Over the last year or so, I have noticed that many of the notable players on the PGA Tour have been rather inconsistent, while just a few have been pretty consistent. I realize that golf is one of the more difficult sports on the planet, not because of athletic ability needed, but rather because you are trying to put a 1.62 inch ball into a 4.25 inch cup from two hundred to five hundred yards away, eighteen times. Factor in how the ball is going to play in the wind or rain, and the sport gets much more difficult. The mental aspect of the game is one of the toughest parts to understand. Players play shot to shot and cannot let one bad shot bother them through the remainder of a round or tournament, like a player in baseball cannot let an at-bat affect how he plays in the field. These players are playing against the best one hundred players in the world on a weekly basis, and I understand how hard it is to win any sport week in and week out, but the inconsistency or overhyping of players by the media is just ridiculous sometimes. I am not bashing any of these players because I know how good they are and can be, but it just amazes me how people in the media hype them up and compare them to greats like Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods when they are just starting out.
The obvious person to me that has had his ups and downs is Rory McIlroy. He is one of my favorite players on Tour and, at 23, has shown flashes of brilliance and been very bad at other times. It all started at the 2011 Masters, where he shot an 80 in the final round to blow a huge lead and finish fifteenth, when the Green Jacket was basically on his back. He then returned in the U.S. Open to win the tournament, and win his first major. Everyone was ready to compare the young kid to Tiger Woods, but after two majors is a little soon. He finished 2011 strong, but did not win anymore tournaments. He returned in 2012 at the Accenture Match Play and Honda Classic, where he finished second in the Match Play and first in the Honda Classic. the next tournament was the World Golf Championship where he finished third. Then, the downturn started. He barely made the cut at the 2012 Masters and finished fortieth, continued on to The Players Championship and the U.S. Open and missed the cut at both tournaments. Give the kid a chance to prove himself before you start comparing him to Tiger or other greats, he will get there, but the extra pressure won't help.
As for Tiger Woods, he has been pretty inconsistent himself. He went from being on top of the world, to not winning a tournament for over a year. Tiger had some excuses for why he was struggling, from his home situation to firing his swing coach and caddy, but still continued to go out there and fail. It never made sense to me why he did this. He knows how much of a mental game golf is and that if your mind is not on every shot, the course will make it worse. Woods took some time off, but he obviously needed more, but he did prove to us that he is actually human and could lose. But Tiger is returning to form, which is scary for the rest of the field and the more confidence he gains he will continue to win. Those couple of months when Tiger's life fell apart on him, cost him some wins and the quick return did not help either. Golf is one of few games that you can leave on top and come back a couple weeks or months later and be average again.
Bubba Watson is gaining popularity by the minute, after his performance at the 2012 Masters, which he won, he was on top of the world. But two of the three tournaments after that, the Memorial and the U.S. Open, he failed to make the cut. Bubba has been a decent player for a long time, he has been a middle of the pack guy until this year when he has played better. Over the two seasons prior to 2012, he had 7 total top 10 finishes in over 40 tournaments. But his demeanor and the fact that he taught himself the game of golf has made him a crowd favorite.
Phil Mickelson is another crowd favorite and always has a huge following whatever tournament he plays in. Phil started his career as a very good golfer, with the reputation of not being able to win a major, part of that being that Tiger Woods was usually in the field with him. Mickelson over the years has changed that reputation after a couple of wins at the Masters and other majors. He is also one of the more consistent golfers in the field from week to week. Most of the time you can find him in the top twenty golfers on the leader board. He still has his times of inconsistency, as does any golfer, but from week to week he is towards the top of consistency.
Luke Donald is probably one of the most consistent golfers on Tour. You may not know his name if you do not follow much golf, but he is currently the number one player in the world. Donald has never won a major, yet holds the number one spot because of his consistency. His finishes in tournaments over the last two years have plenty of top ten and top twenty finishes. Until he wins a major, you may not hear his name or know who he is, but he is quietly racking up his earnings each week with all these good finishes.
Golf is a wonderful game, and just as you think you have it figured out it lets you know that you don't. These players are the best in the world and even their inconsistency is better than our consistency. People say golf is boring to watch, but there are some amazing things that happen in every round if you know what is going on. The Open Championship is on this week and the players are having to fight that European wind to win this weekend. Let's see who is the most consistent player over the next four days and is able to come away with the win.
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