Anyone else realize professional tour golf is hitting its third week of the season? Anyone? Bueller…Bueller.
We know things get kind of hectic during the holiday season. There are all those bowl pools to track. The NFL postseason is heating up and you’re a little bummed that Penn State’s current recruiting class won’t include that stud RB from South Carolina.
Plus, when it’s below 10 degrees with the wind chill, who really wants to watch those short-sleeved few traipse around sunny Maui and Oahu? I don’t, even though a small percentage of my job description says I should.
The reason? Golf is a little boring this time of year. Always has been.
And it has nothing to do with Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson yet again choosing to skip the SBA Championship, a 2009 winners’-only event, at Kapalua or Sony Open, the first full-field event at Waialae.
It has, however, been interesting to listen to those TV personalities skirt the Woods “situation.”
Speculation on when the world’s No. 1 will resurface seems to be acceptable banter, but most are choosing to “chat-up” the next potential wave of golf superstars who might help generate some buzz in Tiger’s absence, especially early in the season.
Wow, what a genuine idea.
Problem is, during the last few seasons we, the viewing audience, have been introduced to only a handful of up-and-coming personalities who have top-flight games to match.
With golf returning to the mainland this week at the Bob Hope Classic, here are some under-30 guns worthy of attention in the coming weeks. That’s assuming you’re not too busy reading the latest TMZ or National Inquirer reports that have Woods seeking refuge on the Moon.
RORY MCILROY: Has serious game and is already an international phenom at 21, McIlroy made 10 of 11 PGA Tour cuts last season. The Northern Ireland product has become a crowd favorite for his carefree demeanor and shaggy mop. Can the Tour convince him to cross the pond more often?
ANDRES ROMERO: The 2008 Rookie of the Year is approaching 30 and has just one victory. But Romero has a reputation for hanging around at major tournaments. The Argentinean played his best golf late in the 2009 season.
ANTHONY KIM: Despite Robert Allenby’s assessment of the California kid, PGA Tour brass need Kim to have a banner season. They certainly took notice when Kim engaged the President’s Cup crowd and had business types buzzing around the water cooler for weeks. When he’s on, no one racks up birdies like Kim.
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Los Angeles native Anthony Kim, 24, who won two PGA Tour tournaments in 2008 and was tabbed as the next great young American golfer, is determined to rebound after what he called a “disappointing” 2009, in which he had only three top-10 finishes after eight the year before.
