Conrad

I understand that hes ranked 20th in the world now but you can't tell me that doesn't mean he'll be there for long. Could he continue to move up, absolutely. But he could just as easily not touch a top 20 for a few months and be back outside the top 20, heck the top 50. My point is prove it over the long haul, not over a 7 month period when most of the big boys were at home sitting on the couch. No body is calling Russell Henley a top 5 golfer or even hinting he'll be in that upper echelon and he just won last week and has multiple victories and a well known college and amateur career. Golf is such cyclical sport. Its a fascinating sport to me because you can get to know a guy in one weekend, root for him to win the tournament and then never hear from him again on tour(or hear very little). There are so many examples of this. You don't just become a top 5 player in the sport by winning a few tournaments in under a year. You can't just say that and disrespect all the other guys who have been on Tour for much longer who have done the same things as you if not more accomplishments while staying relevant at the top of the game. Golf is humbling and I think Zinger said something about this on twitter after Reed's comments saying basically, let reed have his time cause we all know the wave comes crashing down again, just a matter of if he can get back up and ride. So basically he'll falter at some point when in contention (maybe soon), he'll probably get hammered for it in the media and will he be able to get back up and get back into contention again in the future. Its happened to every pro and some have and others haven't. (hey Mr Duval hope ESPN pays well) Its very different to be a hot player in a short amount of time rather than a consistently top 5 or top 10 player in the world. Just look at recent examples within the last couple years of guys who climbed to the top and couldn't stay there. Where's Luke Donald these days? What about Lee Westwood? What about Martin Kaymer? All were former number ones in the game and all are very much doing what these days? Westwood hasn't won on the PGA Tour since 2010 and hasn't won worldwide since 2012. Donald hasn't won on a major tour since 2012 and Kaymer has done nothing of note in over 2 years. Sure they are still competing in high level tournaments but they are exactly the example to show how easy it is to fall from the top of the game and how hard it is to get there and stay there. Remember Billy Horschel and his run last spring. He was a walking top 10 and I don't think missed any cuts till after the US Open and had a break through win at Zurich. In fact I believe he made 23 straight cuts. Since his high finish at the US Open he's done nothing of note at all. He looked like a lock to get a spot on the Presidents Cup team and surely was touted as one of the better young Americans. I believe he's only had one top 10 since his T4 at the US Open. Golf has more flashes in the pan than any other sport and too me right now I don't think its fair to guys that have been out there for years and years to call Reed anything other than that till he proves it over a long stretch of time.

I think its gotta be just completely overwhelming to be a first time major winner and returning champion and try to repeat let alone compete at a high level. So many of these first time guys lately have been swallowed up by being the returning champ. We saw it recently with Bubba and Charl. Back to back has only been done by 3 guys and its rarefied air for sure. Tiger, Faldo and Jack being the only ones to successfully defend ever Augusta isn't just coincidence. Its hard enough to win multiple majors but to defend after your first just seems nearly impossible.

30 days until Augusta and it seems as if the top of the golfing world is a mess. -Tiger has had his worst start for a year in his career along with the back injury. -Phil has had some minor health issues and really hasn't done much, plus the putter has been as bad as its been in a while. -Rory was trending in the right direction till his Honda meltdown and late Saturday meltdown at Doral. -Scott and Stenson have done nothing all year. -Jason Day pops up, plays great and wins the match play and then withdraws with a thumb injury. We've really had a strange start to the year on the PGA Tour. The biggest names are stealing headlines for the wrong reasons. (I know favorites are silly in golf but it still makes for interesting discussion and i'll take any Masters discussion in March) Right now my 5 favorites in order are... 1. Bubba Watson- Trending in the right direction. Win at NTO and a 2nd at Doral. He seems to have grown up and moved on from the post Masters life. His length and ability to hit power fades will always keep him in the discussion at Augusta. If he makes putts he'll have another green jacket in his future. 2. Rory McIlroy- Meltdown at Honda aside he's still hitting the ball so much better this year than he did last year. He's got the swing and ball flight to win at Augusta. I think its just a matter of time before he's fitted for a green jacket. 3. Jason Day- If he's healthy he'll be a pre-tournament favorite. He's trending in the right direction not just with his play this year but his play in past years at Augusta National. Back to back Aussies? 4. Dustin Johnson- Leads in the all around and many major categories on Tour so far this year. Seems to have improved the flat stick especially outside of 10 feet. He's been absolutely bombing it off the tee this year and if he finds fairways he'll be hard to beat. I still think he has a break away major in him, just far too talented. 5. Tiger/Phil- I put them together because regardless of health and rust they both show up at the Masters and bring it. Health is Tiger's biggest enemy at this point and it looks like putting has been Phil's biggest issue this year. I don't doubt both will be in contention going into the weekend because it seems like every year they are. Here is some staggering stats for both. Tiger has finished outside the top 10 once in 9 years and outside the top 20 twice since 1997. Phil has finished in the top 10 14 times in his career at Augusta and outside the top 20 just 3 times since 1995. Either way I would expect to see one or both on the final page of the leaderboard come Sunday regardless of how putrid both have been in 2014.

Up here in NW Connecticut we still have 2+ feet of snow on the ground, potential for more later this week and no real thaw out in sight. 2 years ago I played golf in the middle of February... Go Figure. Happy to be here and I look forward to talking some golf with everyone.

Based on the venues and the current state of the game its definitely much more toward make or break than just another year for Tiger. The clock isn't going to stop ticking and the longer he goes forward without a major win the heavier that monkey on his back gets. I've never once doubted Tiger with my rooting interests and his own expectations. He's proved a lot of people wrong just by coming back and winning regular tour events after the scandal/injury hiatus. Most guys careers would have been over. It took a lot less to get David Duval back to base camp never to scale the mountain again. Tiger is motivated by the doubters, haters and media a like that all basically declared him dead and gone. Will he win a major this year? I'd say yes. The Master's will always stand to be his best chance till he hits his mid 40's. The Open Championship seems more likely than the US Open for him now and the PGA is always there. Will he pass Jack? I'd say his chances would go up exponentially with a major win this year and go down dramatically if he didn't. It's probably the biggest year for his career post scandal but make or break for an athlete whose made a career out of doing the impossible seems a bit steep.

Sure he is. I think every athlete that competes at high level/professional level has some sense of entitlement and arrogance. I don't think thats a bad thing either. Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, and Michael Jordan didn't get to the pinnacle of their sport without some selfishness and arrogance. Obviously Reed isn't anywhere near that level but I sure can't blame him for the confidence or over confidence. I do have a few issues with it though especially in the world of golf. Golf is a sport that so often you can come out get hot and play great one week and be slamming your trunk on Friday afternoon the next week. We see so many "flashes in the pan" in golf that its really hard to put your finger on how good a player is until he proves it over a long period of time. Tiger, Adam Scott and Henrik Stenson didn't just climb to the top of the world in a couple of weeks. Its a long journey and one that can't be judged based on a small amount of competitions like Reed's case. There is a huge difference in being the hottest player in the world or one the 5 hottest players in the world then being a top 5 player. I mean lets be serious how can you even be considered top 20 without ever teeing it up a major championship. The other issue or thing I find funny about this and his victory yesterday is that he really wasn't pushed much at all on the back 9. No one in the final groups had a good day. Tiger, Dufner, Mahan and the Johnsons all faded. I would have liked to see him be forced to pull driver on 18 and see how he reacted to that. If he had done it with one of those guys coming at him hard similarly to the way Rory did it at Honda in 2012 then maybe his arrogance wouldn't be so misguided. But lets be honest, Reed hung on by the skin of teeth on the back 9 and no one really popped up and made him work. Lets see what this kid does over the entire course of a season going up against high quality fields and what he can in a few major championships before we declare him anything more than a flash in the pan.