What the Pros think about Tiger Woods, Suzann Pettersen & Olympic golf . . . and more –
Tiger Woods remains in the forefront of his faithful fans’ thoughts, but not so much in his peers’ minds. So says the always-intriguing Sports Illustrated Anonymous Poll of PGA TOUR, Champions Tour, and LPGA pros. And there’s other trivia on the pros’ minds as well.
You remember this poll. It’s the one that last year named Rickie Fowler the most overrated player on the PGA TOUR – that was just before he fired up his sticks and won THE PLAYERS, and eventually converted the OWGR Big Three into a Big Four! Make your own decisions about validity and reliability of the SI Annual Poll.
Sports Illustrated has again polled 150 pros and distilled their thoughts on a number of critical issues in and around the links: Suzann Petterson’s GimmeGate apology, Presidential politics, the rights of caddies, and Tiger Woods’ future among other issues.
More from Pro Golf Now
- Golf Rumors: LIV set to sign Masters Champion in stunning deal
- Fantasy Golf: Grant Thornton Invitational DFS Player Selections
- Brutal return leaves Will Zalatoris looking towards 2024
- Stars You Know at World Champions Cup Starts Thursday at Concession
- Fantasy Golf: An Early Look at the 2024 Masters Tournament
Will Tiger Woods win another PGA TOUR event? It’s a question that seems to preoccupy all of us whether we love him or not. Among his peers – other PGA TOUR pros – 42% think he will. There’s another comeback in Tiger’s bag. But 27% think Tiger is finished and 31% admit that they just don’t know what’s in store for the Big Cat. I wonder if that really means they don’t care, one way or the other?
If you follow the LPGA – and even if you don’t this one would have been hard to miss – then you don’t really need any background on The Apology. In a nutshell, this is how it went down: Suzann Pettersen flipped her sportsmanship switch at the Solheim Cup. Allison Lee and Charley Hull wept. Dame Laura Davies sniffed from afar. The Americans fought back – my goodness did they fight back.
Pettersen toured the golf talk shows and tried to rehabilitate herself. Was that apology sincere? Pettersen’s LPGA peers speak, and 38% of them believe it was a sincere apology. On the other hand, 53% saw it as a PR move and 9% think it was a little bit of both.
More from Golf News
- Golf Rumors: LIV set to sign Masters Champion in stunning deal
- Brutal return leaves Will Zalatoris looking towards 2024
- Stars You Know at World Champions Cup Starts Thursday at Concession
- 2023 Hero World Challenge Predictions: The Return Of Tiger Woods?
- RSM Classic Brings the controversial 2023 PGA Tour Season to a close
Then there’s the question of Jordan Spieth’s putting vs Dustin Johnson’s power off the tee. 75% of PGA TOUR pros would rather putt like Spieth than drive like DJ. I’ll bet that’s a stat that would hold among amateurs as well. We’d all like to putt like Jordan Spieth!
On the matter of Olympic golf: It’s not a pressing concern among PGA TOUR pros. The SI poll revealed that 71% of the TOUR pros would rather win the PGA Championship than take home some Olympic gold, but 76% would prefer Olympic gold to the Texas Open trophy (and check).
Next: 10 Best Mustaches in Golf
There’s more, of course, to the SI Anonymous Player Poll than the pros’ thoughts on Tiger Woods. They also have some thought on Adam Scott and Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson and Kevin Na. Of course they do.