Once upon a time I was dating a nice Jewish girl. Because her religion was very important to her, every year she would ask me to come to her family's Passover Seder. I would go but with a decade of Catholic school under my belt I had no idea what I should be doing at this very important Jewish ceremony. Thus, I was always deathly afraid I was going to mess up horribly and ruin the evening. As such I was never able to relax when I was there. So, when my girlfriend came to me one year and told me I didn't have to go to Seder, I was relieved. I was also single within a month. It is because of this life experience I know the following thing: when people stop caring enough to make you do something you don't want to do, it is never a good thing.
Therefore, when news broke a couple weeks back that Steve Williams was going to caddy for Adam Scott at the U.S. Open, I knew it was only a matter of time before Williams was officially fired by Tiger Woods. You simply don't let employees you value audition for other companies. I know it would have been a dick move for Tiger to deny Williams the opportunity to get some work in and make a little money while caddying for a friend, especially since no one knows when Tiger is going to return to competitive golf, but if he really wanted to keep Williams on that is what he would have done. By allowing him to work for Scott, even if it was only meant to be a temporary position, Woods was telling the world he didn't value Williams as an employee.
Still, let's not cry for Steve Williams, because he's already landed a new job and it's a good one at that: caddying for a young, talent player like Adam Scott is about as soft a landing spot as a caddy could hope for. Adam has already won The Player's, had a good showing at this year's Masters and appears to have the putting issues which have plagued him for years figured out with a switch to a long putter. Steve Williams is going to be just fine. Instead, let's discuss something that has been on my mind since Tiger's bag officially hung out a "Help Wanted" sign yesterday: just how good a job is it to be Tiger's caddy?
On the surface, it appears to be a pretty sweet gig. You can make a lot of money, you get a lot of exposure and if he ever gets his swing corrected, Tiger will make his caddy's job pretty easy. But, if you look closer, it may just be more hassle than it is worth. Let's say Tiger continues to have swing issues: it wouldn't take too long before people in Woods' inner-circle start whispering about it being time to make another change. And since in golf you can only change the caddy or the swing coach, either you or Sean Foley would be going. And, if the way he handled the Steve Williams situation is any indication, Tiger won't be letting you down lightly.
There are other issues that come with working for a guy like Tiger Woods and they go beyond the typical caddy duties. Every caddy is expected to not only pull clubs and know distances, but you're also expected to be half-bodyguard and half-traffic cop. With Tiger those duties are magnified. No matter how he's playing, Woods attracts a large gallery and then expects that gallery to be exceptionally well-behaved. (One of the things I'm really interested to see is how Steve Williams behaves on Scott's bag. Is he still going to be the camera-throwing, in-your-face intimidating figure he has been, or was that a product of working for Woods? Will Tiger's new sidekick be that kind of man, or is he going in a different direction, post-Thanksgiving crash?) If he wants to keep with the tough-guy caddy, that could limit his possibilities.
Lastly, there is the issue of schedule. No one knows when Tiger is coming back from his latest injury. And the main thing I know about caddies is they love to caddy. They want to be out on tour, not sitting at home waiting for a guy to get healthy. And even when Woods does get healthy, there are no indications he plans to add more events to his normal schedule. That means it will be the normal 18-20 events a year, which doesn't make for many opportunities to cash a check. And if Woods is still battling his swing and finishing in the mid-30s every event, those checks aren't going to be that big anyway.
So, with all that in mind, I have to wonder just who wants this bag. For example, let's say you're Joe LaCava. You just took up Dustin Johnson's bag after years of being on Fred Couples' caddy. You've got the pedigree and experience that would appeal to Woods and, since Couples and Woods are friends, I'm sure Tiger will give you a call to gage your interest. Personally, if I were Joe I think I would pass. Dustin might not have Tiger's credentials, but he has contended in majors, has enough star-power to command appearance fees across the globe and plays more than Woods does. You could argue it would be the better long-term job.
I know this much: two years ago just about everyone short of Bones would have dropped their current guy for the chance to caddy for Tiger Woods. Now you have to wonder if any of the players in the Top-10 are even worried about it.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
The "Be Ready" Campaign
Over the past couple of years, I have somehow ended up on the mailing list of roughly 100 golf newsletters. Because of this I am constantly getting bombarded by the newest literature from the PGA Tour, which means this month I have been reminded numerous times that the next time I go to the golf course I should "Play It Forward." You see, golf courses are being hit particularly hard during the bad economy and they are trying all sorts of ways to get people to play more golf. (Well, almost all sorts of ways. The high-end courses are not about to do anything crazy like lower the price of a round of golf. That would be silly.) Anyway, the idea behind the "Play It Forward" campaign is that out of ego and pride, people are playing from tees which are too far back and we would all have more fun (and speed the game up for everyone involved), if players would simply hit from tees which are better suited for their abilities.
First off, this is never going happen. No guy is going to play from what have been known for 300 years as the 'Ladies Tees'. Our egos simply won't allow it. That ship has sailed and as such the idea is a non-starter. Plus, at the end of the day it's one shot. What about the 3, 4 or more shots that follow that tee shot on any given hole? Also not going to fly is the idea that rounds should be shortened to 12 holes. I don't care that Jack Nicklaus is the one who put it out there, it's not going to happen. Besides, I don't think chopping 6 holes off is going to make a big difference, because I don't think the time it takes to play those holes is the problem anyway. Instead, I have my own idea that I want the PGA Tour to get behind which I think is going to help speed up play. It's called "Be Ready When It's Your Damn Turn."
The concept came to me on Saturday when I was playing golf on the Cape. At first I was happy the people ahead of me weren't ready to go when it was their turn because they had a group of four going off and as a single I was going to be waiting behind them all day long. But then one guy from the group was running late and I was able to go off before them, enjoying three holes of waiting-free golf before running into the threesome ahead of me. This was where the "Be Ready" campaign first came into my head.
I like to think I play golf like a normal person: I think about the shot I have to hit while on my way to it, make a decision about what club to use before I even get to my ball and unless something near the ball changes my mind, I swing quickly once I get there. Too often I think people out playing a Saturday round think they are one step away from being on the pro circuit. As such they agonize over every shot like it could be the one that propels them to the Masters, when that is far from the reality of the situation. Let's be honest, when you are 12-over through six holes, does it really matter whether you hit your 5-iron or 6? Just hit it already.
For six holes I had to wait while the woman in the group ahead of me would come out and inspect her lie, then walk off a distance, go back to the cart and choose a club, come out and take a practice swing, walk back to the cart to get a different club, only to chunk her shot 20 yards, walk slowly back to her cart, make sure everything was in its proper place before driving the 60 feet to her ball and then repeating the process. Not surprisingly, my 3-hole buffer from the group behind me was gone by the 7th hole.
Fortunately, that threesome was only playing nine holes. But, lest you think I'm picking on that one group, it also happened later. On one hole I came around the corner to find the twosome in front of me sitting in their cart, just having a chat. Their shots were in the fairway, but they didn't appear to be in any great rush to get to them and were more interested in finishing their discussion first. It was ridiculous.
So, with that in mind, here are the basic principles of the "Be Ready" campaign:
-Pick a club and go with it.
-Pay attention to the group ahead of you and play once they are out of range.
-Remember that the outcome of your game doesn't really matter.
-You are allowed to say "Hold on a second", play your shot, then finish your conversation.
-If you don't want to do these, at least let the people who do play through.
Those principles are what I think is going to help speed up play at the local courses, not playing fewer holes or from closer tees. I think if we all just stopped acting like how we play really matters then we can all relax and have a lot more fun out there. (Oh, and if you wanted to lower the price of 18 holes, that wouldn't be such a bad thing either.)
First off, this is never going happen. No guy is going to play from what have been known for 300 years as the 'Ladies Tees'. Our egos simply won't allow it. That ship has sailed and as such the idea is a non-starter. Plus, at the end of the day it's one shot. What about the 3, 4 or more shots that follow that tee shot on any given hole? Also not going to fly is the idea that rounds should be shortened to 12 holes. I don't care that Jack Nicklaus is the one who put it out there, it's not going to happen. Besides, I don't think chopping 6 holes off is going to make a big difference, because I don't think the time it takes to play those holes is the problem anyway. Instead, I have my own idea that I want the PGA Tour to get behind which I think is going to help speed up play. It's called "Be Ready When It's Your Damn Turn."
The concept came to me on Saturday when I was playing golf on the Cape. At first I was happy the people ahead of me weren't ready to go when it was their turn because they had a group of four going off and as a single I was going to be waiting behind them all day long. But then one guy from the group was running late and I was able to go off before them, enjoying three holes of waiting-free golf before running into the threesome ahead of me. This was where the "Be Ready" campaign first came into my head.
I like to think I play golf like a normal person: I think about the shot I have to hit while on my way to it, make a decision about what club to use before I even get to my ball and unless something near the ball changes my mind, I swing quickly once I get there. Too often I think people out playing a Saturday round think they are one step away from being on the pro circuit. As such they agonize over every shot like it could be the one that propels them to the Masters, when that is far from the reality of the situation. Let's be honest, when you are 12-over through six holes, does it really matter whether you hit your 5-iron or 6? Just hit it already.
For six holes I had to wait while the woman in the group ahead of me would come out and inspect her lie, then walk off a distance, go back to the cart and choose a club, come out and take a practice swing, walk back to the cart to get a different club, only to chunk her shot 20 yards, walk slowly back to her cart, make sure everything was in its proper place before driving the 60 feet to her ball and then repeating the process. Not surprisingly, my 3-hole buffer from the group behind me was gone by the 7th hole.
Fortunately, that threesome was only playing nine holes. But, lest you think I'm picking on that one group, it also happened later. On one hole I came around the corner to find the twosome in front of me sitting in their cart, just having a chat. Their shots were in the fairway, but they didn't appear to be in any great rush to get to them and were more interested in finishing their discussion first. It was ridiculous.
So, with that in mind, here are the basic principles of the "Be Ready" campaign:
-Pick a club and go with it.
-Pay attention to the group ahead of you and play once they are out of range.
-Remember that the outcome of your game doesn't really matter.
-You are allowed to say "Hold on a second", play your shot, then finish your conversation.
-If you don't want to do these, at least let the people who do play through.
Those principles are what I think is going to help speed up play at the local courses, not playing fewer holes or from closer tees. I think if we all just stopped acting like how we play really matters then we can all relax and have a lot more fun out there. (Oh, and if you wanted to lower the price of 18 holes, that wouldn't be such a bad thing either.)
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