Desperate Days
It’s easy to contend for a major when your young, athletic and naive of your own mortality. Today’s thrashing twenty-somethings have all the razzle-dazzle and hype fit for the Vegas strip. Being a superstar at 23, with a silver jug in one hand and a tennis princess in the other, will give anybody a white ball complex. The real grit and grime collects on golf’s fossils, relatively speaking. The forty-somethings carry a certain desperation and last-ditch mentality that oozes like slime.
Look at the contentment of Darren Clarke, who at 42 conquered a seemingly fruitless ambition at last year’s Open Championship. You can count the near misses of the Northern Irishman like the accumulating gray hairs on his head. Finally, bliss.
Rory McIlroy showed us what true potential can be at Congressional last year, but contracted Anthony Kim-syndrome after tasting success. Excessive globetrotting has only exhausted the mop-topped star.
–>Take a look at journeyman Steve Stricker this week. The 45-year-old model of consistency has a real shot at breaking through and snagging the Wanamaker. His stoic swing can handle the ebb-and-flow of the Ocean Course and it’s deceptive winds. He’s been close before–second in 1998–and there’s a stench of desperation. How many more years of world class golf can “Strick” put together? With appearances in the Ryder Cup and President’s Cup in each of the past five years, Stricker is no stranger to pressure. He just needs to hold on down the home stretch.
Other guys to watch:
Dustin Johnson– The Coastal Carolina Kid has all the tools to avenge 2010’s calamity at Whistling Straits. While he hasn’t shown much promise on the PGA Tour in 2012 (29th on the Money List), he’s back in familiar territory at Kiawah Island.
Graeme McDowell– Arguably playing the best golf in the world this season. His major line in 2012: T-12, T-2, T-5. McDowell has been tearing up courses with his ball striking, look for another strong outing.
Davis Love III– [SEE: 40SOMETHINGs] Remember the point about desperation? It can be a beautiful, sinister, motivating factor. Let’s not forget that DL3 is partial to the Carolinas. He graduated from the University of North Carolina and has had plenty of success in the region. Heck, three of his first five PGA Tour wins came in Hilton Head, S.C. We also know he’s got the composure of a major champion, with a victory at Winged Foot in ’97.
Let’s not forget this guy either…
GoFer Eats 