Why Tiger Wins So Much
By admin | June 21, 2008
Tiger Woods with his Buick Open win has now won 50 PGA events and he is only 30 years old. He has eclipsed the legendary Jack Nicklaus with this feat, as Jack was 33 before he won number 50.
So why does Tiger win so much and why will he break every golf record on the books before he is done?
Well as a Tiger watcher going on 10 years now I seem to have condensed Tiger’s phenomenal success down to a few points in which you may or may not agree with. I call them Tiger’s advantages.
First, Tiger is dedicated to the game like no other. Remember, his father started him out hitting a golf ball at the tender age of 3 years old. For the last 27 years Tiger has been living and breathing golf. Golf is his everything and it shows in every tournament in which he competes. He just loves the game and would probably play it everyday for free because he is so dedicated and devoted to the sport.
His dedication to the sport leads to his second big advantage over his fellow golfers. Tiger is the ultimate competitor and warrior on the links. Even when he is down by great margins he always seems to make that final charge to make it close. He finishes most events with a rush and puts fear in the hearts of his rivals on Sunday afternoons as they hear the roar of the fans as Tiger sinks another birdie enroute to climbing the leader board. But the best evidence of his competitiveness is that when he is ahead after 54 holes, he always winsthat’s the heart of a champion.
Finally, the last advantage is that Tiger is just a more skilled and polished golfer than his rivals. He has all the shots plus he has acquired a superior course management capability in which he displayed in this year’s British Open. He played the course while his competitors let the course play them. Tiger works at his game relentlessly and he is never really satisfied with his level of play. He always wants to get better. Imagine that, a guy with 50 tour wins under his belt and he still does not think he has reached his true potential.
As good as Tiger Woods is today, the Tiger Woods of tomorrow will be a whole lot better. A scary thought for the competition, isn’t it?
George Stark is the owner and operator of SliceKiller.com a golfing website focused on golf swing improvement. Visit http://www.slicekiller.com to perfect your golf swing
Tags: tiger, tiger woodsTiger Woods, the Greatest Ever -NOT!
By admin | May 16, 2008
Tiger is great but still a long way from claiming the title of “Greatest That Ever Played The Game”. Although I do believe he is more then on his way to claiming that illustrious title, God willing. But until then, Slammin’ Sammy Snead is my pick. That’s right, not even Nicklaus.
If you look at the 11 win gap between Jack’s 70 total victories and Sam’s 81 and then figure Sam’s total of 165 victories he claims, no one even comes close. Sorry Jack. Now figure in the shape of the courses today, the equipment and the level of competition and there is no doubt in my mind that Sammy is the man. Keep in mind, Sam played against, Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan — all born the same year - they were considered the era’s Big Three. Hogan amassed 63 total wins and Nelson won 52, putting both of them in the top 5 of the all time winners list. Does anyone really thing that Tiger’s best competition today, is going to end up in that illustrious group? I think not.
Statically speaking there is a large gap between the top of the all time winners list that not even the great Walter Hagen bridges. Hagen, in 7th place with 40 wins, is eleven short of the 6th placeholder, Billy Casper. Eleven wins is an entire career for even a great player on the tour today. Again I ask you to look at the gap between number 2 on the list, Jack Nicklaus and Number 1, Sam Snead, eleven wins.
Even if you are the most vehement “Tigernite” or Nicklaus Nut, you have to admit, the real all time golf elite includes only a very few, 6 to be exact: Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Byron Nelson and Billy Casper. And Billy Casper gets my vote for the greatest player with the least recognition, by far.
Now I’m going to really tick you Tigernites off. My money says he never gets there. (However, I’m not betting the really big money) Why? I think he runs out of desire. The bigger he gets, the closer he gets, the more he wins, the more the pressure will build. If he has shown any weakness at all, it is his temper that occasionally gets the best of him. As the pressures mount, and with the glare of the media of today it will, I think that pressure will sooner or later wear him down. No, I’m not predicting he will go “postal” and toss a camera in a lake with the owner still attached, but I think the “fire in the belly” will dime. And if I am right, it will be a travesty to lose, not the greatest that ever played, but one of the greatest, that could have toppled “the” Greatest Player That Ever Lived, Sam Snead!
Only time will tell!
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No permission is needed to reproduce an unedited copy of this article as long the About The Author tag is left in tact and hot links are included. Email floyd@sbmag.org.
Floyd Snyder is the founder and former owner of Executive Advertising, Camera Ready Art and Strictly Business Magazine. Currently he is the owner of Strictly Business Magazine at http://www.sbmag.org
Tags: Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, golf, Jack Nicklaus, Sam Snead, tiger, tiger woodsGolf Distance, Distance, Distance…Blah! Blah! Blah!
By admin | May 10, 2008
Everyone and his brother is trying to tell you that in order to play decent golf you have to hit the ball further. Heck, you could be hitting it three fifty, and I bet my next 6 birdies against your next bogey that on any given day I can find you out at the range, swinging with all four feet off the ground, trying to squeeze that last 1/4 mile per hour clubhead speed out of your new Sasquash driver, trying to reach 351. Am I right? Of course, that’s a sucker bet. My next three birdies may not come until my next life.
If golf is all about and only about distance, then how do you explain Jim Furyk? Huh? Gotcha there!
But forget the pros more then likely you’re not one; and if you are, what the heck are you reading this dribble for? Get your butt out to the range and hit some balls, I got nothing for you!
Recently, I had the pleasure of playing in club tournament with a gal that never missed the fairway. Not off the tee, not off the fairway never! Talk about boring! But what a lesson! Incidentally, she never hit over 200 yards either. But she was the low score in the foursome and thanks to her, we ended up winning the tournament!
If you’re an average golfer, a lowly hacker like yours truly, go out to your local club on Ladies Day. Now wait a minute, before I lose all you Neanderthals that still think women have no place on a golf course. Give me a chance here. You just might learn something.
Go look at the handicap list of the women’s club and get the names of top women players, and, no doubt, you will see a number of gals with indexes under 10. Go out to the range and have some one point out these players to you and watch and learn. Now unless you have the reincarnation of Babe Zaharias, more then likely none, or certainly not many of these gals are pounding the ball off the back of the range. But what they are doing is hitting it straight (and, yes, long for gals, but not 350 yards). Now before you start whining about the women’s tees and all that BS, watch “where” they are hitting it, not just how far. Now if you don’t get one other thing out of my ranting here, remember, 225 down the middle even from the tips, is worth more than 350 yards into the drink no matter how you slice it!
Now, if I haven’t totally emasculated you and you’re still reading, step up and ask one of these gals to play a round of golf. If you want to further embarrass yourself, ask her to hit form the same tees, the ones you usually hit from. Now, you have to approach this with an open mind and not some sort of threat to your manhood. Remember, I said “ask” her, not challenge her. Don’t go all Rambo on me here, just play your normal round. But watch and learn!
My guess, again assuming you are the average duffer, she’s going to shoot a lower score. But you’ll see first had that you can play decent golf without entering into the hernia danger zone on every drive.
How do short hitters post low scores? Accuracy and consistency.
Impressed, right? Not!! I didn’t really think you would be and you’d “still” want to hit it 350 and rip the center core right out of the cover! Right!! Okay, try this:
http://www.sbmag.org/Golf_Stories/ClickBankGolf.html
No permission is needed to reproduce an unedited copy of this article as long the About The Author tag is left in tact and included. Email floyd@sbmag.org.
Tags: Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, golf, Jack Nicklaus, PGA, pga tour, Sam Snead, tiger, tiger woods