narrominded
Jake Narro, PGA professional, head golf coach at Southeastern Louisiana University and
Backspin publisher
4
celebrating and
congratulating wins
A lot has happened in the world of golf
since we last published. Number one, Tiger
is back. Number two, the Ryder Cup. Being
the golf junky that I am, it has been very
exciting to watch both.
I’ll start with Tiger. I’m a fan of golf. But
I’m not necessarily a fan of Tiger Woods. We
all know that Tiger has made a lot of changes
over the past several years, many personal,
and many because his health demanded it.
I can respect both. While Tiger Woods the
person isn’t yet back on my Top 10 list, the
player never left. He is important to golf.
Over the past fi ve weeks, it’s been obvious
that Tiger Woods has been trending toward
a win. The great thing about Tiger is that he
attracts the casual fans, and even the non-
golf fans, to the game. But as an avid golf
fan, I could see he was about to post a W.
Even still, the reception he received walking
up the 72nd hole at Eastlake blew me away.
As he strolled from his tee shot and along the
pond up to the green where he had bunkered
his second shot, the Bobby Jones Museum/
Clubhouse served as his backdrop. The
crowd that rushed the fairway to be a part of
this next chapter in his golf history book was
overwhelming. It confi rmed his return.
What I found to be interesting in the
aftermath was how the young superstars
who have all admitted to idolizing Tiger, but
who have yet to feel the weight of a Tiger
win, crumbled just like his contemporaries
did fi ve, 10 and 20 years ago. Somewhere
in a pub, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson, Vijay
Singh, and Retief Goosen, as well as every
other elite golfer who was relevant from
1997-2010, were raising a glass while Rory
McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, and Justin Thomas
got run over by the Tiger Freight Train.
What I felt like personally, was that I’m
in that generation. I’ve heard young golfers
doubt Tiger’s ability. They’ve touted strength,
speed and agility for the new generation, and
Tiger put everyone in their place. We have
all seen legends of golf ’s past show their stuff
a time or two. Mark my words, Tiger isn’t
done fl exing his experienced golf muscle.
Now, let’s transition to the Ryder Cup.
Tiger was wiped out, tired and played
terrible. Enough about him.
It should have been pretty easy to predict
the Europeans were going to win. There were
so many signs. First of all, the Americans
haven’t won on European soil in 25 years.
Secondly, we totally underestimate the home
team’s ability to set up their course for their
team rather than the visitors. For example,
the European fairways and endless rough
presented a challenge for the Americans.
The bomb and gouge era of golf doesn’t
work when the fairways are narrow and the
rough is high. Another tactic the Europeans
use is to slow the greens down a bit.
And let’s just face it – the Ryder Cup
means more to continental Europe than it
does in the United States. I’m not saying
we’re not trying; it’s just not in our blood like
it is theirs. It has only been recently that the
golf generations in America have started to
feel the importance of this event. And that’s
due to the Americans winning the Cup for
so many years. Thank you Seve Ballesteros,
Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle, Ian Woosman and
Bernhard Langer for turning this event into
one of the biggest sports spectacles in the
world. PGA of America members are all
indebted to you.
It would be easy to second guess Jim
Furyk’s decisions as a captain for pairings
and picks; however, I think we need to fi nally
come to the realization that despite world
rankings, those guys are just as good as the
Americans. Tip your hat to them, and get
ready to play them in 2020 at Whistling
Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin.
As we’re talking about team golf in an
individual golf world, I want to brag that
I just got my fi rst win as a golf coach. Five
members of my golf team made their coach
proud by winning the inaugural Battle of
the Big Easy hosted by UNO. We on by the
narrowest of margins, one stroke, over 36
holes. To date, it’s my biggest achievement
in golf. I’ve won individually, but to win as
a team, it feels a lot diff erent than anything
I’ve done on my own.
Jake