Sports Illustrated Archives • GolfStinks

Is Rickie Fowler golf’s version of Anna Kournikova? (*Photo by Chris Breikss / CC BY 2.0*)

So your peers think you’re overrated. Does that matter? What does it even mean? And what do you care anyway? Well everyone has seen by now, in an anonymous poll by Sports Illustrated, pro golfers voted Ricky Fowler and Ian Poulter the most overrated players on the tour.

This makes me curious. What do you think Fowler and Poulter think of this? Do you think it upsets them? Do you think it angers them? Do you think they use it as motivation? Or do you think they just don’t pay attention? I guess it depends from what angle you look at it.

If it were me, I would probably say that I didn’t pay attention, all the while knowing full well that I did. And while I don’t know that it would necessarily anger me, it would frustrate me to some extent knowing that I’m working my butt off to be a good player, only for some other golfers to think I’m perceived to be better than I actually am.

From the standpoint of all the golfers on the tour who were polled, how seriously do they take this? It’s not like this makes a bit of difference to them. It has no real affect on the game, the tour or the sport itself other than to stir up a little conversation and maybe controversy. But, now that I think about it, maybe that couldn’t hurt.

I guess these polls are really done for the fans though. It does give them something to talk about, right? And maybe even agree with. Now I don’t follow the tour all that closely, but I have to say…I do see an awful lot of Rickie Fowler in promos and commercials considering, up until last week (nice way to respond by the way), he’s only won on the pro tour once, and that was back in 2012. And by the way, one win does not necessarily exonerate you though. It’s like a pro baseball player being mired in a 4 for 42 slump. Just because he goes 3 for 4 the next game doesn’t mean he’s snapped out of it. He’s still 7 for his last 46.

So I guess you just take these polls for what they’re worth, which is not all that much. Are they fun to read? Sure. Create good conversation? Yup. Maybe somehow keep Rickie Fowler from turning into golf’s version of Anna Kournikova? Now we’re talkin’…

Rory_McIlroy_signs_autograph — Is Rory the future of golf? (photo by TourProGolfClubs [CC BY 2.0] via Flickr)

In a recent interview with Rory McIlroy, the question of whether or not he’s ready to be golf’s newest superstar was presented. Without skipping a beat, Mr. McIlroy said yes. Now, here’s the part where I’m kind of on the fence about. He also said he would be wasting his time if he didn’t and there was some other stuff in there about this is his destiny blah blah blah. But I’m having a hard time figuring out if it’s ego driven or modesty.

Is Mr. McIlroy the next fairway pharaoh? Time will tell and although Tiger is not in his best form right now he did set the bar pretty high. Rory has some pretty big shoes to fill. Remember that Tiger single handedly caused a spike in all things golf when he was on top (no pun intended). If Rory thinks he’s the answer well like I said before, time will tell.

Is Rory McIlroy what golf needs right now? Possibly. I’m thinking golf needs something that hits more of its core audience. Oh I don’t know, maybe something along the lines of say Sports Illustrated swimsuit models that golf. Wait…what? They do!! Come on, you can’t be serious…and they are. Serious about the game that is.

Looking at the facts, a majority of golfers are more prone to show interest in these models that golf than Rory…sorry buddy. Numbers and demographics don’t lie. Considering the majority of hacks out there are male, chances are they would rather watch SI swimsuit models Kelly Rohrbach (who happened to play golf at Georgetown University) and Hannah Davis tee it up then a 25 year old golf phenom dude.

Either way, the point is that golf is undergoing a transition and there seems to be more recent interest in the game by a younger group. So, Mr. McIlroy, I wish you all the luck on your quest to securing the throne and if any of the SI models happen to be in the northeast and want to golf, hit us up.

Hit’em long…yell FORE!!!

Being Overrated Is Overrated

Superstars & Models…Just What Golf Needs

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