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Tiger or the Golden Bear?
Posted: Thursday January 20, 2000 05:17 PM
Click here to send your golf questions to Gary Van Sickle. Here's what we learned from our Hawaiian vacation, during which the PGA Tour started a new season with two tournaments in the Aloha State: Tiger Woods is unbeatable. Ernie Els, David Duval and who knows who else took golf a lot more seriously in the off-season. Paul Azinger's golf game lives. The Smash Factor is the worst innovation since the TV timeout. Before I rip into ESPN for its hideous telecast of the Sony Open, let me say that I think golf in prime time is the best idea yet. I don't know about you, but the single biggest reason I don't watch more golf on weekend afternoons is that I'm busy doing something else, such as playing golf. (Note to boss: Not really. Of course not.) Anyway, ESPN's new stat, the Smash Factor, and its gadget that measures clubhead speed and ball speed are the most annoying inventions of the new year. Clubhead speed is a mildly interesting stat, but since its pretty much the same for most tour pros, who cares? The Smash Factor, whose explanation by Ian Baker-Finch I never did understand, was nonsense. Worse, ESPN flashed the Smash Factor stats on the screen in a big graphic the moment a player hit a shot. The graphics covered up a majority of the screen, preventing me from seeing where the shot landed. I won't even bother picking on the commentators, since it was a B-team production, but I would rather watch a low-budget Golf Channel production than ESPN. What do you think? OK, enough about me. On to the mail: Some colleagues of mine have been arguing about who is the best of all time, Tiger Woods or Jack Nicklaus. Can you please put this annoying debate to rest? -- Doug Friedman, New York Let's see, Tiger has clearly been the best player in the game for oh, eight months. Jack was the best for slightly more than two decades. The answer is Jack. But check back in 10 years. By then it will be Tiger, who has more weapons in his bag and a better all-around game than Jack ever had. He also has Jack's uncanny knack for making every big shot and big putt. Though it seemed ridiculous when Tiger first came out, given Jack's 70 wins and 18 professional majors, Tiger has already convinced me he will shred Jack's records, possibly fairly easily. My Psychic Friends Network tells me this is going to be Kirk Triplett's big year. What does your Psychic Friends Network tell you? Will he always be saddled with the "best player never to have won a tour event" label? -- Chuck Davis, Pullman, Wash. If you're a Psychic Friends Network subscriber, you should already know my answer. But then, you should have known I'd say that, too. Triplett is one of the tour's nicest guys. He gets bonus points for sticking with those bucket hats, which are either hideously unstylish or so retro-cool that he's years ahead of us. I don't foresee this being his big year, but don't worry, he's not the best player who's never won a tour event. That's still Colin Montgomerie. (This cheap shot dedicated to previous Mailbag host Alan Shipnuck, Monty's biggest fan.) I know he's no body-builder but it looks to me as if David Duval could actually pull his shirt off this year on the beach in Hawaii. Do you think Duval's continued dedication to fitness can translate to a better second half than last year? -- Mark Rogers, London, Ont. Duval's new muscles are a declaration of war, a sign that he's serious about challenging Tiger for the top spot. I don't think fitness related to Duval's second-half slippage in '99. It was a combination of the No. 1 spotlight turning on him and a general loss of interest after four wins and a 59. He will be more focused this year and, therefore, he will win multiple titles. Fitness helps, but golf is still about scoring. A bad year with the putter will negate everything else. Ask Johnny Miller. I've been paying close attention to Craig Barlow, a golfer who shares my name. At the end of last season, he showed the ability to go low (61 in Las Vegas). Does he have a bright future on tour, or will he just be another journeyman about whom only I care? -- Craig Barlow, Fullerton, Calif. At least two of the courses in the Las Vegas three-course rotation are cupcakes, so don't get carried away with your hero's 61. Barlow's got game -- but so does every player on the tour. Success at this level is as much to mental as anything. For maximum vicarious fun, change your name to Sergio Garcia. Which golfer do you think will have a breakthough year in 2000? Any early surprise guesses at who might win his first major? -- Jon Blumenthal, Omaha, Neb. My predictions in The Underground Golfer column before last week's Sony Open were these: Duval gets his first major at the Masters; Paul Azinger is the surprise U.S. Open winner at Pebble Beach (although, since he won in Hawaii, I guess he doesn't count as a surprise anymore); and Tiger wins the British Open at St. Andrews and the PGA at Valhalla (and takes a winning streak of majors into 2001). And if any of my predictions are actually correct, folks, I'm buying at the bar.
Send a question to Gary Van Sickle.
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