Champions Tour Comes to MY Age

Last night as I watched the Champions Tour's Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai and found myself reliving my childhood to young adult golf memories. Growing up the career's of Watson, Irwin, et all were ending and the playing Career's of Nicklaus, Palmer and Trevino were over and amounted to appearances at the majors and big stops (albeit the 86 Masters remains one of my biggest golf memories). As I entered high school and then college names like Kite, Wiebe, Price, North, Jacobson were in their prime and then came Couples, Calc, Pavin and the rest of the new and soon to enter batch of today's seniors. Last night felt like a family reunion of sorts where my old friends suddenly reappeared into my living room. But as I thought about it, it wasn't the fact that they along with myself, had reached an age where they could play golf with guys their own age and physical "abilities" where they became equal competitors. It was that the "friends" were playing golf worth watching again. I as much as any huge Tiger fan have loved watching the golf era of Tiger golf. Last night I saw what I and most fanatical golf fans of the 40+ age group are missing. These guys who are coming of age for the champions tour are just that, they are "golfing guys", the characters, heroes and personalities we loved to watch play real good golf. It appears to this aging golfer that the Champions Tour may have come of (my) Age.

So what was with Rory's 18th hole

While experiencing one of the coldest winters that connecticut has seen in years, it was great to spend last weekend watching golf being played again. It didn't hurt it was being played in Maui which is my wife and I's favorite place to vacation or on one of my top 10 favorite courses.
I've never been a huge fan of Rory Sabbatini. Mainly due to all the reasons he pointed to during his Golf Channel interview; brash, distant.... But I have always respected his agressive and in your face play on the golf course. As a huge Tiger fan, I love someone who will stand up to a challenge and not back down and Rory has done time and again when I have seen him play. Albeit, not always successfully but that's okay. But Sunday he shoots a 10 under par score over 17 holes. When he teed off 18 he was probably 5-7 holes ahead of eventual winner Geoff Oglivy and leading by 2 strokes. After hitting a good tee shot, Rory decides to play short and right of the green leaving an up and down for birdie and worse case an easy par. Ultimately as we all know he chips and 2 putts for par. For me, an 8 handicap, this would have been great, but for an agressive player who was 10 under after 17 holes and 6 under over the last 9 or 7 over the last 10 this is inconceivable. With the scoreboards and his early tee time, he was more than aware that the leaders still had a number of scoring holes to play and a 2 shot lead was not a bet worth taking. Geoff played the hole the same way to protect a 1 shot lead, an extremely conservative play, from a generally more conservative player who was 6 under on his round. The announcers themselves all but called it conservative. I think the PC statement of Faldo was that it was a smart play by Oglivy. I don't disagree, so to say I was disappointed to see one of the most brash, agressive players on the PGA tour (a tigerless one at that) play conservatively after playing so agreesively for 17 holes would be an understatement. The only thought that would be more so, would be if he played conservatively to guarentee second place, a thought that better be just sarcastic.