As Tiger Woods Fades, a Fear That Revenue Will, Too [NYT]

[dkolo]

You're correct.  Today's superior players are just too polished. You don't ever hear a "bad" word or see anyone slam a club on the ground or berate an official.  Regardless of their skill level they are just sort of bland most of the time in interviews and on the course,  e.g. they are uninteresting outside of the fact "these guys are really good".  To be a big star you need to be a 'personality" too.  My 2 ¢.

I can't blame them. Rory got pissed and chucked his club in the water, and it was the top story on ESPN's golf page. Guys curse and they get fined. Sergio and Poulter break down what they did wrong after their collapses and they're criticized for being too honest. It's immediate negative reinforcement to repress interesting behavior.

[ghalfaire]

I thought it was great; Rory throwing his 3I into the lake.  There's hope for the lad yet. Shows he has some fire in his belly.  I suppose you can overdo this sort of thing but I like to see that these guys are playing to win and not just be another one of the millionaires who consistently places in the top 20 or so but never wins and doesn't seem to much mind not winning.    But if you overdo it the other way, never demonstrate emotion on the course,  you get Inbee Park. A golfing machine but not particularly interesting to watch.

[jbishop15]

I thought it was great; Rory throwing his 3I into the lake.  There's hope for the lad yet. Shows he has some fire in his belly.  I suppose you can overdo this sort of thing but I like to see that these guys are playing to win and not just be another one of the millionaires who consistently places in the top 20 or so but never wins and doesn't seem to much mind not winning.    But if you overdo it the other way, never demonstrate emotion on the course,  you get Inbee Park. A golfing machine but not particularly interesting to watch.

I think it's different for everyone. I don't really care about personality; I just want to see good golf.

Having said that, I thought it was awesome that he threw the club into the lake; why not? It's not like he chucked it into the crowd. It was hilarious. Dude has as good pretty a throwing motion as a golf swing.

I've said this before, but the idea that some kid is gonna see Rory chuck a club into a lake and then be like 'I wanna do that!' is ridiculous. If little Suzy tomahawked one into the lake, she'd learn real quick that it's not acceptable.