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Much to Monty's chagrin
Sports Illustrated senior writer Gary Van Sickle will answer your questions every Thursday during the golf season. Click here to send him a question. ST. ANDREWS, Scotland -- It appears that Colin Montgomerie is not a candidate to someday take over as host of this erstwhile Mailbag. Monty was as beleaguered as ever in his pre-tournament British Open press interview here, going off on a rant the first time an American reporter asked a question with Tiger Woods in the sentence. But he's not obsessing. Oh, no. Absolutely not. Since more than half of the questions I get on a weekly basis are about Tiger, Monty clearly wouldn't want to respond. Either that or he'd get to do a lot of ranting, which might actually improve his mental health.
Do you think Monty's new attitude and ball change will make him a winner on the PGA Tour? Only if he starts playing the PGA Tour, which appears unlikely. And, Bob, what new attitude?
Do you think Tiger Woods' last three or four years are better than the three or four years Johnny Miller had in his prime (1973-'76)? If Miller had had the same passion for the game as Woods, I think Tiger would be chasing all of Miller's records. At this point they're comparable, but Woods isn't finished yet. I think Woods' period will be better. True, Miller didn't have the passion of Woods. Another thing he didn't have was Tiger's putting stroke and short game. While Miller could match anyone's iron play, Johnny would be the first to admit Tiger's short game is far superior. One thing in Miller's favor, comparison-wise: His wins came against the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Tom Weiskopf and Gary Player, all future Hall of Famers. I'm not sure Woods' current competition is quite that strong at the top. The depth, however, is much better. Woods has many more good players to beat but not as many great ones, at least not until the Sutherland brothers kick into high gear.
What is the story behind Tiger Woods' putter? I noticed during the U.S. Open telecast that he uses a Titleist putter, but I thought I spotted a Ping grip on it. You can see this on that week's SI cover. Very observant, Jay. Tiger just happens to like the feel of the Ping grip, that's all. By the way, where's Waldo?
Do you think some of the top European tour players could raise their level of play and perhaps start winning majors if they devoted their time to the PGA Tour? Lee Westwood, Colin Montgomerie and Darren Clarke come to mind. No. I don't think which tour they play on affects their chances of winning a major. I think playing against Tiger Woods in a major seriously affects their chances of winning.
Why doesn't the LPGA join the PGA? It seems to the average viewer that the PGA, Buy.com and Senior tours get a lot more coverage on TV and in print. I believe it is a shame that professional senior golfers make more prize money than professional women golfers. These ladies put on a real show and the Karrie Webb/Annika Sorenstam rivalry is riveting. What is the solution? Having the LPGA join the PGA Tour would never work. The two tours are competitors, and they would remain so even if they operated under one umbrella organization. The ladies will get more prize money only when advertisers and sponsors deem the product more marketable; they will get more exposure on TV and in print only when viewers and readers express more interest. This is business. Demand has to come first before supply follows. Every golf magazine demographic study I've seen shows that not only are readers overwhelmingly male, but also their interest in the LPGA is minimal. The solution is to get the public to show up at LPGA events and watch them on TV and boost the ratings. If you can figure out how to do that, you're nominated as the next commissioner.
What do you think is the difference between Tiger Woods and Pete Sampras? Why is it that the media just can't have enough of Tiger while they don't seem attracted to Pete Sampras? The public drives the media, Ann. Tigermania is a phenomenon among the fans. The media respond to and reflect that. Tiger Woods sells magazines and newspaper and pumps up TV ratings. Putting Pete Sampras on the cover is the equivalent of renaming your magazine Don't Read This. Golf is hot. It's popular and everyone, it seems, is playing the game. It gets hours of televised coverage every week. It even has a cable channel dedicated to it. Tennis? From a public-interest standpoint, it's dead. Tiger is a phenomenon for a variety of reasons. Sampras is simply a great player who competes in what ranks as a minor professional sport.
Since you've given your opinion on the best places to play on the Monterey Peninsula, could you also do the same for the courses in the Myrtle Beach area? I would imagine that this area has more golf courses per square mile than any place in the world, which makes it tougher to find the best courses. I've played only three courses in Myrtle Beach in the last 10 years. Two of them are par-3s, the other is the new TPC at Myrtle Beach, which is really good, extremely challenging and probably overpriced. Which means there are about 100 other courses there I haven't played so I can't help you out. If any other readers have opinions on where to play in Myrtle, or even where not to play, send them in. If there's enough response, I'll print some recommendations in my Underground Golfer column. Please include a sentence or two explaining why you love or hate the course. Click here to send your golf question to Gary Van Sickle.
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