PGA Championship

[bigunreal]

I watched too much of the PGA- why I put myself through that torture I'll never know. This Tiger thing is getting ridiculous. I'm sorry, but I simply can't accept that this one particular golfer-who just happens to be the most overhyped creature and favorite "athlete" of our mainstream press-is THAT much better than all the other professional golfers. It's SO predictable- whatever hapless white is paried with Tiger in the last round just collapses in his presence. Luke Donald had par or birdie putts lip out on THREE consecutive holes in the most crucial part of the final round. It was enough to bring to mind truly paranoid notions of electronic devices installed in the holes. As for Phil Mickelson, I am now going on record stating that he will never win another major. Something really "smelled" about his almost impossible collapse at the U.S. Open. Remember, at that time, he was on top of the Golf world, and Tiger was at his lowest point. If Phil wins that U.S. Open, it's three straight majors (almost a "Tiger Slam," though it's doubtful anyone would have given it quite the same amount of attention), and he has to be considered the #1 golfer in the world. Instead, he loses the title in a truly incomprehensible way, and has yet to bounce back (and, imho, never will). If one believes in as many conspiracy theories as I do, you might even think Mickelson was forced to blow that Open.

I know I'm ranting, and none of this makes any sense, but even with white self-esteem at an all-time low, and black self-esteem at an all-time high, it just isn't possible that EVERY golfer chokes in the presence of the almighty Tiger. It also isn't possible that this one particular golfer never seems to make any mistakes, and even when he does, miraculously recovers and still makes par. Jack Nicklaus made lots of mistakes, and blew many majors (a little known fact is his amazing 19 second-place finishes in majors), but when he's in contention, Tiger just doesn't do that. Sorry, but I just don't believe that is real. Can you all imagine what it would do for white self-confidence, and how the jock-sniffing media would react, if a Mickelson took on Tiger head-to-head in the final round of a major and outworked him, causing Tiger to collapse? But it just seems like, in Don King's America, that kind of thing can't happen. Call it years of brainwashing, or lack of self-confidence, or whatever, but the more paranoid among us cannot be blamed for thinking even professional golf could perhaps be fixed.

 

[White Shogun]

What do you think's going on, bigun'? Are the top-tier golfers being paid off to throw games, or what? I'm not being argumentative, I'm really interested in knowing what you think may be going on.

It seems to me, other than the aforementioned bribery, there is little one can do to insert a caste system into golf, unlike football, basketball, or other team sports. I can understand why some 'out there' would like to see Tiger break Nicklaus' records, and there may be money on the table for just that purpose, but doesn't seem as likely as Tiger just being a great golfer. He's been playing the game since he was three years old.

EDITED TO ADD: The creation of a caste-type system may be underway in the sense that players like Wie are invited to compete in men's tournaments, and she and other minority golfers are praised for lesser accomplishments than their white peers. But we do not yet have a ruling which says 'x number of players must be y race.' Not yet, anyway....Edited by: White Shogun

 

[bigunreal]

Shogun,

I readily acknowledge how irrational this kind of theorizing sounds. Maybe it's just sour grapes on my part. Maybe Tiger Woods is really just that much better than all the other golfers are. I just find it hard to believe that EVERY one of those other professionals cringe and collapse whenever they find themselves in direct competition with Tiger for a title. You would expect a lot of them-particularly those who haven't won a major before-to do this, but not all of them. I can't even watch any major once Tiger takes the lead, because it's all over at that point. I just know that he does seem to get a lot of lucky bounces (remember the putt he laid on the front lip of the cup a few majors back, that sat there for a good 30 seconds and then miraculously fell in?), and his competition seems to get a lot of unlucky bounces (Luke Donald's THREE straight putts lipping out in the final round defy almost any kind of mathematical odds, for example). Also, earlier in the PGA, when Tiger hit one of his very, very infrequent inaccurate drives, a fan stuck his hand up and stopped the ball from going into much more troubling territory. I've never seen a fan do something like that on a golf course, and I don't think any fan would do something like that for any other golfer.

So, I really don't know what's going on, and as the original boy who cried "conspiracy," perhaps my credibility with these issues is suspect, but....I just think that it's very convenient for the favorite sports star in Don King's America to have become just what was so consistently predicted for him years ago. Remember, Jack Nicklaus was quoted as saying that Tiger was going to win more majors than anyone else, before he'd ever won a single tournament. Other young phenoms in the past (Ben Crenshaw immediately springs to mind) never had those kinds of predictions made about them, and they certainly never received the kind of overblown, awestruck worship from the jock-sniffers in the media that this guy did from the moment he turned pro. Remember how the "experts" were seriously predicting he'd win a grand slam after he won his first Masters? This is something that had only been done once before, by Bobby Jones back in the 1930s. Why would they make that kind of prediction about a kid who'd only won a single major? Even during his valleys as a pro (and there have been a couple of real dry runs), the media never stopped worshiping Tiger, and he was still ranked #1 in the world. Finally, there is the Mickelson collapse at the U.S. Open. Again, I just find it all too convenient for the overlords of Don King's America, that the only true contender for Tiger's throne has an unprecedented, absolutely unbelievable meltdown on the final hole of what should have been his third consecutive major victory, which would have been made even more significant by the fact Tiger had missed the cut at the same Open for the first time in his career. So, in light of what has happened since then (Tiger winning the next two majors in the most convincing manner imaginable, while Mickelson continues to struggle), that unlikely collapse on the 18th hole at the U.S. Open takes on great importance for both players, and perhaps for the history of the game.

I know how crazy such speculation sounds, but I can't help it. Even though such scenarios involve a high profile guy like Mickelson agreeing to throw a major (and probably his future career), and bring to mind science fiction images of magnetic devices installed under the greens and in the holes, it's all there in my mind, at least at some level. The rational me knows how unlikely such things sound, and how ridiculous most people would consider them, but that never stopped me before.

 

[michiganblkman]

Can steroids aid a golfer like for example a baseball player?

Wouldnt it be ironic if the worlds number 1 golfer was caught with performance enhancing drugs in his system?

Are golfers even tested?

He has put on A LOT of muscle over the past few years.

 

[White Shogun]

Can steroids aid a golfer like for example a baseball player?

Wouldnt it be ironic if the worlds number 1 golfer was caught with performance enhancing drugs in his system?

Are golfers even tested?

He has put on A LOT of muscle over the past few years.

I think it would help, sure. More muscle mass, increased strength, longer drives.. but it wouldn't help once you're on the green. Drive for show, putt for dough.

I don't know if they're tested, but I doubt it.

Plus, Tiger using steroids cannot account for the way the other players fold under pressure. Unless they're being slipped a mickey in the club house...

Edited by: White Shogun

 

[white is right]

The biggest aid for golfers are beta blockers. I wouldn't be suprised if a few of the golfbots use them. Woods on the other hand is way too lively for those.

 

[foreverfree]

The biggest aid for golfers are beta blockers. I wouldn't be suprised if a few of the golfbots use them. Woods on the other hand is way too lively for those.

What's a beta blocker?

John