Ogilvy is New Golf Overlord
March 2, 2009
Geoff Ogilvy has won twice so far on the PGA Tour in 2009 – the only man to do so. He also won the Australian PGA Championship at the end of 2008. He has won three times in a very short period.
His performance this weekend at Dove Mountain was the sight to behold on a week in which all eyes were glued to the wrong place. It was certainly great that Tiger Woods is back and playing golf. Having the best athlete in the world back on Tour is a positive. Still, Woods is human and will take some time before he is fully able to play at a level at which he is accustomed.
In the meantime, this is a great opportunity for golf fans to really appreciate the kind of player that Geoff Ogilvy has become. Evolving from a player known more for his anger and errant driver, Ogilvy is now a fantastic iron player with a very cool demeanor.
Those two characteristics work extremely well in a match play scenario. He is now a two-time winner of the Accenture Match Play and has a better winning percentage in the event than the aforementioned Woods. In other words, Ogilvy has won half of his four starts in an event that does not lend itself to that kind of success.
At a record of 17-2, Ogilvy has disposed of a wealth of global golf talent in this event. He has made three very deep runs in the championship. This week, he took out the rising phenom Rory McIlroy. He beat a red hot golfer and friend in Paul Casey. The margins he won by were not particularly dominant until the final, but he had a fantastic sense of timing. Making critical putts when he needed to do so, Ogilvy found a way to strike the crucial match play balance of playing within yourself and within the match.
Critics might say that match play is “fickle,” but really that’s a convenient excuse. At best, it is a cliche term meant to describe the idea of the “one game scenario” that is so feared in other professional sports. The hallmark of a great match player is one that can keep their head in every shot of the round. They don’t take holes off to relax or lose sight of the end game, even when the natural ups and downs of the round happen. After all, match play comes down to playing good enough to beat your opponent – not breaking the course record, or making a certain number. Ogilvy is mentally tough enough to know this and is physically gifted enough to be able to call on it under the bright desert sunlight.
At 31, Ogilvy is hitting the prime age normally attributed to golfers. He is hitting that stride brilliantly by winning twice last season in two significant tournaments and already twice this season. The confidence in himself grows with every round. Ogilvy is now fourth in the world and within striking distance of Phil Mickelson in third. Sergio Garcia is not all that far away either. Given the longer-term period that the Official World Golf Ranking covers, it makes sense that Ogilvy is not second. One would also be able to argue that Padraig Harrington should be second since he won the last two tournaments that really matter most.
Perhaps this is too much loaded praise for Geoff Ogilvy. I would hate to be accused of Geoff Worship in the way that so many accuse the golf media of worshipping one Tiger Woods. Ogilvy is not Woods, and neither are a deity. Still, Ogilvy is undergoing a remarkable maturity before our very eyes and it is something that should be appreciated. It is not a maturity that should be shielded by the overhyped comeback of a player already proven himself as the best ever. Ogilvy deserves his due credit.
Is Big Papi Another Palmeiro?
March 1, 2009
The best place to hide a tree is in the forest, right? Raphael Palmeiro tried that on March 17, 2005 and accentuated it with a pointed finger. The former Texas Ranger made every attempt to deflect the attention away from him as far as steroids were concerned. Boy, did that blow up in his face.
Now we have David Ortiz standing up and making a bold statement, not about anything concerning his own steroid use, but baseball players in general. Speaking at the Red Sox spring training facility in Fort Myers, Florida, Big Papi told reporters that if a player tests positive for steroids even once, “Ban ‘em for the whole year.”
Not exactly what you would call a physical specimen, Ortiz does possess great power and some of the names that have come out over the years as steroid users wouldn’t be mistaken for bodybuilders, either. Case in point, Mo Vaughn, who could pass for Ortiz with their similar girth and Boston uniform. Big Mo was named in the Mitchell Report and was also spoken about in Kirk Radomski’s new book, “Bases Loaded.”
Vaughn was the caliber of player that thought merely using performance-enhancing drug was all it takes to benefit. He did not exercise and was inconsistent with using the substances, which Radomski described as the reason why Vaughn looked the way he did.
Hypothetically, let’s say Ortiz realized that he needed to make a decision to save his career after being cut by the Minnesota Twins in December of 2002. Although he had decent numbers that year (.272, 20, 75), his numbers went way up his first year at Fenway, with not only his batting average being higher, but his home runs and RBI jumped to 31 and 101, respectively.
He then became a legitimate superstar and hit a career-high 54 bombs in 2006. His numbers have declined since, and he also missed some time last summer due to injury.
It isn’t impossible that Ortiz dabbled into the use of steroids at one time and may now be clean, so it’s easy to step up and make a statement like he did. He was going yard and in a big way during the period that has been proven to be the so-called ’steroid era.’
By stepping up and saying,”Hey, come and test all of us and throw us out if we’re stupid enough to do it,’ Ortiz deflects any doubt that may have been lingering over him.
Similar to what Pameiro did. Get my drift?