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Is Baddeley golf's next big thing?
Updated: Friday December 01, 2000 4:19 PM
Just when you thought the golf season was winding down to a peaceful end, youngster Aaron Baddeley wins the Australian Open for a second straight time and you realize hey, the golf season never ends. It just switches continents. Baddeley tried playing a few PGA Tour events this year as an amateur but couldn't get his game together. His successful Australian Open defense, however, should add fuel to the media's new (and totally misguided) Holy Grail -- ordaining someone as the next Tiger Woods or as the guy to challenge Tiger Woods. Adam Scott and Charles Howell and the other would-be Tigers should enjoy the momentary breathing room Baddeley is providing them. Is Baddeley the guy? I haven't seen enough of him to know. Winning the Open twice at his age (19) is an impressive start. I guess what we're really talking about is who's going to be No. 2 in the world rankings for the next few years. I'm not ready to write off David Duval, Ernie Els or perhaps the most underrated player of them all, England's Lee Westwood, as that guy. Baddeley has a ways to go. Let's give him five years to develop and see what happens. Mail call:
Having played all the different formats at my club in events, the most
pressure-packed is alternate-shot. It involves strategy, teamwork and a lot of
fun. I know it is used in the Ryder Cup and President's Cup. Any chance it would
spice up one of the dull current tour stops, many of which are losing even more
interest with the World Golf Championships
expanding?
Good idea, Tom, and I agree 100 percent. There's no chance of it happening, however. Even the World Cup, one of the World Golf Championships, would be more interesting if Woods and Duval played strict alternate shot instead of regular stroke play. You know how the pros are, Tom. They're into themselves and their own games and golf is, ultimately, a totally selfish sport. Tour players don't really want their fate and their winnings riding on anybody's shots but their own. That's why they find the Ryder Cup, while a great bonding experience, such an adjustment. I don't see any lesser tour stop gambling on a different format -- simply because tour players probably wouldn't support it.
Is Karrie Webb going to get the recognition she deserves or does she have to
win the modern Grand Slam twice to get
respect?
Webb already has respect. That's not even up for debate. Just how much recognition does she deserve, Angela? She has plenty. Is it as much recognition as Woods? No. Should it be? No. Webb's record on the course is terrific, but it's still not on a par with Woods'. Off the course, Woods is a worldwide phenomenon, the most famous athlete on the planet and a personality. Webb is not. I got to talk with her again recently over breakfast with a few other media types during the Hall of Fame weekend and I found her to be very nice, thoughtful, sincere and willing to laugh. She's very likable. My experiences with her, though few and far between, have been positive, but many other reporters haven't been as fortunate. She seems reserved and private, and as for recognition, I think she already has more of that than she wants. In other words, like it or not, Webb currently gets all the recognition she deserves.
Don't you think that Judy Rankin going to the World Golf Hall of Fame is
great news? I think she's the most gifted of all the course reporters. ABC ought
to get rid of Curtis Strange and put Judy in the
booth.
I don't think there's any question Judy deserved to be in the Hall. Trouble was, the LPGA had a strict, statistic-based entrance formula that Judy didn't meet because back trouble shortened her career. I always liked the fact that the LPGA Hall had high standards based on number of victories. I'd like to see the men's side of the Hall have something like that. It cheapens a Hall of Fame when lesser players and administrators and others who have lots of buddies start getting in. Chi Chi Rodriguez, for example, had a very modest PGA Tour career. He won some on the senior tour but I don't think those are Hall of Fame qualifications. Rodriguez is a feel-good entrant who doesn't belong. While John Jacobs, a noted Brit instructor, was an absolutely delightful and classy man at the recent induction ceremonies in which both he and Judy were enshrined. Is Harvey Penick next? What about other instructors, like Jimmy Ballard, David Leadbetter, Ernest Jones? This is a Hall of Fame, not the Elks Club. Everybody can't join. Sorry, I digress. Next to Johnny Miller, who's in a class by himself, Judy is as good as anyone else working golf on TV. I think she could handle Curtis' role, or anyone else's, with the same literate, no-nonsense, on-the-money observations that she makes now. She is also one of the few ex-player commentators who can conduct a good interview. I consider her a journalist.
What is the best book to use when introducing a six-year-old to the game of
golf? Especially when the father is a novice? My main goal is to let my boy have
fun and at the same time, perhaps, teach him to be a hard
worker.
Forget the book. Most adults can't wade through instruction books, much less a six-year-old. To keep it fun, start with the basics. Like, say, miniature golf. It may sound stupid but hey, miniature golf is fun. Then try a golf range, invite a golfing friend along to show him/her a basic grip and stance, then stand back and let him/her whack away without interjecting advice every two swings. Let it be fun. The ultimate, then, is going to a par-3 golf course, playing the game and actually keeping score. The trick is the kid has to want to go to the range or the course. If you're just dragging him along and he doesn't really want to be there, you're not doing him a favor. If the child does show interest, you may consider lessons. Perhaps a clinic or a junior group-lesson-type setup, which allows the kids to learn and play and, most important, have fun.
Gary, I agree the 17th at Valderrama is silly, but aren't good players supposed to adjust to the
conditions? A player could aim at the right side of the green and still have an
up-and-down with lots of green to work with for
birdie.
Drew, I guess you didn't see Canadian Mike Weir play the 17th the day he did just what you said, missed the green right, then hit a marvelous chip that looked as if it was going to stop next to the pin for a tap-in. Only it never stopped trickling, slowly and surely, until it rolled down the bank into the water. When you can't even chip to a green, that's a problem. You don't really want to defend this hole, do you, Drew? It's like being in favor of pollution and that Florida butterfly ballot.
Click here to send your golf question to Gary Van Sickle.
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