Palmer made it a real sport. So did Jack. Ben. Lee. Byron and certainly Bobby Jones!
Amazing shot, but the pre shot routine made me want to yell at my screen "stop the bs and just hit the f'ing ball!"
No doubt they were all great golfers that were athletes. But they didn’t weed out the none athletes in the sport. Tiger retired those guys. He brought in this generation of golfers.
Oh yes they weed them out. Jack started as a famously fat, chunky dude. Learned early that thin to win. Yes their was Stadler and the same but they were one hit wonders
The greats all knew what it took to be great. But they were not the tides that brought up the game (at least not the same degree). Tiger’s biggest contribution to the game is TV rating and money. That’s how he brought in all the stars today.
I don't know how old you are but Arnold in particular made golf a TV enterprise. Golf was considered a rich person's sport. But a long comes the next regular guy who captured the nation's interest and becomes a legend from humble beginnings. Yes Tiger brought many new eyes to the tube and bigger $$ but please don't discount the importance of Arnold and Jack. Without them both myself and Tiger may have never had the opportunity to play this great sport on a daily basis.
Tiger came along just as the persimmon driver head was turning into metal. Now, you have NASA materials throughout the club, club heads the size of bricks, a ball that doesn't spin and if all that isn't enough, trackman and body sensors to direct the player on how to capture high velocity, square strikes consistently.
To me, the analytics of golf are equal to the analytics of baseball. Either you love the long ball or you long for more strategy.
If you don't think that hitting the ball the way he does requires exquisite timing and rhythm, your crazy. Take a modern driver, swing it as hard as you possibly can and see if you can keep it on the planet. Speed is a skill. Harnessing that speed and keeping it under control is a skill.
I personally think that his one length for all irons system allows him to be more consistent. Other golfers have to adjust for all the different club lengths but he only has to deal with one from driver to iron.
I love this guy. He’s constantly considering different ways to try to win, doesn’t accept anything without analyzing it, and doesn’t care if anyone else thinks it stupid if he believes in it. It’s fun to follow him.
And Rory is fit not huge. Even Koepka. I met him last year and was surprised at how not big he was.
