So golf can be exciting even when former world number one and legendary philanderer Tiger Woods is not anywhere near the top of the leaderboard. People may be shocked by that, myself included. I used to love watching him on a Sunday night coming down the stretch either leading or in contention. Nobody could play those shots like him under the intense heat of the Sunday back nine spotlight. They can now. Last night for instance in the Phoenix PGA tour event, Bubba Watson hit a 330yd drive 40yds left of the fairway into scrubland behind a thicket of trees, he smashed a 9 iron 180yds to 15 feet from the pin to rapturous applause. Then he holed the putt. It’s not just him, Fowler, McIlroy, Poulter, Westwood, McDowell, Kaymer, Kim, Johnson, Quiros & many others are all smashing drives and conjuring up shot’s we used to marvel at when only Tiger seemed to be able pull them off.
Last weekend’s pitch & putt fest (joking) with Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson and rookie sensation Jhonattan Vegas at the Farmers Insurance Open gave the most exciting closing round I can remember in ages. Woods was already at home probably watching Babestation, when Mickelson, in a Hagen-esque display of showmanship got Bones MacKay, to remove the flag in case he holed it…from 72yds! Even Jonny Vegas had a rip from the rough with a 5 iron to try and eagle the last hole win or get into a playoff, but he splashed down, and bogyed the 18th hole to finish third. But it was exciting. It didn’t matter Woods was miles away and nowhere near the leaders, but more importantly it didn’t matter to anyone watching. This is surely a good sign for the game, the sponsors and crucially the spectators/viewers, who will have a new breed of mavericks and bombers to watch and entertain us. CBS Sports said the final-round coverage was the highest for the Farmers Insurance Open in three years, up 54% from a year ago.
So why the sudden increase? Many probably switched on in the hope of watching Tiger making a charge. Woods shot 75 on the final day and finished tied for 44th, his worst showing at Torrey Pines ever – viewers didn’t turn off.
This surely came down to the skills and magnetism of Mickelson, Watson, Johnson & Vegas with their gunslinger mentalities. Mickelson possibly should have pounced on Woods’ troubles last year, instead, after winning the Masters, Mickelson only had four Top-10 finishes for the remainder of the season. Some of that was surely the result of dealing with psoriatic arthritis, but he seems to better and is firing on all cylinders at the moment.
“I'm excited because I can tell that my game's coming around,” he said after losing to Watson by a shot. “I can tell that I'm starting to hit more shots that I'm starting to see them a little bit easier. My putting feels great. My short game has been sharp, so I'm excited about the prospects for this year and the rest of the west coast.”
The fact that Mickelson was battling Watson, one of the most fascinating golfers on the PGA Tour, may be the reason, not just because of his idiosyncratic swing that allows him to hit the ball into next week, but it is his wild, strangely upright swing, and ability to shape shots – big bending hooks and cuts – that links him to another era when shot making was the key to success.
Watson is also compelling because he wears his emotions on his sleeve. He cries when he wins and admits he battles nerves just like every weekend hacker.
“I learned that no matter how many rounds of golf you played, how many times you've been in the lead, and how many times you've won, you still get nervous,” he said in his post-round interview. “I was scared to death out there. Kept telling myself I've done this before. I've hit many golf balls. I can do this. I've shot many low rounds before, it's just this time happens to be with the crowd and media and everybody in the world watching. “I love the game of golf, so I'm nervous every time.”
Mickelson's take on Sunday's proceedings, “So for me to have an opportunity today was really exciting, especially on the back nine. Trying to match those two guys shot for shot and trying to catch them, it was just a lot of fun.”
Mickelson’s is spot on. It was fun. We may not hear “Tiger Who?” in coming months, but if the quality of golf on the PGA Tour can remain as exciting as it was for the final round of the Farmers, we may not need to rely on the swashbuckling talents of Mr Eldrick Woods as heavily anymore.
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