or so, Golf Digest became a lifestyle magazine. With reviews of $100,000 cars and style columns featuring $250 belts, Golf Digest morphed from golf magazine and something more like an off-shoot of the Robb Report. At best, it’s become a great way to scoff at the elite members of society who happen to play golf while reading through the same re-trodden tips you read a few years ago. At worst, it’s a coffee table flipbook for top-tier country clubs – completely worthless to the 98% of golfers who don’t need to spend a hundred grand to drive to their local muni or $250 to hold up their pants.
The eminent Tim Finchem announced last week that the PGA Tour “could lose a couple more events” in the coming years. Obviously, this news isn’t a proclamation of imminent disaster, or an LPGA-esqe “we may not even have a Tour next year” scenario. As the PGA Tour isn’t a publicly traded corporation, it isn’t obligated to continually grow in order to return profits to its shareholders. My point here is that downsizing, and potentially losing money in the process, ought not to be a terrible prospect.
Tiger and Phil both win on the same day (but Tiger wins a bit more). Also, trouble in the LPGA and PGA Tours – what will their schedules look like in 2010 and beyond? Who will be the commish of the women? That and a whole lot more in this episode of Golf Talk.
For you