GolfStinks

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Why I Don’t Bet On Golf

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I really can’t afford to do it, but I sometimes can’t help myself.  I like to bet on things.  I don’t know about anyone else, but the prospect of winning a few extra dollars makes any game more interesting.  It’s one of the many reasons I enjoy fantasy football.  But I like to bet on the games themselves, get into pools, draw horses names from a hat for the Kentucky Derby…whatever.  And not just on sports either – a co-worker is pregnant, let’s start a baby pool!  But there’s one sport that I’ve never bet on and I’m just not sure I ever will – golf.

Is it me, or is golf just too hard to bet on.  For me, there’s two reasons this is the case: 1. In the bigger tournaments where the superstars are, the odds are always crappy.  You have to put down way too much money to win anything significant.  2. In rounds when the stars aren’t playing, the field is so wide open and some names are so unfamiliar that there’s rarely a “good bet.”  Take for example this weekend.  Leading up to it, everyone was saying that Mickelson is the favorite among golf betting fans to win the Greenbrier Classic, and he is one of the superstars.  But lo and behold, the weekend rolled around and he was nowhere to be found.  At +2, he didn’t even make the cut!  So much for favorites.

So, what about the majors, when all of the stars come out to play?  Well, the odds for the Open Championship later this month have Tiger as the early favorite at 8 to 1.  But with his relatively inconsistent play, is that where you want to put your money?  And with the field full of such stars, the odds are probably not even as good as they may appear to be.  So what to do?  All of those names at the top look tempting, but then again, so do many of the names on the list.

You see what I mean?  There are just too many options and the field is just too wide open.  Do you go with one of the favorites, or one of the sleepers?  And in the majors, are there any sleepers really?  It’s just too damn complicated.  So for me, I think I’ll stick with football and pregnancy pools.  However, that being said, I’m going with Luke Donald.

Swing ’til you’re happy!

I Might Actually Watch Golf Again…

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A couple weeks back I watched a three way playoff between Haas, Mickelson and Bradley for the Northern Trust Open. This is the first time I watched golf on purpose in a long, long time. And for the first time in a long, long time I was enjoying golf on TV. Fast forward a week or so later and Stinky Golfer Chris posted about the PGA needing their own Jeremy Lin. I agree.

In the meantime, as we wait for a new star to emerge, I’m watching golf to see who will take over the throne. It’s exciting times in the pro golf universe. With all that negative hoopla the media was giving golf because Tiger couldn’t keep it in his pants, it’s actually refreshing to see a clean slate and a top spot yet to be filled. It’s all about turning the negatives into positives, right?

So, who’s it going to be? Let’s take a look at the top 5 in the FedExCup standings.
Rank
This
Week 		Rank
Last
Week 		Player Events Points # of Wins # of Top 10’s Points behind Lead Reset Points
1 1 Kyle Stanley 6 935 1 2

2 2 Johnson Wagner 6 860 1 3 75
3 3 Phil Mickelson 5 807 1 2 128
4 6 Mark Wilson 6 802 1 2 133
5 4 Bill Haas 6 752 1 2 183

Isn’t this a change of pace? Kyle Stanley leading the pack. Wait…who? Kyle Stanley? Not so bad for someone that is ranked 48th in the world. What about the #1 ranked golfer in the world, Luke Donald. Again…who? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking these guys. I find it funny how golf, or the media rather hasn’t found its star in this group of leaders.

What’s the issue? Are they waiting for Tiger to mount his comeback? Come on man! It’s time for new blood. There’s a whole pool of young guns worthy of the limelight. These guys have such a great opportunity right under their noses. As long as they battle it out and vie for that top spot, the tour will make my TV channel rotation on Sunday afternoons. I just hope it stays interesting for a while.

Hit’em long…yell FORE!!!

The Road To The PGA Championship

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It’s Sunday afternoon and me and a couple buddies are watching my Patriots finish off the Jets, their biggest and most hated rival. During the game, we’re talking about some other teams (one of the guys is a Cowboys fan and the other is a Vikings fan) and some other sports – namely the MLB playoffs.

It’s during these discussions that I start to consider the regular season schedules and playoff scenarios of the major sports in the U.S. For some reason, I compare this to golf, particularly, the PGA Tour.

Back in February I wrote a post about the need for a real PGA Championship. The question remaining though was, how do you get there? Is the final tournament based on the world golf rankings? Is it based on the money leaders? Hopefully not. But if not either of these, what then? Well, I’ve added another idea to the mix, but it would require a radical change.

Currently, we play Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday tournaments. At the end of the tournament we emerge with one winner. But what if we used those days to play a series of one-on-one matches? What if a player could emerge from a weekend with a record, say 3-1, rather than finish “16th, nine shots back.” What if, rather than a money list or a ranking system that no one understands, there were actual golf “standings” with a win-loss-tie record?

I’m sorry but, whether you are a golf purist or not, I feel like I’m onto something here. Imagine opening up the sports page of your local newspaper or checking the standing on your favorite sports/golf website, and instead of seeing Luke Donald is #1 on the money list at $5,837,214.50 with Webb Simpson in second trailing by $68,971, you this:

PGA Tour Standings

Luke Donald 52-35-4

Webb Simpson 48-36-7

Nick Watney 47-36-8

Etc….

I gotta tell ya, this is a hell of a lot more interesting than looking at a money list. It’s a hell of a lot more interesting than looking at a ranking list. And it sure makes each match mean a lot more when you are working your way toward an actual PGA Championship. Plus on Sundays, when many players are out of reach of the tournament win, this format would give each player a shot at still playing for an individual win rather than an additional $500 or $1000.

Each player becomes, for lack of a better term, a one-man-team. An individual rather than a nameless face in the crowd. Players will have a chance to pull away from the pack to give themselves better playoff seedings. And guys who are lower in the standings have the opportunity to play spoiler.

OK, so it’s still a work in progress. But it’s also a refreshing change to a stale sport. I’ve still got a few kinks to work out, but I’m sure I’m onto something. I know there are going to be plenty who hate this idea. But I also know there will be many who may see some potential. But in the end, all I’m trying to do is come up with some ideas to pump some new life into a great but fading game. And hey, whether you agree with me or not, you sure can’t fault me for that.

Swing ’til you’re happy!

Tiger’s Back…And The Media Sure Is Letting Us Know About It!

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So it looks like Tiger finally put an end to that 20 tournament losing streak. He wrapped up the WGC-Bridgestone, like he has so many times before. The longest winless streak of his career is over.

Now maybe he can just get back to his normal routine and just go back to being the same player he always…What? What do you mean he didn’t win? I saw him on every sports news show on TV. I saw Tiger on ESPN constantly! He must have won!

Adam Scott you say? Well I knew he was playing well, but he couldn’t possibly have beaten Tiger. 17 under?! He finished 18 strokes better than Tiger?! Well then, what the hell was I watching?!

Nope, my eyes and ears did not deceive me. Tiger was never really in the hunt after Day 1, but that doesn’t stop the sports media. Rather than focusing on the guy who led the tournament from start to finish, we’re focused on the guy who, after the first day, was never closer than six strokes back. Rather than pay attention to the guys who finished tied for 2nd (each shooting a final round 66), we’re worried about the guy who only broke 70 once in the four rounds.

I get on the PGA’s case for failing to properly promote its players on the tour. But I guess that’s only part of the problem. Just as much of the problem, if not more, is the media. No matter what happens (on the course anyway) the media just can’t get enough of Tiger. It’s been 21 straight winless tournaments, but the media acts like it’s just the opposite. Once again, it’s “Tiger, Tiger, Tiger….oh, and by the way, blah blah blah won.”

Need an example? Friday night, I tuned into Sportscenter. Before they even showed the results of the second round, there was an entire segment on Tiger’s second round struggles, even though he was only three strokes off the day before. A few segments of the show later, we get to the actual highlights of the round. Here, we see a few more strokes and reactions from Tiger before we get to see anyone who is actually in contention. Need further proof? Check out this clip

Still leading off with Tiger. We have to wait through three of Tiger’s putts before we hear about the guy who won. And there’s barely even a mention of either Luke Donald or Rickie Fowler, who finished tied for second. And people wonder why the sport is in the shape it’s in…

So here’s a bit of a plea to the mainstream media – do the sport a favor and start focusing on some of the other great players on the tour. Please realize that, until he shows otherwise, Tiger is no longer the elite player he was. Until he shows otherwise, he is a middle-of-the-pack player. OK, benefit of the doubt due to his accomplishments…he’s still a top-tier player. But he is NOT the Tiger of years past. And until the time comes that he does show otherwise, why not take the time to introduce us to, and promote the other great, young talent on the tour. It can do nothing but help the sport as a whole.

Swing ’til you’re happy!

Why I’m Happy Tiger Didn’t Win The Masters

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Before anyone gets the wrong idea about the title of this post, I’ll explain. It has nothing to do with Tiger as a person. Tiger as a person will forever be viewed as, lets say, not the nicest guy you’ve ever heard of. But that has no bearing on this particular post.

It also has nothing to do with Tiger’s ego. You know, that ego that never just comes out and says, “He played better than me.” Rather, the ego just makes excuses for why he lost. That also has no bearing on this post. Nope, it’s none of those things.

What makes me happy about it is the fact that, for a few days anyway, the younger and/or lesser known players on the tour got a good amount of attention at a major! Whether the PGA knows it or not, this is just what they needed! Tiger made his charge, but Charl Schwartzel played out of his mind down the stretch! Despite his Sunday meltdown, Rory Mcilroy was the biggest news for the first three days of the tournament. Some nice performances by Adam Scott, Jason Day, Luke Donald and a good Sunday from Justin Rose may have helped the PGA out by helping to improve its deficiency in the player recognition department.

As we here at Golfstinks have said previously, too many golf fans have no idea who some of these great players on the tour are. So to see some of them withstand the Tiger Woods charge, and play right along side him, if not better, the PGA couldn’t ask for anything more! Some of these players are the tour’s future. These players are the guys people need to know about when a tour stop comes along that Tiger doesn’t think he can win (i.e. he’s not participating).

We all know viewership drops when Tiger isn’t there. And turnout at the tour stop itself is considerably lower. But it would probably be different if these other players were promoted properly, or even half as much as Tiger. So maybe the PGA will take this opportunity and use these performance that are fresh in the minds of golf fans.

At some point, the PGA is going to have to realize that Tiger is not going to be around forever. Better yet they should realize, for one or two reasons, the landscape of golf is changing. Either Tiger is not the player he once was, or the other players have simply caught up and no longer fear him. Either way, it’s time for the PGA to take advantage.

I’m tired of having to see where Tiger finished in every update. I see that Charl Schwartzel won, but immediately after that – Tiger Woods finishes fourth (-10). What about 2nd and 3rd? What about the two guys who tied for fourth with Tiger? This is exactly what I’m talking about above. It’s time for the PGA, and the media, to jump on the bandwagon of some players other than Tiger.

Swing ’til you’re happy!

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