Forgive me if I sound a little hasty this week. It’s no secret by now that Charles Howell III is far and away my favorite golfer in the world. Howell III had The Sony Open trophy well within his grasp this past Sunday before crumbling like an Oreo cookie. I had my victory celebration planned out, but I should have known better. Just when CH3 looked to be getting over the hump, he let himself and his number one fan down yet again.
I’ve watched the PGA Tour since the early-to-mid 1990s, and I can’t recall being so disappointed in a tournament finish as I was this past Sunday. Even after Howell III lost his lead, he still had a chance to birdie the 72nd hole to force a playoff. An awful chip and putt later, and he finished in a tie for second with fellow young gun, Luke Donald.
Congratulations to Paul Goydos on the solid victory, but the two young guns really fell apart in the final round. Charles Howell III will take most of the heat because he held the lead on the back nine and lost it, but Luke Donald was mediocre in the final round as well. In fact, I don’t remember Donald ever hitting the ball so poorly with his irons coming down the stretch.
I was starting to think 2007 may be the year of the young guns, but the over-40 golfers are two-for-two so far this season. Unfortunately, this isn’t that big of a shock. The last several golf seasons have been dominated by the older guys on the PGA Tour. Tiger Woods (who won’t be needing a cane any time soon, but has a decade of Tour experience), Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, and Retief Goosen have really dominated the young guns on tour.
Eventually these veterans are going to turn 50 and move on to the Champions Tour. The younger generation of golfers are going to have to learn to finish the job, or the PGA Tour will start to suck. These younger guys are very marketable, but in the end, it’s all about performing in the clutch and winning golf tournaments. Over the past couple seasons, the young guns on the PGA Tour have made choking a true art.
Sergio Garcia is the first guy that comes to mind. The young Spaniard burst onto the scene at the 1999 PGA Championship and quickly became a fan favorite. He was brilliant around the greens and even led the PGA Tour in putting early in his career. Once Garcia realized how talented he truly was, he starting falling apart in big tournaments. Sergio’s putting stroke has gone from solid to shaky to awful in the past few seasons, Ryder Cup rounds aside.
I can’t count the number of major championships on one hand that Sergio Garcia has thrown away in the past six or seven years, including two from a year ago. Garcia was neck-and-neck with Tiger Woods going into the final round of the 2006 British Open, but a shaky final round filled with three-putts took him out of the event. The next month, at The PGA Championship, Garcia once again crumbled on Sunday after putting himself in contention after three rounds. Sergio is the pioneer for other young guns when it comes to the art of choking.
Now onto my favorite Oklahoma State alum, Charles Howell III. CH3 was supposed to be the next Tiger Woods when he made his professional debut in late 2000. Since then, he has won once on the PGA Tour and finished as the runner-up nine times. Howell III has had a solid career so far, but he hasn’t even come close to reaching his full potential. I’m starting to doubt that he ever will after watching his back-nine collapse at The Sony Open this past Sunday.
Howell III hasn’t put himself in contention as many times as Sergio has, so he hasn’t necessarily choked as much when coming down the stretch. However, CH3 hasn’t finished the job in four and a half years which is absolutely shocking! He had a few solid chances to win last season, but he was outlasted by Chris Couch and Ben Curtis at the Zurich Classic and 84 Lumber Classic, respectively. Yeah, I just said outlasted by Chris Couch and Ben Curtis. Charles, it’s time to suck it up and get the job done man. I can’t take many more of your heartbreaking final-round performances.
I still haven’t fully decided whether or not Luke Donald belongs on the choke artist list, but he is getting awfully close. Like Garcia, Donald had a legitimate shot at winning The PGA Championship at Medinah last August. He went into the final round one shot behind Tiger Woods. Even though Tiger is perfect in majors while holding a 54-hole lead, I still thought Luke Donald would put up some kind of a fight. Instead, the young Englishman shot a final-round 74 and crumbled alongside fellow young gun, Sergio Garcia.
This past weekend, as I mentioned earlier, Luke Donald struggled mightily in the final round at Waialae. It would have been great for Charles Howell III to pick up the win at The Sony Open, but my gut instinct told me Donald would come through in the clutch. The Englishman was very inconsistent with his ball striking en route to a final-round 69 (one-under par for those wondering). For a top-ten caliber golfer, that’s not any better than CH3’s final-round 70.
Adam Scott probably would have made this list in early 2006, but he has gotten things together recently. If anything, Scott has finished much stronger in tournaments than he has started. The young Aussie finished very strong at The PGA Championship and WGC-AmEx Championship last year, and he dominated the field in the final round of The Tour Championship last November.
Scott carried this over to a great Sunday finish at The Mercedes-Benz Championship last weekend, even though it wasn’t enough to overtake Vijay Singh when the dust had settled. Adam Scott has put the art of choking in his rear-view mirror, and now it’s time to tell his fellow young guns the secrets to Sunday success on the PGA Tour. It’s time for the 20-year olds to win some big tournaments because they won’t be in their 20s for much longer.
The Final Say
It’s funny how an article can completely change directions after a back-nine collapse by a favorite golfer. The immediate future still looks good for Charles Howell III and Luke Donald, and they are right in the thick of The FedEx Cup race early in the season. Nonetheless, it gets very frustrating as a fan to see these extremely talented golfers fold like lawnchairs on Sunday.
Like I mentioned above, the PGA Tour season is still very young. We haven’t even seen the debut appearances of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Sergio Garcia, etc. There are a lot of events left for the young guys to prove they can stand up to the veterans for an entire event instead of the usual three rounds. Hopefully by season’s end, the young guns have more victories than the oldies. I highly doubt it after watching the first two events, but there is always a chance.
It’s your turn to tell me what you think about my rant this week. Will Sergio bounce back in 2007 and prove he can finish the job on Sunday? Also, how will the final-round struggles at The Sony Open affect Charles Howell III and Luke Donald? Finally, how many events will the young guns listed above win in 2007? If you have anything to add, please comment below or discuss it in the forum. Thanks for reading this week and get ready for five days of PGA Tour action this week!
Photo Credits: © Chris Thelen/Augusta Chronicle.
I think Goydos, too, would have folded had he been in the last grouping, based on his performance from the last grouping on Saturday’s play. And how about the Golf Channel’s Win Zone — I think it’s time to put that sucker in the dumpster.
That thing was horrendous, what a complete waste of broadcasting space.
5 PGA Wins for players under 30 – max.
Maybe that’s the first generation playing for the money and not the W’s?
Good article, Cody. It is really quite amazing that the younger “stars” of the PGA Tour fold so badly. CH III should have easily one the Sony with the way he was playing but his final round was quite poor. “Solid career” for Chucky… I would say he may be one of the most overrated golfers since 2000.
😯 😯 😯
This is an interesting blog, because today confirms Mr. Garcia’s 2007 choking skill.
Not only that, but Sergio’s post-round press interview was childing. He’s a petulant, sad case comparing hisresponses to the press when compared to Phil M. or John D.
Of the one or two dozen best golfers in the world, I think Tiger Woods has the most class when speaking to the press. He answers questions (or makes comments on requested topics) quickly (he’s in demand!) and accurately.
Sergio, on the other hand, is Mr. Sour Puss if his score is higher than what he expcted. 🙁 Often Mr. Garcia expl 👿 ains that it issomeone else’s fault.