Sunday, April 24, 2011

Twitter Twama (in other words, Drama)

I was on Twitter this morning and read a tweet by Nick Faldo that I just couldn't agree with. It irritated me so much that I decided to Unfollow the golfing legend. What was he tweeting on about?  The World Rankings System. He believed, as is his right, that Majors should carry more ranking points than non-major events. I disagree. Weighting the majors makes it appear as though world golf only cares about four tournaments, three of which are in ego-centric America. If world golf is truly wanting to expand globally and truly believes all of the propaganda it issued during its bid to be included in the Olympics in the future, then the World Rankings system cannot be too heavily reliant on the majors - ultra-exclusive tournaments that only a select few, the same select few, get to participate in. 

Another factor to consider is that the golfers engage in intense preparations for the majors each year, going so far as to play the courses several times in the weeks leading up to the events. Giving these tournaments extra points when the golfers are already taking advantage of the system by playing the courses repeatedly beforehand is like a teacher giving the students the answers to a test and then when the students score 100%, the teacher gives them bonus points. It's pointless, and in my view, regressive, if the ultimate goal of world golf is to grow the game globally.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Manassero Wins Again

One of the two players I've turned the spotlight on this year, Matteo Manassero, has won his second tournament before the age of 18 today at the Maybank Malaysian Open.  A remarkable achievement and a great moment for golf. The final round was exciting with several players in contention, including Rory McIlroy, who kept up his level of play from last week despite the tiring travel from Augusta, Georgia to Malaysia. Manassero jumps up to about 35th in the World Golf Rankings with his win today.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Masters Thoughts

What an exciting finish to the Masters. Charl Schwartzel wins with four straight birdies on the closing four holes. We're used to seeing him in contention early in the year evey time he tees it up. So, it was very exciting to see him reach out and grab the Masters win. Jason Day, Adam Scott, Angel Cabrera were also fantastic contenders. Too bad about Rory McIlroy, but those days are going to happen. And how about Fred Couples with a top 15 finish? I love the fact that so many players were in contention. I think this makes golf more exciting than the scenario we've been living with the last several years with just a couple of guys who were billed as the only contenders. Shame on you, media. See what you've been missing.