The Last of the Great Players?

I have never seen a great player so dependent on others as Tiger Woods. The really Great ones in the past like Hogan and Snead didn’t need to be continually shored up like a rickety house that fears the next gust of wind. They learned what they needed to early on, and then relied on themselves. Golf history is filled with a lot of good players but only a few Great ones and no coach makes a player Great. Great is special and nobody can give you ‘special.’

 But I am afraid for Tiger because you can fritter ‘special’ away – I hope he hasn’t but I fear he has. He’ll be very good again, he will, of course, win again but he may not be Great again – and Tiger-2000 was Great.

Michael Wie might have been Great but spent way too much time being shaped by her handlers. She is still young with gobs of talent, but can she shake herself free?  

And what in the world could be so wrong with Phil Mickelson’s game that he needs 24/7 care from a short game guru, two different putting coaches with different theories and a full time swing coach the name of which has changed three or four times since Mickelson came out of college. Unfortunately over-coaching and micro management have dimmed Michelson’s Great promise. I do think that his current coach, Butch Harmon, is good for him because he understands the game. When Tiger turned pro he wisely chose Harmon as a coach. The wrong coach could have ruined Tiger but instead Harmon made him better. Why? I think Harmon is old enough to have been around the Greats including his father – if Mickelson had gone to Harmon first I think he would have been better off..  

Follow the Money

There is so much money at stake now -- and I’m not talking just about prize money that makes a player aim for the center of the green [no pun intended], I’m talking about the money that is spun off  by the system of modern big time golf – the agents, corporations, college recruiters, the PGA Tour, TV, teachers – an entire industry of ‘developers’ searching for the next project. Greatness isn’t allowed to grow anymore; it’s forced through an IV feed. The parents see a condo in Fla. The agent sees two condos, one in Florida and one in Scottsdale; the coach sees his name in headlines with his own TV show and the corporate alchemists, they see their paper turned into gold.

Because of the money Tiger-2000 may be the last of golf’s Great players.