As if 40 wasn’t enough, now I’m turning 45. Frankly, I still feel prettty young. Heck, I still sometimes get a little nervous when I buy liquor, worried if they’re going to card me. I drive the ball farther than a lot of people. Maybe not quite as far, quite as often, as ten years ago, but respectably, nonetheless. This getting older thing isn’t all bad. Heck, if I was on the PGA Tour, I might be just coming into my prime.
Over the last several years, a number of 40-year-olds have been playing some pretty good golf on the PGA Tour. Not just once in a while, but consistently. Whether it’s improved fitness (probably), better equipment (maybe), or old-age-and-treachery (undoubtedly), older players are not only competing with guys 10 or even 20 years younger, they’re winning… a lot.
This year was no different, in fact with Tiger on the DL, a 40-something claimed golf’s richest prize (at least until next year). Here are some of the “old” guys who are hanging in there with the flat-bellies. Each played some good golf in 2008, and had at least one notable moment in the spotlight to show for it.
Hole One: Mark Calcavecchia
Birthdate: June 12, 1960
2008 Summary: 25 events, 12 cuts, $784,810
Calc’s best rounds were early in the year. He finished T4 at February’s Honda Classic and T10 at the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship. He also had a T14 at July’s RBC Canadian Open. All in all, a somewhat disappointing season after his very successful 2007. However, if you look at his last five seasons, he’s won $2 million in the odd-numbered years (2005 and 2007) and $700K-800K in each of the evens (2004, 2006, and 2008). That could mean that 2009 will be a very good year for Calc, just one year before he qualifies for the Champions Tour.
Hole Two: Greg Norman
Birthdate: Feb. 10, 1955
2008 Summary: 4 events, 1 cut made, 1 Sunday collapse in a major
There were Great White Shark sightings aplenty at Royal Birkdale this summer. Many of us were rooting for the 53-year-old to not only become the oldest winner at a PGA Tour recognized event, but the oldest major winner to boot. Alas, like protagonist in The Old Man and the Sea, Norman had to watch the dream disappear… yet again. He shot a final-round 77 to finish T3, six shots behind Padraig Harrington, who shot 69 to close on and pass Norman.
For the record, six players have won at age 50 or more:
Sam Snead – 52 years, 10 months, 8 days, 1965 Greater Greensboro Open
Art Wall – 51 years, 7 months, 10 days, 1975 Greater Milwaukee Open
Jim Barnes – 51 years, 3 months, 7 days, 1937 Long Island Open
John Barnum – 51 years, 1 month, 5 days, 1962 Cajun Classic
Fred Funk – 50 years, 8 months, 12 days, 2007 Mayakoba Golf Classic
Craig Stadler – 50 years, 1 month, 18 days, 2003 B.C. Open
Hole Three: Steve Stricker
Birthdate: Feb. 23, 1967
2008 Summary: 22 starts, 16 cuts, 13 top 25s, $2,438,304
The comeback player of the year for the previous two years had another good year (though not as good as 2007). Though he didn’t win in 2008, he had six top 10s including a playoff loss to Daniel Chopra at the Mercedes Benz Championship. In September’s Ryder Cup, his up-and-down at 18 to secure half a point for the Americans helped Team USA go into Sunday with a two-point lead.
Hole Four: Fred Couples
Birthdate: Oct. 3, 1959
2008 Summary: 16 events, 11 cuts made, 3 top 10s, 5 top 25s
When his back lets him, Freddie can still get into contention on the weekend, which he proved at this year’s Shell Houston Open (T4), the Buick Invitational (T8), and Wachovia Championship (T8). His T15 at the Players Championship was nothing to sneeze at either. That made it kind of surprising when after missing the cut at the Deutsche Bank, Couples said, “I’m done with golf.” I’d bet we can chalk that one up to frustration. I think we’ll see Couples on Tour again next year. The guy won nearly a million dollars on tour in 2008. That’s hard to miss out on. He’ll be the captain for the 2009 USA Presidents Cup team, so we’ll see if he can continue Team USA’s winning ways. As of October 2009, Couples will be eligible for the Champions Tour. Boom Boom could make a lot of noise on the Sr. circuit.
Hole Five: Steve Elkington
Birthdate: Dec. 8, 1962
2008 Summary: 21 events, 15 cuts made, 3 top 10s, 70.92 Scoring Average, $1,183,489
Elk had a pretty solid year for an old guy. He made bigger news at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, not for his T10 (his third best finish of the year), but for his verbal altercation with Bubba Watson. Bubba said Elk was walking, taking off his glove, and rattling his clubs during Watson’s swing. Elk said Watson was a jerk (or words to that effect). The whole thing was the stuff of a soap opera and our forum members took up the discussion with gusto.
Hole Six: Paul Goydos
Birthdate: June 20, 1964
2008 Summary: 22 starts, 12 cuts made, 2 top tens, $1,442,762
His run at the Player’s Championship was the great journeyman story of the year. Sure, he plunked his tee shot on the dreaded 17th into the water in sudden death, but for much of that weekend it looked like Goydos would pull off the improbable win. Wearing a Long Beach State Dirtbags hat, Goydos slowly relinquished his three-stroke lead over Garcia. When asked how he felt about losing the lead and the championship, Goydos cemented his folk hero status by replying “The key is to have the lead with no holes to go. Until that happens, you’re just playing.”
Hole Seven: Rocco Mediate
Birthdate: Dec. 17, 1962
2008 Summary: 25 events /15 cuts made, 1 notable 2nd, 2 top tens, 4 top 25s, $1,388,375
The man who would be U.S. Open Champion (if not for Tiger’s will-over-pain victory at Torrey Pines) still had a good year. With his troubled back seemingly mended, Rocco made a run at the world’s number one that won’t soon be forgotten. If he could have avoided bogey on the 91st hole, who knows what might have happened? Instead, Woods added one more brick to his legacy… winning a U.S. Open on a broken leg and torn ACL. Just wait until he turns 40!
Hole Eight: Kenny Perry
Birthdate: August 10, 1960
2008 Summary: 26 events, 24 cuts made, 3 wins, 7 top tens, 13 top 25s, $4,663,794
The hottest player of the summer, Kenny Perry rode his June and July success (and major absences) into the Ryder Cup. Despite three wins this year (the Memorial, Buick Open, and John Deere Classic), I suspect the two numbers he’s most proud of this year are 2.5 and 16.5 – his total points earned in four Ryder Cup matches this September (2-1-1) and the US Team’s winning total. Perry has earned more PGA Tour money than any other player who has not won a major. Maybe skipping out on chances when he was hot was a mistake. Then again, the first part of that title makes the last part a lot easier to take, I suspect.
Hole Nine: Vijay Singh
Birthdate: Feb. 22, 1963
2008 Summary: 23 events, 18 cuts made, 3 wins, 8 top tens, 14 top 25s, $6,601,094 (plus a nice little bonus)
Vijay means “victory” in Hindi, and he certainly had a big one at the end of the 2008 PGA season. His FedExCup victory and the $10 million that came with it was huge. The FedExCup playoffs themselves… kind of anti-climactic. After Singh took the first two events, the competition was all but over. Camilo Villegas won the last two playoff events, but could only finish second when Vijay finished T44 and T22 in the BMW Championship and Tour Championship, respectively. Add a win the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and, while it wasn’t a 2004 (when Singh won nine times), it was a very good year, especially for a 45-year-old.
By nearly all accounts, Vijay is a genuinely nice guy and a very popular player among his peers and with tournament volunteers and others who come in contact with him. He’s been stung a few times by the media (which is why you seldom see very extensive interviews with him), and he’s put his foot in his own mouth a few times (as when he criticized Annika Sorenstam for taking a sponsor’s exemption into the Colonial). A one-time club pro in Borneo, Singh has come a long way. He’s a multi-tournament winner and getting just a wee bit closer to the world’s number one player again. And he’s five years away from playing the senior circuit! Maybe this mid-40s thing isn’t so bad.
Photo Credits: © The Sand Trap .com.
Heck, even for weekend warriors, the young guys are always weary of the “old” guys. 1) equipment has allowed them to keep up (or not be left too far behind in distance), 2) experience/playing much more over the years has allowed them to develop a sharp short game, and 3) maturity has given them the patience to better manage their way around a course. All in all, a winning combination.