Canadian success, the realities of stress and more bits and bites from the golf world

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/01/2022 (1718 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Bits, Bites and Barbs from around the world of golf:

Bits

Imagine if professional golf was like the NFL and two golfers qualified for a playoff, and the one who lost a coin flip had to stand on the tee hoping his competitor didn’t make birdie because he wouldn’t even get a chance to tee off if that happened … And golfers think the worst rule is sports is not getting free drops from divots. Puh-leeze … The 14-year-old me is inconsolable about that Bills loss. The 43-year-old “rarely watches football anymore” me is somewhat gutted, too … Brooke Henderson was on TV Sunday for less time than it took the Chiefs to tie the game on that last drive … Danielle Kang, who beat Henderson by three shots to win the LPGA Tour’s season-opening Tournament of Champions, does not look like someone with whom you’d want to quarrel. She’s among the most intense players in golf. Love when she’s in the hunt … No golf tournament makes me lament Canadian winters more than the PGA Tour stop in Palm Springs, Calif. … Jon Rahm was caught on a hot mic dropping an expletive while calling the desert event a “putting contest.” Rahm should be in better spirits this week at the gruelling Torrey Pines, site of his first PGA Tour win in 2017 and his first major victory last year at the U.S. Open.

Bites

A runner-up finish thanks to two bogey-free weekend rounds is a great start to Henderson’s season. A solid week with the putter employing the rather peculiar tactic of removing the flagstick to read putts and replacing it before putting some of them. Never seen such a move, but whatever works for someone whose short game needs sharpening … I’m not sure anybody’s name has ever sounded more like a professional golfer than that of Hudson Swafford … On a more serious note, a nice story with Swafford winning the American Express during the week of his late father’s birthday … Amazingly, the 2021-22 PGA Tour season is already at the quarter mark. Six of the eight Canadians with full status are inside the top 125 on the FedEx Cup list, with Nick Taylor (145th) and Michael Gligic (177th) on the outside looking in. Mackenzie Hughes is the top Canuck in 16th place … You never knew what you were going to get from Stephen Ames in scrums during his days on the PGA Tour. He could be engaging, witty, cocky, surly, combative, condescending. Sometimes all in one session. Now, nobody looks like he’s having more fun playing golf than Ames, who started his season with a tie for third in Hawaii. Playing the no-cut, low-stress PGA Tour Champions circuit is the best gig in sports.

Barbs

My jest about the ease of the senior circuit aside, professional golf, while seemingly an idyllic occupation of travel and riches and playing some of the world’s most beautiful courses, can be cruel and lonely and depressing. For all the images of big cheques and shiny trophies, there are countless golfers struggling with anxiety as missed cuts mount. We saw young star Matthew Wolff take a leave of absence last year to deal with the unrelenting pressure he felt to perform. “Some of the feelings that I had were like getting up in the morning knowing I had to get out of bed and just not being able to,” Wolff said later in the season at a playoff event. “I just want to stay in my bed and not be in front of everyone and not screw up in front of everyone.” Bubba Watson has opened up about his mental health struggles, World No. 1 Nelly Korda discussed the importance of not taking the game so seriously. And last week, Alena Sharp, who has taken breaks from the game in recent months, spoke candidly about dealing with the putting yips and the toll that has taken on her, both on and off the course. At the same time, golf is an escape for so many. I’ve written about the therapy golf provides to a firefighter with PTSD and about a tragedy bringing golf friends together to raise awareness for suicide prevention. In these years of the pandemic, so many of us have found solace from so much doom and gloom through golf. The game has played a vital role not only in our physical well-being but, more important, in our mental well-being. As another Bell Let’s Talk day approaches, let’s all remember golf is about so much more than birdies and bogeys. Both struggle and salvation lie within it.

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Obscure thought of the week: Even the Tooth Fairy is not immune to inflation, it would appear.

Jason Logan is the editor of SCOREGolf Magazine and is based in Toronto. He is a contributor to the Star’s Sports section. Follow him on Twitter: @jasonSCOREGolf