My Favorite Golfers…

I’ve been a fan of golf for a long time now and I was a fan of the game long before I actually started to play. Playing the game didn’t start for me until I was in my mid-twenties somewhere in the early 1980’s. But my affinity for the game didn’t start with the game but rather the players.

By the time I noticed the game “The Man” in the game was none other than the Greatest of All Time, The Golden Bear, Jack Nicklaus. It was early in the 1970’s and my idea of golf began and ended with Nicklaus.

Nicklaus was in the middle of a resurgence in the early 70’s winning seven majors in the first six seasons of that decade, dominated the PGA Tour money list and was Player of the Year on four occasions. It was easy for a kid to gravitate to such a champion and Jack was indeed my favorite golfer.

But times change, skills erode and younger players take their turn at the top. As Jack passed the baton, like many golf fans I latched on to the next, latest and the greatest. I moved from Jack to Tom Watson who had challenged Nicklaus so well and so often. Then onto the swashbuckling Greg Norman who came into prominence with his massive drives and catchy nickname: The Great White Shark.

During this time there was the overriding aura of Arnold Palmer that demanded a reverence and admiration that no golfer could ever match. The King held, and still does hold the place of the most important golfer in the game.

But being a prisoner of the moment, as I have always had to deal with, the name of my favorite golfer changes as the game evolves.

As Norman gave way to Tiger Woods it was easy to get caught up with this skinny kid who blasted the ball past everyone, won early and often and put some color in the game. Woods played a game rarely seen by any and his dominance was hypnotizing. The debate whether Jack or Tiger is the GOAT rages on but no one can debate that Tiger is the most dominant golfer of his day.

As Tiger faced troubles on and off the course and Phil Mickelson seemed to be involved in every scandel this side of Watergate the mantle of my favorite golfer passed to the fresh faced, mature beyond his years, major winning phenom Jordan Spieth. Spieth was a refreshing change from Tiger who never saw a journalist he liked. Spieth was open, honest, forthright and emotional…all things Woods wasn’t and extremely likable.

Justin Thomas took a quick spin at the top of my list as I was fascinated by the ability of a 150 pound kid who could drive in well over 300 yards.

As I said, prisoner of the moment, and once again I have a new favorite. But he really isn’t new to my list of favs. When Rory McIlroy came onto the scene he was touted by Irish golf fans as the Celtic Tiger. He had grown up worshiping Tiger and came out with guns blazing. He was fresh, and honest and naive and he won, and won a lot. But more than winning he displayed an openness that we weren’t familiar with. He dealt with the media thoroughly and openly and gave us insights we hadn’t seen by many pros.

Of course he made some missteps in his professional and personal life and made a comment or two he’d like to rethink but with Rory what you see is what you get.

And that brings me to the point of this piece, yes, it took awhile to get here but…Rory is back on top of my list as my favorite golfer.

It coincides with his new-found self awareness to do what is best for him and his family. Early this year he stated he would concentrate on playing the PGA Tour and not make so many world wide trips. And while he still is a fixture for the European Tour he’ll play less in Europe while concentrating on what is best for him and his family here in the states.

That’s fine with me and Rory fans everywhere and one of the aspects of his U.S. centric plan is his new affiliation with the Golf Channel and their new Golf Pass website. The folks at Golf Channel aren’t stupid and they latched on to one of the most popular and approachable players in the game to launch their new endeavor.

And they nailed it right down the middle. They even got me, a frugal old Scotsman to pony up the ninety nine bucks for the yearly Golf Pass and I am not disappointed.

There is so much content on Golf Pass. From instruction to travel, to news to courses to equipment to personalities and all things golf … it is there. Plenty of Golf Channel content is there (I missed Tony Finau on Feherty, so I watched it there) and so much more.

You even get a free round of golf per month through their Golf Advisor and I just got a dozen balls with my subscription. Bonus!

But to me the main reason was more access to Rory. And the Golf Channel knew what a draw he would be. His podcasts with Carson Daly alone are worth the money. So much unguarded Rory is a thing to behold and has him easily atop my list of favorite golfers.

At least for now.