Who Are Your Favorite Players?

[DennisMiller]

I just watched Robert MacIntyre being interviewed after his win at the Dunhill Links Championship. (One of my favorite events of the year) I really never knew a thing about him before, other than some vague name recognition, but after listening to him talk, his humor, his humility and in large part, because he didn't talk in cliches, I've immediately become a big fan.

He was asked about the celebration following the Ryder Cup win and he actually seemed to be embarrassed about answering. It was just way too cute.

It got me started thinking, (yes, I've finally had enough coffee this morning to think without hurting myself), who are our favorite golfers? I used to be a die hard Arnie fan, loved Doug Sanders, Bobby Nichols because he was a neighbor, Frank Beard and Lee Trevino, but sort of feel like after that era, maybe Tom Watson and Ben Crenshaw were the only 2 who stood out in my mind, while all the others faded into a big vanilla pot.

In more current times, I like what Rory, Tyrell and Tommy. Scheffler, Speith and Thomas represent impress me for their respect of the game, but again, regardless of winning records, most of the others fall into that vanilla pot. I like a lot of the LPGA players, who impress me to be much more gracious than a lot of the PGA players.

Who do you like?

 

[PaulBoy]

Great question Dennis! - I started playing golf at 4 years old! - That's what happens if your parents both play golf & my dad in particular was a fanatic - My mum famously said that if there was any truth in reincarnation she wanted to come back as a pair of his golf shoes!
Anyway, my first golf heroes were the Big Three, from Big Three Golf which was the first televised golf I saw - Jack, Arnie & Gary - I was always drawn to Arnie of the three - As I grew older I loved watching Trevino for his golf & his huge personality! - From there my main heroes were from the Seve era - Him plus Sandy Lyle & Nick Faldo - Stateside I enjoyed watching Greg Norman taking on the top Americans, but the Europeans tended to stay here as their tour got stronger & stronger? - They only travelled to the US for the Majors, & of course did quite well - Tom Watson was a favourite US player for me in that era
Around that time The Ryder Cup became a European team rather than the old Great Britain & Ireland one - It had previously been a walk in the park for the US & on a personal level, I witnessed the US thrash GB&I at Walton Heath in 1981 19.5 - 9.5 if I recall correctly?
It then became the norm for the top European players to concentrate on the PGA Tour, as is the case now with Rory, Tommy & Bobby Mac all plying their trade there - All three are top ten players in the OWGR with Rose, Hovland, Straka & Aberg hot on their heels in the top twenty - Hardly a surprise that Europe prevailed in the Ryder Cup when you see that & add Jon Rahm & Tyrell Hatton from the LIV Tour to the team?
I haven't forgotten Tiger by the way! - At first, I loved to watch this kid play, but as the TV coverage turned every event into The Tiger Woods Show, I switched off - I mean, I once saw them follow him on camera to the toilet, instead of showing someone else actually playing golf! - He was an iconic player, but in my opinion, ruined by the media attention that was heaped on him ...

 

[DennisMiller]

Good morning,

I had forgotten about Seve. He was definitely one I would seek out to watch if I attended a tournament he played in and Rahm and Finau would have to be included in my current favorites.

The reincarnation comment... I don't quite know what to make of that, but my mother used to say if there was such a thing, she wanted to come back as a Toy French Poodle living in a Jewish home. She always had poodles and said nothing lived better than that.

And yes, I started going to junior seminars around the age of 4. My mother played and sometimes I would walk 5 holes with her and at a point where the course crossed a street, Dad would pick me up to go somewhere, usually for ice cream.

Joe Lally, the club pro at Seneca GC in Louisville, where I grew up, was a neighbor. He cut down a set of clubs for me and I got them for my 5th birthday. I played the 5 hole stretch on my 5th birthday, my first time actually playing the course instead of going to Joe's junior seminars and hitting balls on the range.

The longest time I've had off since then was about 5-6 years ago when I had bone spur surgery on my shoulder and had to take 16 months off to rehab.

 

[PaulBoy]

Hi Dennis ... Sounds like (golfwise) we had a similar upbringing? - I first played on the course at the age of 4 - My father used to dine out on telling everyone that the first hole I played (a Par 5) took me 17x shots to reach the green & 11x putts to get in the hole! - I did get my own back on him when I played with my brother (when in my 20's) & scored an albatross 2 at the same hole!
I suffered back problems from the age of about 40 & the longest layoff I had was 9x months - More recently, I have missed periods of up to 4 or 5 months when my back pain flairs up - It's usually in the winter months, which over here in the UK means golf is pretty disrupted anyway - Touch wood, my back has been good for the last 6 months or so, but winter is fast approaching ...

 

[Robbo016]

Oh man... what a Q.... got a bunch of thoughts across the generations...

Grew up watching Langer, Faldo, Seve and a curve ball in Jeff Hawkes who I watched live several times as a kid after he gave me a ball, glove, signed hat etc when he played in the Epson Matchplay at St Pierre

Stateside - always loved watching Payne Stewart

Nowadays. always loved and supported Tiger although I feel what has come out has tarnished his legacy somewhat but still the best player I have ever seen play the game... Others I have (and still do) follow... Brooks K, Justin Rose, Luke D...

now another question - people I would love to have seen live but never did...
Bobby Jones / Ben Hogan / Gary Player....

 

[DennisMiller]

Reminding me of Payne Stewart made me realize I'd left him off my list. And my Bichon's name is Hogan for obvious reasons. Also, the only real piece of golf memorabilia I have is a photo of Bobby Jones with a certified genuine autograph.I don't know what it's worth, but it was a gift.

As for Tiger, initially, I respected his obvious talent, but really didn't like his arrogance. After his sex scandal and some injuries, I was thrilled with how he seemed to change and I became a fan.

And as for other sports, a huge influence in my young life was our neighbor across the backyard. Max Macon was a left handed pitcher for the St Louis Cardinals, who later because a pitching coach for the Brooklyn Dodgers and after that, a Scout. He retired when they moved to LA.

While Louisville, Ky is 100 miles down the Ohio River from Cincinnati and the town is Red Legs crazy, all us kids around me grew up Dodgers fans. Max used to invite the city boys on the team to stay with him and he would take them hunting and fishing. That wasn't something you could do in Brooklyn in the 1950s.

All us kids grew up with hand me down bats, hats, jerseys, gloves, and other uniform parts. I wish I'd known then what those things would be worth today, but I don't have any of it anymore.