These (Old) Guys Are Good

Tommy Armour III

HEY, HAVE YOU NOTICED? Old is the new good on the PGA Tour.

The magic age might just be 48. I mean, 48-year-olds are coming out of the woodwork.

You have your Kenny Perry, winner of two 2008 events and a lock for the U.S. Ryder Cup team to take on the Europeans in Perry’s home state of Kentucky.

And, as I check the AT&T National leaderboard heading into Sunday’s final round, you have another pair of 48-year-olds. One is the leader, Tom Pernice, Jr. The other, two shots back, is Tommy Armour III, who nearly won a couple of weeks ago at the Travelers Championship.

Is somebody spiking these guys’ Smart Balance? Has the throwback, TA III, discovered a new putting stroke or puffing strategy – or both? Is the grumpy Pernice poised to bag his third tour win?

You gotta throw Rocco into the old guy mix, too. The 45-year-old Mediate is hugely popular after standing up to The Man at the U.S. Open. And while on the subject, let’s include another fan favorite, the 44-year-old Paul Goydos, who finished second to Sergio Garcia at The Players Championship.

It makes me wonder if old guys might be a part of the story line at the year’s last two majors and the Ryder Cup. I hope so.

−The Armchair Golfer

Kenny Perry Collects Third Memorial Win

OK, KENNY. Nice work. You were due.

The old man (47) by PGA Tour standards finally broke through at the Memorial Tournament after coming close the last few weeks at The Players Championship and AT&T Classic.

With his third Memorial victory, Kenny Perry is also in rare company. Only one other man has three victories at Jack’s tournament: Tiger Woods.

Woods claimed his three consecutively in 1999, 2000 and 2001. Perry, on the other hand, has spread his Memorial titles over 17 years, beginning with a playoff win over Hale Irwin in 1991.

Perry played near flawless golf in the final round, fashioning a 69 on a U.S. Open-tough Muirfield Village course that befuddled most of his young challengers. Eight under won the thing, the highest winning score on tour this year.

What could have been a breakthrough win for a Matthew Goggins or a Justin Rose, or a resurgent win for a Mike Weir or a Jerry Kelly, was instead the 10th tour win for an “old” man who wants one more shot as a Ryder Cupper. Perry has now moved up to fifth in Ryder Cup points and has a great shot at making Azinger's team.

Way to go, Kenny.

−The Armchair Golfer

Paul Goydos to Become Tour’s First Personality Coach

ACCORDING TO SOURCES, Paul Goydos, the affable journeyman who finished second to Sergio Garcia at The Players Championship, will offer individualized instruction to PGA Tour players to help them develop and enhance their personalities.

Many golf observers have criticized the PGA Tour for being devoid of personality in recent years. Goydos, who this past week charmed the media and golf fans even in defeat, will set out to change the negative perception one Tour player at a time.

“In an age of swing coaches, short game gurus, golf psychologists, nutritionists, fitness instructors, sports agents, business managers, personal assistants –- did I miss any? –- the emergence of the personality coach is probably long overdue,” said a Tour insider.

“I think Paul Goydos is the right man for the job.”

Goydos will reportedly offer a range of services to include cliché avoidance, role play, quips and asides, case studies of past personality greats, fan interaction 101, mastering the media conference and carefree body language.

Goydos’ client list will be confidential, but “we’ll know who they are as they make personality gains,” said the Tour source. The 16-year veteran will continue to play Tour events in addition to coaching.

Asked if he could foresee a day on Tour when a “personality” trailer would be parked alongside the fitness trailer, the source said, “I don’t see why not. It would show the Tour’s commitment to personality and hopefully widen our fan base.”

−The Armchair Golfer

(This is an ARMCHAIR GOLF spoof.)

Sergio Garcia Rolls Into Redemptionville

(Speedpics Flicks/Flickr)

IT WAS THE SEVEN FEET that Sergio Garcia conquered on the 72nd hole that won him one of the most-coveted trophies in golf, The Players Championship.

Garcia’s seven-foot par putt on the last green was struck with a smooth, decisive stroke, and from the time the ball left his regulation-length Titleist putter it rolled like it had no place else to go but the center of the cup. (Sort of the way a guy named Woods always seems to hole the mammoth putt when everything is on the line.)

It was exactly the kind of putt Garcia has failed to make on big occasions in the past. No, it wasn’t quite as huge as the lipout on the final green at Carnoustie last summer that would have won Sergio the British Open.

But Garcia had to sink the tester to complete a gritty up-and-down on the brutally difficult final hole at TPC Sawgrass and to have any chance to catch Paul Goydos, a long-time minor cast member on tour who nearly hijacked the “fifth” major.

Sure, Sergio golfed his ball with amazing precision around a stadium-course layout made even more sinister by gusting winds. But we knew that about the Spaniard. It still comes down to the flatstick. It always does, doesn’t it? (Just ask Tiger about this year’s Masters.)

Welcome to Redemptionville, Sergio Garcia. Enjoy your stay, but not too long. There’s another town calling your name and befitting of your talent –- Majorville.

−The Armchair Golfer

The ‘Old’ Players Championship

Kenny Perry (Fritsche/Flickr)


I DIDN’T GET the memo. No one told me they changed The Players Championship to The Old Players Championship.

You got your Kenny Perry, age 47. You got your Bernhard Langer, age 50. (Langer now hangs out on the Champions Tour.) And there’s your leader, Paul Goydos, the frisky colt of the trio at age 43. Yeah, Goydos, a journeyman, with extra emphasis on “journey.”

I loved Paul’s post-round interview with NBC’s Bob Costas.

Costas: Why do you wear your top button buttoned when it’s so hot here?
Goydos: Because I have no shoulders. It keeps my shirt on.
Costas: You’ve only won twice, both times from behind. Have you ever been the 54-hole leader?
Goydos: No, but I’ve only been on tour 16 years. (Rim shot.)

Goydos, ranked 169th in the world, got the best of Costas, but can he get the best of the field on Sunday? A win would be huge for the player who is making his way back from golf oblivion.

Sergio Garcia is lurking, just three back. As usual, he’s striping the ball, but the putts aren’t falling like they did in round one. They said on the telecast Sergio wants to putt like he did when he was a boy. Maybe he should try to putt like those old guys.

Langer looks like he’s sweeping the beach for valuables. Kenny Perry is nudging it nicely. Goydos, Mr. 11 One-putts, looks like he’s putting with a gardening tool.

On Sunday, the player who can keep his ball on the fairways and putt those nervy slick greens will walk off with the trophy. It might just be an old player at The Players Championship.

−The Armchair Golfer

Pat Perez Interview After The Players

A PAST GUEST of Armchair Golf, six-year PGA Tour player Pat Perez stops by early next week for a Q&A. The world No. 55 golfer is two over heading into the weekend at The Players Championship.

Next week Double P talks about why he has to get into the U.S. Open, his physical conditioning, what he’s working on, what keeps him revved up about playing the tour and more.

−The Armchair Golfer

The Players: Pass Ernie Els the Dynamite

“I think they should blow it up.”
−Ernie Els, on the 17th at TPC Sawgrass

ERNIE ELS HAD JUST birdied the 16th hole at TPC Sawgrass and stood at two under in his opening round at The Players Championship. Then he made a mess of Pete Dye’s revenge, the par-3 17th hole.

His wedge landed about seven yards short of the island green. His third shot narrowly escaped the water. Three putts later and the agony was over. Put him down for a triple-bogey 6.

The Big Easy was the Big Steam.

“I think they should blow it up,” Els was quoted as saying. “Everything you worked for in 4 1/2 hours, in one shot it's all gone.”

Ernie rebounded with a birdie on 18, one of the toughest finishing holes on the PGA Tour, and carded a respectable 72. He is even in today’s second round and should make the cut.

−The Armchair Golfer

17th at TPC Sawgrass: ‘Most Terrifying Two Seconds’

(Russ Glasson/Flickr)

The ardent golfer would play Mount Everest
if somebody put a flagstick on top.
−Pete Dye

DO YOU EVER WATCH a golf telecast and secretly wish you could try your luck on a certain hole?

The par-3 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass brings out that desire in me. So does the par-3 12th hole at Augusta National. I’d just love to drop a few golf balls and take my swings on those challenging holes, preferably when no one was around.

I’d probably choke my guts out, but it would be SO MUCH FUN.

Last night I watched the Bruce Edwards Memorial Caddie Competition on the Golf Channel. To raise money, entertain the crowd and share a few laughs with their player bosses, caddies teed it up on the famous 17th hole with the island green.

The caddies tried their best to reach terra firma, but many if not most splashed down. I saw one cold shank his tee shot. Another hit a low liner that skipped across the water until it ricocheted off the railroad ties that border the green. Some had gorgeous golf swings, and the winner struck his shot to within two feet of the hole.

One former Tour caddie, Mike Collins, told Golfweek, “I was terrified. I couldn’t get my hands dry. It’s the most terrifying two seconds in a caddie’s life.”

I’d love to be that terrified, at least once.

−The Armchair Golfer

The Players: Phil Mickelson Ready to Defend

(C. O'Neal/Flickr)

CAN PHIL MICKELSON make some noise at TPC Sawgrass this week?

The defending champion doesn’t have Tiger Woods to contend with, not that El Tigre has had a lot of success at Ponte Vedra Beach. Both Phil and Tiger have won The Players Championship once.

Mickelson says he’s ready to go. From his Web site, following are a few Lefty sound bites on his tournament preparation.

“I'll usually take Monday off of a major. I'll play a practice round early Tuesday, and Wednesday I'll go off site and get work done on areas of my game that need improvement. It will be the same as I treat other majors.

“I have already done my normal major championship preparation work that I do for Augusta.

"I've done it now for TPC Sawgrass, so I don't feel as though I have to spend an inordinate amount of time getting ready to know the golf course.”

The Players always has a strong field, and this year is no exception with 49 of the top 50 players in the FedEx Cup standings. There is that one glaring absence, though.

−The Armchair Golfer