Get That Camera Out Of My Face, Golf Is Hard!

By Billy Dowling | Feb 26, 2015

Just in case you’ve never swung a club or made a putt, news flash golf is hard. For most of us, we’re happy to just make the occasional birdie, mix in a few pars and keep the double bogeys under control. The professionals can make the game look easy and sometimes make us forget how difficult the game is. So why do we criticize them?

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Think about it, if Rory McIlroy doesn’t win this week we’ll question him why, I’ll be doing it and so will many of you. There’s no such thing as second or third place, either he wins or it’s a failure. We expect him to be perfect in an imperfect game. Guess what folks only one guy can win. Over 100 of the game’s best players are going home each week without the winners check. We then are left with trying to guess why, and questioning every little thing that went wrong.

I’m certainly not going to act like a better person, because I’m just as guilty as everyone else. Heck I’m right there with the ones thinking that if he doesn’t win or at least threaten the lead, then something has to be wrong. It’s just the nature of the post Tiger Woods era in golf. Champions are expected to be great all the time, and everyone outside the ropes takes these expectations and blows them up to a whole new level.

McIlroy fielded questions yesterday about being golf’s the shinning star during another Woods hiatus. He’s won more majors in the past six months then Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day and Jordan Spieth combined and there are knuckleheads like us wondering if he can carry the game. We probably couldn’t even carry his bag for eighteen holes.

"“Of course I want to be that guy. I said it last year. Golf is waiting for someone like that to step forward, put their hand up and win the big tournaments. Yeah, this is the position I want to be in, and I want to be in it as long as I can.” (Credit GolfChannel.com)"

It’s almost as if we are expecting too much of these guys. We want them to be great and then when they aren’t we expect them to talk ten minutes afterwards to tell us why. Just last week after giving up a late lead on Sunday we wanted to hear exactly what Sergio Garcia had to say. It was almost must see television. We needed explanations and we needed them immediately.

Here’s a simple explanation, golf is hard and sometimes it just doesn’t make sense. Sometimes the pressure is just too much to handle. Whether you’re playing in your local club championship or a four time major winner trying to win on Sunday. The game can just get the best of you.

We’ll continue to question why and lay out our own expectations for these guys because it’s what we have to do. I’ve always looked at the media as way to bring an argument at your local sports bar to the public. It creates attention and it gives people a reason to watch. We want to know if Rory can live up to the “extra” pressure that we’ve put on him. It’s just the way it is and while it doesn’t always make sense, neither does this crazy game.

Next: Can Rory McIlroy Carry Golf To The Future?