Winning on the PGA Tour

Earlier today, a fellow golf writer asked if, with the exception of Tiger and Vijay, any golfers on the PGA Tour know how to actually "win" a tournament? He went on to remind me that most of the time golfers will tell an interviewer that "their game simply came together that week and they basically got lucky".

This comment got me thinking about all of the post-tournament interviews I have heard during my golf fandom, and I have to admit... he is right. Most golfers do attribute a win to blind luck or some mystical force that somehow aided in the victory. After all, it isn't like good skill and practice had anything to do with it, right?

Perhaps this is why players like Tiger and Phil remain at the top of the World Golf Rankings year-in and year-out. These players work incessantly on their games and get to the point where he knows what to expect from his golf swing and probably has a pretty good idea of how he might fare in the tournament. Other players... well, not so much.

While not far-fetched, one might assume that these one-hit-wonders on the PGA Tour simply play well enough to earn a tour card and then eventually find the right conditions to sneak by with a victory. After all, a player can make a very healthy living off of the PGA Tour without ever breaking the Top 10 in a tournament, let alone winning with the consistency of Tiger. However, why else would these players even want to play on Tour if mediocrity is acceptable?

PGA players should lose the "gentlemen's mentality" and simply answer an interviewer's questions with some vigor.

Interviewer: So, Tim Clark, to what do you attribute your success this week in winning your first PGA Tour event on American soil? Did your game just seem to come together this week?

Tim Clark: Christ no. You know why I won this week? Because I'm f*cking good, that's why. I am the greatest golfer in the world, and any of you jerks would trade anything to play like me. So what if this is my first win on Tour? I haven't had a handicap in YEARS, my man. YEARS. See that Bentley over there? Yeah, that's mine. I bought that.