Tiger Woods

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by Phaneuf_Rules

Tiger Woods would not be the amazing golfer he is if he was not in the physical condition he is in. His physical strength and endurance help him be the most dominant golfer of all time. Your right, if Tiger Woods wanted to be a better player he coulnt just hit the gym more often, because hes always there already! This is why hes so good at his sport. He dedicates life to it.

He's not a good golfer because he spends time in the gym, he's a better golfer than he would be if he didn't.

Either way, I'd say the guy is an athlete in any sense of the word. If all you knew was that he was a professional athlete and you saw a picture of him you could reasonably assume that he plays in the NHL, MLB, NBA, boxing, maybe the NFL. Can't say that about any other non-athlete I don't think.

Whether golf is a sport or not is open to interpretation. For some people it's a leisurely pastime and therefore not a sport. For others it obviously is a sport. The simple act of doing it though doesn't make what you are doing a sport. Chainsmoking old lady participants and a quench wench on the playing surface doesn't scream "sport" to me.

The argument that "they walk a long way" is kind of funny though. Even if he duffs it all over the couse (which he obviously never does) he won't be walking more than 6 or 7 miles in 3 hours. Your mailman is a hell of an athlete if that's the criteria, and he carries his own bag.

[Lanny_MacDonald]

When you can hit a ball 300+ yards (consistently), make your wedges backup at will, and sink a 6' putt 100 times in a row, then you can talk about how these guys aren't playing a real sport. Try hitting 1000 balls a day, a couple hours putting, doing 2-3 hours of gym time, working on your strength and flexibility, and then then an hour or two on the stationary bike. That's the regime for most of these guys. These guys are athletes and they work their asses off. Once you can do that, then you can say they aren't athletes.

Duffers and non-golfers crack me up. They just have no appreciation to how much work goes into the game. The average golfer shoots around 100, even with the advent of the new technologies. 10% of those golfers will average 90 (bogey golf). 10% of those will average 80 (single digit handicap). 10% of those might get their handicap down to a low single digit. 10% of those will become scratch or sport a plus handicap. These last two categories are the guys that become club pros. Using baseball as a comparison, this is the "rookie" class ball. This is light years better than the guys you see playing around your local courses. From there you have the mini-tours (A ball), and then the actual different tours like the Gateway/Hooters (AA ball), the Nationwide (AAA ball) and then the PGA Tour, where the best of the best get to play. To get to this level requires an amazing level of dedication and hard work, no different from what professionals in other sports go through to achieve the peak of their individual sports. These guys are athletes, and possess some skills that put other sports to shame. No, they aren't going to survive a hit from a linebacker and they aren't going to win a marathon, but they are incredibly strong mentally (like no other) and bring the best power generation and hand-eye coordination of any sport. I'm not a Tiger fan, but I do recognize his amazing athletic ability. I won't say he's the best athlete I've seen, but he is up there. He's really is a freak!

[flip]

Originally Posted by Lanny_MacDonald

Try hitting 1000 balls a day, a couple hours putting, doing 2-3 hours of gym time, working on your strength and flexibility, and then then an hour or two on the stationary bike. That's the regime for most of these guys.

Not saying you are full of ... but at least 1/2 of the PGA tour does not have a regimen close to this.

Think John Daly, Phil Mickelson, Cabrerra (sp?), VJ Singh etc

I understand that is why you said most but I think some or around half is more accurate.

[Clever_Iggy]

Originally Posted by flip

Not saying you are full of ... but at least 1/2 of the PGA tour does not have a regimen close to this.

Think John Daly, Phil Mickelson, Cabrerra (sp?), VJ Singh etc

I understand that is why you said most but I think some or around half is more accurate.

Actually, Singh is well known to have a very disciplined regiment - I believe Lanny might have been thinking of him in particular when saying "hit 1000 balls a day".

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200.../gp_singh0323/

At least half is just spouting off random numbers. And dont be so quick to cite Daly... he's one guy that continues to show up at majors because his British open and US open victories gave him a long term exception into those majors and others tournaments and because he's still a draw for the crowd. Daly doesnt equal half of the PGA, nor is he representative of the typical PGA golfer.

[iggypop]

Originally Posted by flip

Not saying you are full of ... but at least 1/2 of the PGA tour does not have a regimen close to this.

Think John Daly, Phil Mickelson, Cabrerra (sp?), VJ Singh etc

I understand that is why you said most but I think some or around half is more accurate.

VJ Singh? Haha get your names right if you're going to start mentioning players. VJ practices more than any other golfer on the entire tour.

Originally Posted by Clever_Iggy

At least half is just spouting off random numbers. And dont be so quick to cite Daly... he's one guy that continues to show up at majors because his British open and US open victories gave him a long term exception into those majors and others tournaments and because he's still a draw for the crowd. Daly doesnt equal half of the PGA, nor is he representative of the typical PGA golfer.

The crazy thing about John Daly is many people call him the second most talented player on tour behind only Tiger. If he had Tigers work ethic and training regime I'd imagine he would be top 3 in the world; instead of current rank of 573.

[DuffMan]

I don't know if anyone watches Big Break on the Golf Channel. It is basically an elimination challenge show, for a tour exemption spot and other prizes. This season shows (as a matter of fact tonight) the contestants are from past shows(this is season 7, I think). The contestants usually use carts, unless they are playing a hole for elimination. One guy is probably 5' 10" and weighs probably more than 300#. Last week he had to walk a hole 2X in a playoff, and I thought he was going to have a heart attack. he was huffing and puffing, his face was completely red. He is so out of shape and probably on the obese side of the scale. I don't know how the guy can play in tournament golf and walk the course, and keep the pace. He's obviously a good golfer, but could probably be a lot better if he lost some weight, and had more stamina. I could never see a person like this winning as much as Tiger.
By the way, the next show starts in a couple of weeks with 12 women, vying for a tour exemption spot.

[The Goon]

I guess it's news - Tiger doesn't win at Doral:

http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/pga/new...v=ap&type=lgns

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by The Goon

I guess it's news - Tiger doesn't win at Doral:

http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/pga/new...v=ap&type=lgns

Yeah, 3rd round killed him. Shooting 72 on that course is a disaster.

[gonzo29]

I was able to catch most of the Doral broadcast this week, and watching Tiger play, it's amazing he only finished two back. It really seemed like he was hitting bad drives, marginal iron play, and poor, poor putting - and was still just a couple of good breaks away from taking it.

I think this loss could be a good thing for Tiger, considering the "real" prize is coming in two weeks at The Masters. Carrying a six event winning streak into Augusta may have been more pressure and distraction than he needed, now he can just focus on that single main objective.