Bill Elliott on the USPGA and Tiger

[MikeH]

know not everyone on here is an unqualified fan of Bill but think this is worth a read
http://www.golf-monthly.co.uk/us-pga-2011/blog/529060/a-major-loss.html
interested to get your thoughts

 

[sev112]

Bill seems to have a reasonable view.

Whether there is any fact basis to why the US PGA is considered not as worthy i'm not so sure. The (British) Open has had its share of odd one-off winners (Hamilton, Curtis etc). The (British) PGA (if considered an equivalent of the US PGA) has had in recent years, Simon Khan, Scott Drummond both of whom might be considered Hamilton, Curtis, Sluman, types ?

Maybe it's just the statstics of golf, general high standard of play, and the entry field that each of these tournaments generate.

Whether the US PGA should be a major i dont know - what is the criteria ? We weren't too unhappy when Padraing and Martin K were winning it. And we wouldn't be criticising it if Lee or Luke won it.

With Woods, i feel sorry for the guy that he is going through a difficult time, albeit brought on almost solely by himself. I do wish that he would smile more. He can take that lesson from Darren at teh moment, and he could do worse than look at Lee's recovery from a world ranking of 250something to get back to World Number 1.

 

[toonarmy]

And still people talk of him as being the best ever.

When did you ever see Nicklaus, Palmer, Hogan, Watson etc. play shots that would make a mid-handicapper blush?

Woods could be great but he could always be dreadful too. When Jack didn't win, he never embarrassed himself or hit/hack shots like Woods does.

This is why he will never be 'the greatest' in my eyes.

 

[Junior]

Not sure I agree that golf was at its best when Tiger was in his pomp. Sure, it was great to watch him play the way he did. Personally i find it more entertaining when the top players in the world are battling it out on the final day for first place though, not for second.

Not sure what to make of this PGA championship though. There are a few unknowns at the top of the leaderboard, but the course and conditions have been the same for everyone. I'll reserve judgement until tonight !!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Is it more to do with the fact that we don't "get" the tradition involved in this event. I'm pretty right in thinking that for a long while there weren't many if any Brits in it anyway and even when they did start entering and the Europeans followed suit they just didn't do very well in it. Or is it because we're accustomed to the Masters because its the same place same time every year, the US Open is their equivalent to The Open and we know and adore our version because we know the courses, it is OURS and we've had a few winners from Britain and Europe over the years

 

[Tiger]

I'm normally a fan of Bill's writing but on this occasion I'm split. About Tiger I disagree. I get bored when sport is too one-sided. I would like him to be back in contention but not dominating the way he used to. About the USPGA I agree but for different reasons. My issue isn't with the fact that the leaderboard is dominated by players I've never heard of or that in its history it has been won by more than the odd player coming from nowhere. My issue is that America shouldn;t be home to three of the four Majors. IMHO the 4th Major should be a global fixture with a worldwide rota of courses taking the compeition to mainland Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and possibly in the future South America. Golf is a global game and the majors should reflect that.

 

[Mungoscorner]

I'm normally a fan of Bill's writing but on this occasion I'm split. About Tiger I disagree. I get bored when sport is too one-sided. I would like him to be back in contention but not dominating the way he used to. About the USPGA I agree but for different reasons. My issue isn't with the fact that the leaderboard is dominated by players I've never heard of or that in its history it has been won by more than the odd player coming from nowhere. My issue is that America shouldn;t be home to three of the four Majors. IMHO the 4th Major should be a global fixture with a worldwide rota of courses taking the compeition to mainland Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and possibly in the future South America. Golf is a global game and the majors should reflect that.

I agree in principle with the comments about the US having 3 of the 4 majors,but as in most things,money talks.Add to this the fact that some American players hate leaving there home country,and consider travelling to a neighbouring state the same as travelling to a foreign country,and already the sponsors will be questioning taking a major somewhere else other than the US.
Unfortunately the US is where the money is,and also where most of the major manufacturers are,so it'll always be considered the centre of the universe in golfing terms.

 

[Tiger]

US players might be unwilling to travel but they are hardly dominating the world rankings at the moment. Back when Tigr was 1 and Big Phil was 2 that could carry some sway but right now surely sponsors would love to have a high profile golf tournament in the far east or middle east?

I think it might be more to do with tradition than sponsors

 

[brendy]

And still people talk of him as being the best ever.

When did you ever see Nicklaus, Palmer, Hogan, Watson etc. play shots that would make a mid-handicapper blush?

Woods could be great but he could always be dreadful too. When Jack didn't win, he never embarrassed himself or hit/hack shots like Woods does.

This is why he will never be 'the greatest' in my eyes.

Less was showed on tv and recorded back then but here are a few samples, it did happen to the best but they smiled an got on with it.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1019290/index.htm

 

[birdieman]

Fair article, can be good viewing watching some journeymen pros getting a shot at a big title and seeing who crumbles under the pressure.
USPGA just comes a little quickly after The Open and US Open for me, would be better if it was the season ending swansong in late October for example.
Tournament has a grand history and worthy of major status but remains the least valued of the 4 but that would continue to be the case if it was replaced with another tournament somewhere else so no point changing that.

Tiger had a bad week, don't think it was any more than that but I agree we won't see his best again. It's true other players coming through have none of his presence in front of the camera or his ability to intimidate opponents.

 

[USER1999]

I would drop the masters as a major, and go global with a fourth.

The masters would continue as a great tournament, but it has the weakest field, and golf would be better served by a rotating major between Australia, south Africa and china,