Have Big Money Purses And Guarantees Ruined Golf?
posted in My Golf Stories |Johnson Wagner, last week’s PGA winner in Houston was quoted that he was so excited just to be in The Masters that he did not care if shot 90 both days and missed the cut. With that kind of an attitude, Wagner may just do what he is talking about. In my opinion Johnson should be thrilled to be in the tournament, but his attitude should be to win two in a row and capitalize on his good play. There does not seem to be the desire to win, most American athletes are happy just to compete and get their money. Tiger Woods is probably the best known athlete that truly goes out each event to win. So many of the athletes in most all sports are happy to collect a check and go home. This easy life is letting the rest of the world come to the U.S. and start to dominate most sports.
How would it sound when a player is called up from the minor league to the big league and he tells everyone that he is so happy just to be in the game that he does not care if he goes 0-4 at bat. Wouldn’t you like to hear his attitude be that he was glad to be here and now it is time to kick some ****. Today there are very few American ladies on the LPGA and their winning percentage on tour is about 20%.
TV contracts run sports today and dictate most of their actions. A golf tournament does not like match play events because they are so afraid that the glamour players may get knocked out early and the TV rating will go down. It is all about money.
I would like to see fewer players with exemptions and let more players compete on a weekly basis for spots in each tournamet. This competitive situation would make players work harder and create a stronger mind set. Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods are the two best examples of players that could go into a tournament and have an advantage because of their strong minds.