Are Rickie Fowler and Ian Poulter overrated? Despite Rickie’s thrilling victory in what I like to call the No Apostrophe Championship rather than the third Major, I’d say, all things considered, yes they are.
New PLAYERS champ Fowler and Poulter both got 24 per cent of the vote – less than a quarter, mind – when an anonymous poll of PGA Tour pros asked who the rank and file considered the most overrated players of the moment.
The figure probably encompasses that particularly insular element of the PGA Tour membership described as “jealous” by golf writer Eamon Lynch, who also pointed out that these two were also the players who had marketed themselves most astutely, far beyond what they had actually ever achieved on the golf course.
Should they be castigated for this? Of course not, they should be celebrated.
There’s plenty evidence that Poults’ fashion line and absolutely admirable back story of going from pro-shop counter to world top ten player, or Rickie’s neat colour co-ordinated threads and model girlfriend (how did that top stay on, by the way?) have got more kids interested and started playing golf than Billy Bob Grooves and his over-entitled, journeyman ilk ever have.
I’m guessing, but suspect that none of those 24 per cent have actually won a tournament bigger than Poults’ best – two WGC wins – or Rickie’s admirable victory at Sawgrass this weekend.
But taking a purely neutral view, both Poults and Rickie HAVE got more attention for their “brand” rather than their golf. Which makes the “overrated” description absolutely valid.
In the last year, partly because of the craving for a rivalry at the top of the game we’ve discussed before in T2G, Rickie was put up by many as the most significant threat to Rory McIlroy. Four top fives in the majors last year was the best evidence of this.
Of course when Jordan Spieth happened and the media got a new rival for Rory, the reaction against Rickie was almost vicious. He went from being Rory’s sole challenger (which he really wasn’t) to a being typecast as a perennial runner-up. Fowler, other than having a quiet spell after a consistent year, was absolutely blameless in failing to meet the expectations of other people.
It was largely the media that overrated Rickie. Rory’s probably still all on his own in terms of being the world’s best player, but he’s not so dominating that there’s not room for a broad rivalry, encompassing a number of players.
Rickie’s win at the weekend may be the making of him. He seems to have used the overrated “insult” as further fuel. He’ll fit right into this broader rivalry for McIlroy, the undisputed World No 1, with the likes of Spieth, Patrick Reed, Justin Rose, Martin Kaymer and plenty of other aspirants.
Which is what we really want, right?
lIs Tiger going to be in that group? Not on the evidence of last week, with his worst performance at Sawgrass in his career – other than the times he walked off, that is.
I’ve no doubt he’ll go back to Jupiter now and bash balls on his private range until his hands bleed, trying to sort out the wildness problem that has seeped into all the long clubs instead of just the driver, on recent evidence.
But just four events between now and July? Tiger, you need to get out more.
lNext year the Scottish PGA Championship, the oldest professional event in golf, reaches its 100th edition.
The 99th last week was won by Chris Kelly in a weather-interrupted week at Gleneagles, who have backed the championship for the last 17 years.
The importance of this link between the championship and Gleneagles cannot be over-stated. I doubt that the Scottish would have reach 100 – at least not uninterrupted – without the hotel’s support. The staff at the hotel, specifically the greenkeepers, were downright heroic in getting even 36 holes played in last week’s rain.
But you could sense the disquiet of some members playing in the event. Paul Lawrie, a consistent supporter of the Tartan Tour where he first came through the ranks, entered last week and was clearly concerned by the status of the championship.
No-one expects the salad days of the mid 1990s when the Scottish carried a big prizefund and even live TV coverage. The game has changed and the Tartan Tour’s place in the pyramid below the European Tour is now less significant.
Yet Lawrie was not the only player who wondered why the flagship event was being played in first week of May. For all the expert efforts of the greens staff, inland greens in Scotland just can’t be ready for championship play that early in the season, even in favourable weather.
Brian Mair, the Scottish PGA secretary, has done a good job securing more events for his members. He’s in something of a Catch-22 situation with the Scottish, wanting to increase the profile of the flagship event while knowing what a good arrangement they have with Gleneagles at present.
I expect he has the support of everyone in Scottish golf in finding a way to mark the 100th Scottish in suitable fashion wherever it is in the calendar in 2016.