When I went to bed on Sunday night Rory was in trouble. He was a few holes into the 4th day of the USPGA Championship and was completing his 3rd round (due to a weather delay).
He was in trouble if you were listening to the commentators. Rory missed putts on 9, 10 and 11 (they weren’t long, but certainly not gimmes). He then bogeyed the 13th after another miss.
“He’s not comfortable on the greens”
“He needs to get it together”
“He’s looking tentative”
“He has lost his momentum”
Blah blah blah. It’s all a bunch of crap.
Golf commentators (almost all sports broadcasters are the same) are experts in hindsight. Rarely do they come up with anything insightful in the moment. But they are experts at jumping on and off the bandwagon. If a guy is playing well then you’re most likely going to hear things along this line,
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- He’s in the zone
- He’s looking comfortable
- He has been playing well
- He has been working hard on his game
- He has got a new coach and that’s starting to pay off
- He is using his experience
- He has got a new shaft in his driver and that is making all the difference (replace shaft with ball, club or sponsor)
- He likes the course
- etc
But the second a few bogeys enter the scorecard they can change their view in a heartbeat.
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- The pressure has got to him
- He is swinging too quickly – or some other fault (it’s particularly annoying when they use the super slo-mo camera and point the fault in great detail)
- He choked last year in a similar situation
- He’s not ready
- The course doesn’t suit him (funny, it was yesterday)
I could go on and on – just like the drivel that comes from a golf commentators mouth.
When I woke Monday the tide had changed. Rory was on fire and I found it quite comical that the same commentators where now praising his putting performance. These guys can’t lose and want it both ways. It annoys me and one reason I’ll often watch with the sound off.
Let’s get a few things straight.
Golf is tough. Even the best players will hit some bad shots from time to time. They are going to make bogeys. They will miss putts. It happens because this is golf. This doesn’t mean that they’ve lost it or are in trouble.
Rory is unbelievable. I don’t care what anyone says, but he’s automatic as can be and is the most fun to watch (maybe just behind Tiger, but it’s close). He’s free flowing, doesn’t mess around too much and plays aggressively (this is certainly more exciting to watch than a lot of the robots out there).
I dare any of these commentators to actually pick any difference from Rory’s “unbelievable” golf from his average golf. I just don’t see it. When he is on he’s incredible and hard to beat. But even when he is not scoring as well he still approaches golf in the same carefree manner. It’s refreshing to see someone play like he is mucking around with his mates.
His win was summed up perfectly by his last hole, a ripped drive over the fairway traps (about 350 yards if you don’t mind), a nice approach and a perfect putt. The kid can play and even his “bad” golf is a pleasure to watch. I know the commentators have to say something, but it would be nice if they stopped sensationalising every moment. The danger is if we start doing the same with our own game.