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Scott Van Pelt’s take on renewed fan appreciation for Tiger Woods. Do you agree?

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Tiger Woods has been the most popular and widely rooted-for golfer since turning pro in 1996. This holds true among golf fans and general sports fans alike. And despite what his detractors might say and their arguments as to why this should not be the case, it is. Overwhelmingly so.

In the course of Woods’ latest comeback from injury, beginning at the 2017 Hero World Challenge, we’ve seen a little different flavor to fan adoration, and a little different response from Woods himself.

Michael Williams, speaking with ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt on the 19th Hole podcast, asked Van Pelt for his perspective on the Tiger love.

Van Pelt offered an excellent reply.

“Here’s why in my opinion. At 21, or 25, or 28 whatever stage you want to pick when he’s truly this Superman and he’s flying above everyone else and he’s destroying people, we can’t relate to any of that. None of it is part of the human experience that we know, but at 40-something with a bald spot and with some kids and with some miles on the tires and some bumps in the road that you’ve hit and some other things you’ve run into that were your own mistakes, we can relate to all of that.

“We can relate to the frailty of human condition and we can relate to being fallible, and we can relate to being imperfect and I think that we … When I say we, I mean what I presume we are seeing in golf fans. With golf fans turning on their televisions in record numbers and who bought record numbers of tickets in Tampa, what those people are saying, in my opinion, are we want that guy who we know is fallible and frail and human. We want to see that guy do it again and whether it’s one more time or ten more times we want to see it again, because societally we have this really interesting habit of wanting to tear down what we built up and then wanting to see it get back to that place.

“I think the love of the galleries it’s unreal. Monday he comes out and walks onto the range and you hear this roar and it’s a Monday and he’s walking out to the range and people are cheering. They’re so excited to see him.

“Here’s the thing, I get that there’s pushback. I get that there are people who don’t root for him and that’s fine. You see it on social media, this, that and the other and you don’t have to root for him, but to those people to try to pretend like they’re not in a minority is a joke. The overwhelming majority of people that are watching, are watching to see one guy and it’s Tiger Woods.”

What do you think about SVP’s take, GolfWRX members? Has he hit the nail on the head in describing this new flavor of Tiger fandom? Is is the enthusiasm merely the product of absence making fans hearts grow fonder?

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19th Hole

‘F*** around and find out’ – Phil Mickelson fires warning shot over LIV’s access to majors in since deleted tweet

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On Sunday, the social media account “Flushing It” made a post about the importance of LIV Golf ensuring that their players have major championship eligibility going forward.

“LIV can have the grandest of plans for their future but getting players access to major championships should be their number 1 priority. Especially with the major exemptions running out fast and nearly all player contracts up for renewal this year and next.”

Phil Mickelson then responded to the post, warning the golf world that excluding LIV players from majors will have unintended consequences, saying “FAAFO” which means “f*** around and find out”.

“Maybe some LIV players won’t be missed. But what if NONE of the LIV players played? Would they be missed? What about next year when more great players join? Or the following year? At some point they will care and will have to answer to sponsors and television. FAAFO”

His post has since been deleted, but there are plenty of screenshots out there.

It will be easier said than done, but it does appear that some sort of agreement between LIV and the majors could be coming in the future is the PGA Tour and LIV aren’t able to mend fences.

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19th Hole

Greg Norman reveals plan for LIV to own all their golf courses and each team to have a home venue

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In an interview with Bloomberg, LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman discussed the current state of LIV and what it means for the future of professional golf.

In the interview, Norman said he believes that LIV has been welcomed with “open arms”.

“Our product is received with open arms by many, but a few want to try and stop us for all the wrong reasons. They haven’t been able to sustain their position in the game of golf. What we have done brilliantly is injected more capital. Golf is finally looked upon as an asset class.”

Interestingly, Norman also revealed future plans for LIV to own all the courses they play and have home courses for each team.

“Man United owns their stadium. Indian Premier League, they own their stadiums. NFL, they own their stadiums. Think about LIV owning all their own golf courses, each team having a home venue and they host. And now you can build out around that. It’s not just a golf course. You bring in education, you bring in hospitality, you bring in real estate, you bring in merchandise, you bring in management, you bring in all these other different opportunities that the game of golf has to deliver to a community, to a region. We are gonna be doing that.

The Philippines are very keen to get us there. Golf in the Philippines is doing very well. We are not just sport, we’re sports and entertainment and culture. So no matter where we go in the world, we adjust what we need to deliver from an entertainment standpoint.”

Norman also talked about his time as the number one player in the world when the best players in the world didn’t always play on the same tour.

“That never happened anyway. Right? I was number one player in the world. Very seldom did I go and play in the United States or Europe or Asia or anything. Did I play against the best in the world outside the four majors and maybe the TPC? They’re the five, right? So very, very seldom did that happen. We got all paid appearance money to go play somewhere.”

Norman added that LIV “isn’t going anywhere.”

“My boss told me LIV is not going to go anywhere. It will be well and truly in operation, running well past his death – he’s a young guy.”

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19th Hole

“Is it a Titleist?” – Jerry Seinfeld shares never-before-heard details of iconic scene

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On Thursday, legendary comedian Jerry Seinfeld joined the Rich Eisen Show and shared an awesome story from a “Seinfeld” episode titled “The Marine Biologist.”

In the episode, a golf ball goes into the blow hole of a whale. According to Seinfeld, that was never in the episode’s script.

Seinfeld recalls saying the night before the filming of the episode, “What if what puts the whale in distress is Kramer’s golf ball?”

“He’s hitting golf balls at the beach. George is at the beach with a girl, we haven’t connected them!”

“We write that speech the night before at two o’clock in the morning…The sea was angry that day my friend.”

 

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A post shared by Rich Eisen (@richeisen)


Kramer finishes the iconic scene by asking “Is it a Titleist?” Seinfeld told Eisen the show sought Titleist’s permission to mention its name, saying the ball had to be a Titleist. Fortunately for lovers of the iconic show, the company agreed.

If (somehow) you’re unfamiliar with the scene, check it out below.

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