Do the PGA and LPGA players have fun playing

[te3point5]

I have the same question about porn stars...

I think pro golfers have fun to an extent. if they make the cut, they are having a little more fin, if they are in the hunt on sunday, they are having even more fun. The elite players are probably having more fun than the guy just trying to keep his tour card, and doesn't have huge endorsement deals to fall back on if they don't win a tournement all year.

[TheWookie]

does an NFL QB have fun during a game? Does an MLB pitcher enjoy being a starter in the playoffs? The thing about golf is that we can play on the same or similar fields that the top pros can....that's about as close as we will get.....these top pros are freaks...competitive animals......you can not just say they are a "good golfer"...something happens in the head to make a good golfer great....that is where enjoyment comes in. Are you competing, is the adreniline flowing.....is your livelihood on the line of a 5 foot putt....to them thats fun...if it isnt they wont be around long.

[CassinoNorth]

Depends entirely on the player I'd assume.

The players playing this weekend trying to keep their tour card I'm sure aren't really enjoying themselves too much but I don't think any of the huge names in golf that are pretty carefree about their status enjoy it a bit more.

[TheWookie]

Perfect example is Hunter Mahan...dude chili dipped on the biggest stage in golf....when asked about it he said he would die to be in the same situation again. Would he enjoy rolling up to the muni and joining three randoms for a non-competitive game? maybe, maybe not...but his "enjoyment" is obviously being in the shot with the whole deal on the line.

[steelernation]

i think once a pro wins a big money tournament the weight is lifted....then they have more fun at it...still focused on winning, but lighter hearted.

As for the weekend warriors that seem to have short fuses....i speak for some of them.. We dont get or have not gotten to play as much golf as we have liked to recently or in our lives for whatever reason. Some older chaps take a laid back approach to the game, play slow, or maybe they goof around causing long waits(they have had their fill of golf). I am utterly anxious to play everytime i step on a nice course. its terrible for muscle memory, the adrenalin screws up your touch and feel around the green but havin only played 140-50 rounds in my life Im itchin to play more. Some of u guys have played since childhood, I feel like a kid in a candystore out there almost all the time, if I werent married with kids I would play 8 times a week. So since i get maybe 1 time a week,,,,yea the round better go well. My game is my problem, dont need external forces ruining my day...my swing can do that just fine by itself.

[The Recreational Golfer]

One of my sons works with a man who played on the mini-tours, but gave up because tournament play was too stressful. I can't imagine touring professionals have fun out there in the same we do in our weekend foursome, but they do have to have temperament that can deal with the pressure. Two golfers who quit playing competitively because it got to be too much for them were Bobby Jones and Tommy Armour.

[CassinoNorth]

To further reiterate what I said before, I was watching interviews after the last tourney of the year and the "last in" golfer to keep his card was relieved to not play competitive golf for the next 2 months.

So no, he wasn't enjoying those last few rounds.

[Stretch]

When pro golfers aren't out actually playing golf for a living, do they still go out and play golf for fun? Not for practice, not to do better in their "day jobs", for the pure kick of tearing up an average course. Of course they do. Imagine how ****ing good it feels just to be that ****ing good!

That said, the Koreans do seem hard at work on producing the first batch of utterly joyless champions, although to be fair they did get the template from Earl Woods.

[i-Guy]

Do you think any of the LPGA and PGA players are happy, and would they play golf if they didn't make a lot of money or have the chance of making a lot of money?

I would say for the people outside the top 125 (PGA Tour) or close to it that it is a grind as their job is pay for performance...they cannot go to work somedays like a lot of us and not perform at their best...if they do they loose their job...that is pretty darn serious and stressful. I think not walking in their shoes we tend to think that their jobs are wonderful...that is why winning a tournament on the PGA tour is such a big deal as it secures you financially for quite a while...just my 2 cents.

[kurtbayne]

my guess is that the answer is all over the map. Yes there's fun, but is it grinding fun, WTF fun, I hate this game fun, I gotta win fun, fun failing, fun succeeding. And you can do all the above and enjoy it or not enjoy it. Or enjoy it sometimes and not at others.

If I had to guess, top tour PGA players are a different mental/emotional/spiritual animal, and my guess is that there's no yippee-I'm-having-fun-yay walk-in-the-park effortless fun For most top pros there's a lot of stress and most people would not want to think the things that these guys are thinking. Pretty grim, actually. But then again, most of these top pros wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Different strokes for different folks, and those stressed-out pros don't want or need any pity.

This is for men. I would think women are more, uh, on the normal scale, but I bet there is still a lot of the above going on.

Of course there are a few life-is-good happy-warriors without much stress. I would say these tend to be long-time veterans or kids just coming up.

[newtogolf]

It's a job, there are good days and bad days. If at the end of the day, week, month, year you honestly like your job you had to have some fun. I love owning my own business, but not every day is fun....