I've been watching professional golf on TV pretty regularly for about a year now, and although my experience of hitting a stationary ball with a stick is confined to the games of croquet and miniature golf, I think I have a handle on what it takes to succeed in the major sport. I say this because it has been obvious while watching these PGA tournaments that leaders tend to either prevail or choke because of one aspect of the game that is completely absent from that which I have been used to: the drive from the tee. It's the main reason why back injuries affect golfers' performances more than just about anything else...a real career-squasher for golfing superstar Tiger Woods (his horrible car accident didn't help either). Speaking of Woods, this past weekend he hosted the Genesis Invitational, held annually just outside of Los Angeles, California. Although Woods wasn't in contention at the top of the leaderboard, he did acquit himself well in spite of his past injuries, age and physical limitations. It was Jon Rahm, already ranked number one in the world, who held off Max Homa at the end to win by two strokes...and it was his drives, contrasted with those of Homa, that ultimately won it for him. To win at golf you not only have to have great overall strength to send the ball far down toward the hole, but you need to have the form and coordination to be able to direct it to stay on the course while at the same time you are giving it all you have. Even in pro golf, I'm always seeing drive shots veer way off the course into the trees or spectators...I think this was Homa's undoing, as before his drives began to stray, he was leading Rahm. When I was a kid watching golf on TV, I was more attracted to the putting green, but now it's the teeing off at the start that fascinates me...
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