| lily |
|
|
| |
| Joined: 22 Oct 2011 |
| Posts: 351 |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
We need some mood music. Somebody cue Lee Greenwood’s “Proud to Be an American” and play it at a super-slow, morbid pace.
Or we could go New Orleans-style. The Crescent City does funerals well. Somebody get those umbrellas and Dixieland jazz bands and start the march. Put the casket at the back of the march. Paint on its side: “AMERICAN GOLF, 1913-2011.”
Considering three of the four golf majors are played with Mizuno MP Craft 425 Driver
on American soil, the embarrassment is doubled. Americans can’t even win home games?
And here’s the bad news for those who love to see the land of the free be the home of the major champions: This losing streak could continue.
McIlroy, who has held a lead in each of the last four majors, is 22 and just learning. Jason Day has posted two runner-up finishes at 2011 majors – he is 23 years old and Australian. Schwartzel followed up his Masters win with a tie for ninth by Mizuno MP Craft 425 Driver
at Congressional. He’s 26.
Without even mentioning the fact that the first-, second- and third-ranked players in the world are not American (England’s Luke Donald, England’s Lee Westwood, Germany’s Kaymer), we could easily see a decade of McIlroy-Day-Schwartzel tussles not unlike Arnold Palmer-Gary Player-Jack Nicklaus in the 1960s.
There are theories. One is that the American college golf system emphasizes scoring over winning and isn’t breeding bloodthirsty champions. That the old phrase “learning to win” is a hands-on experience best learned in the deep end of pro competition. McIlroy, Day and Schwartzel are not products of America’s college golf system. Each turned pro as a teenager, and each figured out how to survive on the big-boy tour with Charles Darwin as his caddy.
Tied for low-American honors at Congressional was 24-year-old Kevin Chappell, who is very much a product of USA’s college golf system. He played Mizuno MP Craft 425 Driver
at UCLA, won an NCAA individual championship and the Jack Nicklaus Award as college player of the year. As a Bruin myself, I’m delighted Chappell played Mizuno MP Craft 425 Driver
well. I am, however, dubious that Chappell is the one-word answer to our American woes. |
|
