Can Pro Golf Remain Popular?

Most everyone has a favorite sport. Maybe it's the one you were best at, or the one your mother took you to for your first professional event. Maybe it's the one where your grandfather was a semi-pro.

I know guys who have been addicted to basketball their entire life; played in college and then continued to play in adult leagues for the next 35+ years. However, most of these guys don't and won't watch pro basketball. They love college hoops, but detest the NBA. So there must be something besides your love for the sport itself.

Everyone likes a story - a drama. We're conditioned for good and bad guys, them and us. I think most of us like to identify with the athletes, even if we could never dream of performing at their level. And the games or contests have to be interesting and exiting. It always attracts fans when someone takes the game to a new level, doing things we've never seen before. With all the media attention athletes get in this day and age, we like someone who has something to say - someone who makes good copy.

Maybe not everyone would agree, but I think most of us want a sport that's clean and honest. We need there to be someplace where fair play is guaranteed because it seems just the opposite in every other public arena. Most us like tradition, particularly in a world that seems to be nothing but change. We also like big stakes. We want a build up and then a final nerve-racking conclusion. As they used to say on NBC - we want the 'thrill of victory and the agony of defeat'. If it can happen on a grand scale to the greatest players, then maybe our own lives aren't so out of line.

I'd say that, in general, the game of golf has the necessary criteria to stay popular. It reeks of tradition, sportsmanship, pay only for performance, honesty and a general lack of scandal. Many of us have played the game, even the same courses as the pros. (When's the last time you shot hoops at the Garden?) And what's more interesting, many of us have done as well on a hole as any pro just by making a birdie, or sinking a 35 foot putt. (When's the last time you grabbed a rebound and then went straight up and jammed it home?) The game may not have many colorful players based on those in other pro sports, but no one looks like they're on steroids or even tempted to use them. Instant replays aren't necessary. There are no referees to make controversial calls. There are a few stupid rules, but that just shows it reflects the human condition.

What could kill the sport then? If all players start looking the same for one. I've written before that this has happened to men's tennis and look where they've fallen. Golf isn't there yet, but there are cracks showing. There are fewer 'characters' on the tour these days. Who wants to do their own thing when so much money is up for grabs every week. Show boating is fine until there's a million dollars at stake.

Could the presentation of golf be a negative for the game? I like to see player's hit full shots. Mostly they seem to show us putts. This is understandable because this is where the final score on a hole is determined and it can be quite a dramatic moment. So far, we don't have the video capability to show a shot like it looks when you're standing next to the guy who's hitting. We can see the swing, but there's no ball tracking. They try to show some ball flight, but for all we now that footage of the ball flying could be stock. It's just not the same as the real thing. And you can't see the ball being worked, maybe that's why they've allowed technology to undermine those skills. It's too bad, because watching ball flight is very rewarding. At some point, just seeing putt after putt doesn't warm the heart much.

And if I want to see who can hit it the farthest, then aren't I better watching the Long Drive competition. Perhaps Hi-Def TV will make a difference. I've seen it do wonders for a ski race because you can see depth of field. I imagine it might do a lot for golf as everything looks flat on traditional broadcasts. It's very hard to get a feel for the pitch of a green, or how deep a bunker is. New technology might change that.

And if new technology might improve presentation, then maybe old technology might save the pro game from the same fate as tennis. Without 300+ yard drives being commonplace we might see more of the longer irons, more working of the ball, and more unique swings. And even the pros themselves are looking more and more alike these days. I miss Arnie's slashes, Lee with his West Texas flat swing, and Chi Chi looking like Gumbi. With the pros losing some distance you'd also see a lot more great old short courses come back into play. Some of the most beautiful and challenging holes of golf are short, but often can't stand up to a 340 yard poke.

Isn't there an old saying that says 'nothing ever stays the same'. You're either on your way up or on your way down. Who out there thinks pro golf is actually getting better?