Greetings Golfers,

Remember the scene in “Bull Durham” when Crash (Kevin Costner) is telling The Kid (Tim Robins) how to talk to the press when he makes the Big Leagues … that The Kid needs to use a bunch of dumb, bland cliches?

Aren’t people tired of that junk? Whether in sports or politics or business or anything … people are tired of phoniness – they want authenticity.

The former commissioner of the PGA Tour – Tim Finchem – created a product to sell to corporate sponsors by promising it would be squeaky clean. So if the players weren’t living up to the image … their exploits were covered up. How long have they been covering for Tiger? My sources say that this behavior has been going on for a long time.

Now I’m not advocating that players be under the microscope and sports coverage becomes the National Enquirer. But, I would like to see athletes lose the double-talk and cliches and talk like real people.

And I don’t mean that sleaziness or bad behavior is what makes someone real. I just want to know who they really are. And I think this goes hand-in-hand with this modern robotic golf swing. Last week at the Colonial … PGA Tour players tried to hit Hogan’s old clubs with a balata ball. They failed miserably.

Obviously the PGA Tour is not going to make a 180. However, I would love to see a bunch of players talk like real people, not swing like a robot, and not wear this “athletic” clothing … they look like dorks.

Last month they asked Rory McIlroy what is the all-time coolest picture in golf. He said the one at the 1966 Masters of Hogan & Palmer waiting at the tee box smoking cigarettes. Yeah – I agree.

“Bull Durham” was a great movie because the characters were so interesting … bland, phony people are not interesting … golf should figure that out.

Cheers,

Tom Abts
GM and Head Golf Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com