Capelle On Golf

It is possible that Tiger Woods was 100% sincere with his apology.

But as he said, his actions will tell the story. And they are beginning to indicate a gap between his words and deeds. For starters, his people say that he had to make the announcement on the Friday (Feb. 19) of the WGC Match Play because he was scheduled to return to rehab the following day. Well, he did fly off for counseling at the Meadows in Arizona, but that lasted only a week - by the following Sunday , he was on the range working on his game.

As a result, many observers wondered why he didn’t give the speech on the Monday or Tuesday (March 1 or 2) following his return. Really, the answer is quite simple: the later date didn’t fit in with Woods’ carefully orchestrated return to golf:

I do plan to return to golf one day, I just don’t know when that day will be. I don’t rule out that it will be this year. When I do return, I need to make my behavior more respectful of the game.

A rationale, reasonable, and sane person would have gathered from the above that it was uncertain that Woods was going to play this year, but that if he did, it would surely be latter in the year. Many guessed at the U.S. Open, which would have given him three more months to work on his life, then a month to work on his game, including a tuneup at the Memorial. Considering the supposed devastation to his psyche, this would have been the minimum time necessary for him to even begin to evolve into the New Tiger.

Events of the last two weeks, however, refute the Take-His-Time-for-Renewal approach to rebuilding his life and winning back his wife. Seems Woods is now on the fast track to return to the game. In the Elin Department, things appear to be going very well - Radaronline reports that they were seen kissing. He’s been hitting balls for 10 days. And now Hanky Haney has joined him on the range at Isleworth. It seems unlikely that he would be there if Woods was not getting ready to return to competition.

Back to the timing of the apology. In Tiger Time, it has been eons since he created the  impression that he would not be playing soon. If he had given the apology speech on March 1 or 2, that would have been only 6-7 days before Haney showed up. No one would have then bought into that   “I just don’t know when that day will be” routine. So, the timing of the speech looks like part of a well thought out plan for manipulating the fans and the media, prepping them for his return to golf. Seventeen days, including a week of rehab, is WAY longer than 6-7 days!

In any case, we will have our answer very soon, most likely not later than next Friday, which is the deadline for committing to Bay Hill. If Woods plays there, he’s playing in the Masters, done deal. And he likely doesn’t want to show up at Augusta with no real competitive golf (with all dues respect to the Tavistock Cup) under his belt since November, five months previously.

As for Elin Woods, if he plays in the Masters, and possibly the Tavistock Cup and/or at Bay Hill, then he will have already proven to her that golf comes first, family second - and that his words don’t match his deeds. But the poor woman, wanting their reconciliation to work so badly, may be too blind to see this.

So here’s the bottom line: if Woods plays in the Masters, it’s the Old Tiger pretending to be the New Tiger. And if he doesn’t, then maybe he was sincere about his mandate to change. At any rate, it is all coming to a head. Let the countdown to Deadline Day begin - 10 - 9 - 8 -

Tiger Time Line
Feb. 18 - Seen hitting balls.
Feb. 19 - Woods gives apology speech.
Feb. 28 - Is seen practicing on the range.
March 8 - Haney is reported to be on the range working with Woods
March 19 - Deadline day for committing to Bay Hill
March 22 - Tavistock
March 25 - Arnold Palmer Invitational
April 8 - Masters

I just don’t get it, and neither does anybody in golf except for the man who hit the shot - Rickie Fowler.

As he approached his second shot on the par 5 15th hole of the W.M. Phoenix Open Fowler was in desperate need of a birdie. He had completed the hard work, piping a clutch drive 305 yards down the gut. Playing lift, clean, and tee it up, he could have any kind of lie he wanted for the remaining 230 yards. In essence, he had reduced the par 5 to a long par 3, and no pro ever lays up on a par 3 since they took Cypress Point out of the rotation for the AT&T Pebble Beach in 1992.

Fowler, who was raised on motocross, is known to play fast and aggressive. But he slowed down, pondered his fate, then bunted the ball 152 yards down the fairway, setting up an 80 yard wedge shot. Mind you, this is a player who hit 16 greens on Sunday in crunch time and tied for fifth in GIR for the week.

His wedge shot spun back off the front of the green and he had to eventually cozy in a 4’, 2” putt just to save par! Naturally he went on to lose by one shot to Hunter Mahan, who closed with a 65 to Fowler’s 68, so all fingers pointed at his strategic blunder.

Some said it was a business decision. Following that line of thinking, let’s look at the numbers. First off, the worst case scenario: he hits it in the water, drops out in three, pitches on, two putts, makes bogey. This would drop him from solo second into a tie for second with Y.E. Yang. His paycheck drops from $648k to $528k. Big deal. His money for the year would still be $755,431, about $90k above what it took to make the top 125 in 2009.

Fowler earned 33.60 WGR points, shooting up to #77 from #192. If he made bogey, that would have cost him 5.6 points. Again, not a big deal as he still needs about 60 more points to move into the top 50 to qualify for the Masters.

Now, if he had gone for the green and made birdie, he might have won the tournament in a playoff - or perhaps Mahan would have felt the additional heat and hit his drive in the water on 18. As it was, he missed going in the lake by a few yards, then struggled to make par.

A win would have given Fowler his ticket to Augusta, the additional WGR points would have elevated him to #52, his paycheck would have grown by $432k and, most importantly, he’d have the W monkey off his back. Add it all up and Fowler had a lot more to gain than lose by going for it. Let’s hope next time in a similar position he does.

Does in your face, super repetitive marketing bother you? I know it bugs me, and there is no worse offender than Titleist.

About 11:40 ET I tried to log on PGATour.com to check out the leaderboard for the W.M. Phoenix Open but their server was down. I then tried the Golf Channel’s leaderboard and met with success, and a sea of super bold Titleist logos that were strategically positioned a quarter inch to the left of each player’s tournament score.

A grand total of 31 of the top 52 players were playing Titleist balls, so their name dominated the leaderboard - it was like looking at Angelina Jolie with her top off - what do you think your eyes are going to be attracted to?

While counting the players in the top 52, I accidentally clicked on a logo - and wouldn’t you know it - I was instantly transported to the Titleist web site.

Now I understand the a company’s got to market  it’s products, but they don’t need to jam their logo down our throats as Titleist has done. If they must remind us that most pros play their ball, why not put a tasteful little T in parentheses next to each users name? As it stands, their over-the-top reminder only alienates me and makes me want to play another brand.

I just tried the PGATour’s leaderboard and it is back up, with no logos. What a relief. In closing, I ask you to take The Great Titleist Leaderboard Challenge:

Golf Channel: http://www.thegolfchannel.com/pga-tour/2010-waste-management-phoenix-open/scores/?v.pos=399&h.pos=0
PGATour: Web site

And the winner is…?

Tiger Woods was a 30 handicapper of life who refused to get lessons. Now he is seeking instruction. After 45 days in therapy, he’s cut his handicap to 26. And yet, despite his  obvious progress, the media expects him to play now like a scratch player.

That’s a bit premature. Woods has serious and deep seated issues and so, providing he stays the course, he will be a work in progress for a long time to come. Hence, his uncertainty over his return to golf.

A hopefully more enlightened Tiger Woods knows that he’s going to have to subject himself to a real press conference when he returns to golf. But, for the moment, he did well just to stand in front of an audience of millions, give his message on The State of Tiger Woods, however contrived it seemed, and not suffer a complete breakdown in the process. As it was, the media got 1,500 words to chew on, and so they gorged themselves. Here’s a sampling from the non-believers:

“Tiger Woods came across as fake and phony.”
Stephen A. Smith - Philadelphia Inquirer

“This staged appearance was just a slightly different message in the same format: one-way, controlled, calculated, and with a strong dose of personal self-interest.”
Sally Jenkins - Washington Post

“Woods, who says he now understands that he’s not above the rules of common decency, is still above answering questions from those who are paid to represent a public that has helped make him a billionaire.”
John Feinstein  - Washington Post

While the doubters were having a field day, some observers were convinced that this Tiger was changing his stripes.  ESPN’s Rick Reilly said, “I thought it (the talk) was terrific.” The Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee said, “From a PR standpoint this was a home run.” And apology expert Lauren Bloom added that “I am convinced he spoke from the heart. A-.” And, “He was clearly remorseful,” according to Jim Nantz.

While the cases for the old and new Tigers are quite convincing, we won’t really know the answers for a long time to come. But at least we have benchmarks, courtesy of Woods, with which to monitor his progress when he does become public again. His agenda:

• No more cheating on his wife.
• No more special Tiger Rules.
• A life of integrity. Character and decency are what really count.
• Acting like a role model.
• Buddhism will again be his spiritual compass.

• He wants a balanced life   - himself and his wife children.
• He’s committed to helping others someday with similar problems.
• Support to others who are seeking help someday.
• He is coming back to golf “one day”.
• His behavior will show more respect for the game.

The most poignant part of his speech was the mandate from Elin Woods: “As Elin pointed out to me, my real apology to her will not come in the form of words; it will come from my behavior over time.”

Tiger Woods ran into the tree on November 27, then scurried off into hiding.
Eighty-four days later he is coming out of hiding at a press conference scheduled for Friday at 11am at PGA Tour headquarters. It will be telecast on the Golf Channel.

Over the next couple of days you’ll be reading and hearing endless speculation about what he’s going to say. The questions we can’t wait to hear answered include:

• Is he returning to competitive golf this year?
• If so, when?
• Is he going to play a regular schedule?
• Has he been working on his game?

• Are he and Elin really going to try to remain together?
• How are the kids?
• Is he worried about the fan’s behavior towards him?
• Does he still care as much about his quest to become the best?

• What epiphanies has he had during his time off?
• Is his family now his top priority?
• Will he apologize to his fans and sponsors?
• Will he appear as the same old Woods, or will there be signs that the most stubborn man in golf has changed his stripes?

The Match Play is all well and good, but, in a bit of irony, Woods will be upstaging the event that’s sponsored by Accenture, the first company that officially cut ties with him. A coincidence? At any rate, I’m counting the hours to Friday morning as I’m sure you are as well.

Dustin Johnson Overpowers the Field
For those who have been missing Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson did a good imitation with his power game as he turned the Monterey Peninsula’s par fives into par fours.

Despite his long and accurate shots into the par fives, Johnson was leaking oil, having bogeyed 17 to go three over for the day. But, with the tournament on the line, on the 18th tee with water left and OB right, he split the middle with a mammoth  tee shot, avoiding the Ocean to the left and the OB right. He hit a great miss, short and right into the greenside bunker, blasted to 3 feet and calmly sank the knee knocker to defend his title.

Earlier in the day, Johnson had hit a 325 yard blast on the par 5 sixth, followed by a 204 yard 6-iron uphill to 4 feet for his third eagle in two days. The day before at Spyglass Hill Johnson’s 64 featured two one putt eagles on the par fives. For the week he was 11 under on the 14 five pars. In comparison,  David Duval (-3) and JB Holmes (-6), who finished a shot back, lost eight and five shots respectively to Johnson on the long holes.

So much of the talk of who would step up while Woods is gone has been focused on the now familiar suspects - Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, and the gang. Now we must  add the 6’, 4” athletic Johnson and his power game to the mix. With his ability to decimate the par 5s, he could be a threat at Augusta!

Phenom Watch
Rickie Fowler and Ryo Ishikawa got a good look at each other as they were paired together for the first three rounds. Ishikawa then departed, having missed the cut by three shots. In the first round he used 34 putts (horrible for a pro), then hit only seven greens (awful) at Spyglass Hill. This performance on top of a 32t last week suggests that he still has far to go to justify his 35th position in the WGR.
Fowler posted his second respectable showing in five starts, finishing 27t. More encouraging was his GIR stat (he was 8t), which indicates that his swing, which he’s struggled with in the early going, may be coming around.

Pebble’s Volcano Hole
You’ve perhaps played one of the volcano holes in miniature golf where the ball will roll far from the cup if you miss. Well, that’s what the par 5 fourteenth was playing like thanks to the shaved area to the left and behind the smallest target in pro golf. The result: nines by Paul Goydos, Bryce Molder, and Alex Prugh. If they had made bogeys, Goydos moves from 5t to 2t, Molder from 10t to 4t, and Prugh from 27t to 10t.
Let’s hope and pray that the USGA does not mimic this ridiculous set up for the Open in June.

NEW: The USGA, after considering the play on the 14th, has decided to add some rough about 5 yards to the left of the green for the U.S. Open. Good for them!

David Duval - Second Winner
We all love a great comeback story, and none would have been better than a Duval victory considering that his last win came in the 2001 British Open. He did, however, manage a second, and he played some of the best golf on Sunday, closing with a 69 on a day when 68 was the low and only seven players broke 70. While the leaders were gasping for air, Duval coolly rolled home good sized birdie putts on the 11th (19’,9”), 13th (17’,5”) and at the 17th  (11’,8”), which momentarily tied him for the lead. Let’s hope he can build on this fine showing rather than disappearing from the leaderboard as he did following his 2t at last year’s U.S. Open.

The U.S. Open Preview
Much of the talk Sunday was about how Pebble Beach was playing and how it would be different for the Open when the course is expected to dry out, and the rough is taller. Over the first three days, the pins were set in easier than normal position for a tour event to accommodate the amateurs. On Sunday, they toughened them up, leading to few rounds under 70 (see above). The field of 69 averaged 73.2. In 1972 when Jack Nicklaus won the Open at Pebble Beach, the winds gusted to 35 MPH during the final round and the field averaged 78.8!

Phil Mickelson is Close
Mickelson is starting to sound like Woods in 2004 as he keeps telling us he’s getting close. Trouble is, he should already be there as he is coming off a strong 2009 and has been working hard on his game. His lackluster start to the year (19, 45t, 8t) is reminiscent of the second half of 2008 when everyone expected him to make a run at #1 in Woods absence, but failed to capitalize on the opportunity, going winless the rest of the season following two titles in the first half of the year.

The three possible combinations for playing Pebble Beach in the AT&T are (assuming a player makes the 54 hole cut) -  rounds 1 and 4, 2 and 4, or 3 and 4. When the players who make the cut are done with the third round, all will have played each of the three courses - Pebble Beach, the Shore Course, and Spyglass Hill. That would seem democratic enough, but it is not.

While no stats (at least none that I know of) confirm this theory, it has got to be an advantage to play Pebble Beach on days 3 and 4. This rotation enables a player to get in sync with the conditions, and use that knowledge the next day, whereas those who play Pebble Beach in their first or second rounds then play the other course, lose the feel of Pebble and it’s crusty greens, then have to come back to it in the fourth round.

Another quirky aspect of the pairings is that they are so obviously rigged for Saturday’s telecast. There are six combinations of course and starting tee (first or tenth). Only one of those six - Pebble Beach/first tee on Saturday  - will show a player on TV and as he finishes his round on the 18th hole. Now take a moment and see if you can come up with a few names who TV would like to show on Saturday.

Times up. Here are the key players the TV people (CBS and the Golf Channel) must have told the PGA Tour they must have on camera on Saturday. Some of their selections for this valuable exposure are most deserving, while others are strictly a ploy to hype ratings. In the deserving category we have Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Sergio Garcia, Brian Gay, and Rory Sabbatini. Among those who are getting a shot at prime time because they are of interest to the public and they have shown immense potential are Ryo Ishikawa and Rickie Fowler.

Bringing up the rear is John Daly, who was assigned to the Saturday/First Tee at Pebble Beach segment for painfully obvious reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of his game, which is totally lacking. (After two rounds he’s in 99t and likely won’t make it to Sunday.) CBS and the Golf Channel have undoubtedly conspired to promote Being John Daly, which is scheduled to premiere on March 2, so those of you who can stomach Saturday’s celebrity infested telecast will, when not watching these hackers, get to ogle Daly’s god awful game and wardrobe.

So mark your calendars, because 2/13/10 is the day when the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, thanks to Daly and the rating starved networks, turned this venerable sporting event into reality TV.

In part one I talked about pet peeves among players and people in golf. This second installment focuses on TV coverage.

Bogus swing analysis
The slow motion replays of players’ swings are great, but they typically come only after a poor shot. The announcer will then spout off some cliche explaining why the shot went off line. I wonder if these guys would be able to tell you where the shot went without prior knowledge of the result.

NEW: I propose that we have The Great Announcer Golf Swing Challenge. Show the TV swing gurus 50 swings without disclosing where the ball went. Based on seeing the swing only, see how many they call the ball’s direction - left, right, or straight. And no fair overloading this with Tiger’s tee shots!

“We’re in match play”
Saying that a stroke play event is now in a match play situation is about the dumbest comment the announcers can make. Just ask Jean Van de Velde. He had a three up lead with one hole to play in the 1999 British Open which would, of course, have closed out the competition in match play. But not in stroke play where anything is possible.

“A pull goes a half club longer”
I heard this comment at least three times in one afternoon during the Farmers event. This is no longer super inside pro knowledge. We get it! It is almost as obvious as using too much club results in a shot over the green,

The colored track line to the hole
The track line to the hole is the worst innovation in televised golf history. At least they changed the color from purple (I think) to green. If they must use it, reduce the line to a ball’s width, or less. And cut down on the size of the target graphic!

Excessive commercials at the end of a broadcast
I understand the need to show commercials, but we are bombarded with them at times, especially at the end of a tournament. I am going to time the intervals some day. But I do know that I sat down following a commercial, but had only enough time to eat three almonds before they took another break. Enough already!

Not showing players who are in contention (playing favorites)
How many times have you watched a couple of hours of coverage and never seen Player X - then he magically appears within a stroke or two of the lead? Why was he not shown mounting his charge? Was it because they were following some big name who was out of contention?

“Good success”
Definition of success: the favourable outcome of something attempted
Question: is there such a thing as bad success?
So why do the announcers continue to modify success?

No leaderboards in the key stats
The PGA Tour supposedly improved their leaderboard on thier web site, but omitted the field averages that used to sit next to the list of players. On the European Tour an easy to find link shows all of the players and their stats so you can easily discover how your favorites stack up with the field in GIR, fairways hit, putting, etc.

Sand saves is a stupid stat
The tour shows sand saves on each player’s stats page, but not their total scrambling. A player will miss an average of about six greens a round but only 1.5 of those (on average) will be sand shots, so scrambling is obviously a far more important stat.

No stat for par 5s hit in two
The percentage of par fives hit in two would be a super stat, the equivalent of baseball’s home run. They keep this on the Japan Tour - Ryo Ishikawa led the tour in 2009, hitting 19.73% of the par fives in two.

No ShotLink for the fans
ShotLink, which would provide fans with a wealth of valuable information, is only available in the media centers.

The World Golf Rankings
Steve Stricker, winner of the Northern Trust, is a great guy. Still, during the two year ranking period, his best finish in a major is a 6t. Question: how can a player be the second best in the world and not have won, or come very close to winning, one or more majors within the ranking period? Maybe the majors need greater point values.

Announcers on Fred Couples
On October 3 of last year Fred Couples (he is listed as FRED at the PGA Tour) turned 50. Finally these announcers will start calling him by his name, not by that silly sounding Freddy, which has made him seem like a little kid for the last 20 odd years.
PS: I like Fred, but that long putter’s got to go! Play golf or hang it up.

John Daly - enough already
I had a whole post prepared before his latest retirement following a MC in San Diego, then I said the heck with it, maybe he’s done. But if he plays again, I’ll publish it. Meanwhile, here is Gary Van Sickle’s take from the SI Group.
“I feel like I’m done enduring the Daly saga, and after the PGA Tour effectively pulled the plug on his previous show, I still don’t know why Daly is getting another crack. “

Tiger Woods’ on course behavior
I’ve been ranting and raving about this for years, so it was awesome to see Tom Watson speak out on the matter. And as for those who said he should he should have tried to communicate with Tiger in private, he tried last summer. But his message failed to get through to Woods.

I feel that he has not carried the same stature that other great players that have come along like Jack (Nicklaus), Arnold (Palmer), Byron Nelson, the Hogans, in the sense that there was language and club throwing on the golf course. You can grant that of a young person that has not been out here for a while. But I think he needs to clean up his act and show the respect for the game that other people before him have shown.”

JB Holmes the human tortoise
An exasperated Johnny Miller counted 8 practice swings on one shot. Two years ago when Holmes played Tiger in the Match Play he was using a similar number. So, unlike Sergio Garcia who got rid of the waggles - there has been no improvement from the tour’s all time tortoise. The TV people have got to learn to come back to Holmes when he is over the ball, or show replays shortly after the fact. On the plus side, he did ditch the long putter and no longer has his caddy stand behind him to line him up for putts.

Anthony Kim the slacker
Not long ago the golf world was going nuts over Kim. Mark O’Meara rhapsodized about his swing, and his swagger and confidence bespoke a winner. It looked for sure like a potential Tiger beater was emerging from his shell when he broke through and won at the 2007 Wachovia, then backed it up two months later at Woods’ AT&T National. Then poof - done with the Ws. And so I ask, why does this keep happening, over and over and over and over again and again and again in the Woods Era. Just when a player with potential looks ready to bust loose, they break down. If Kim had been trying his hardest his slump would be forgiveable, but he’s a serial slacker, content to cash checks and party on. He says he’s rededicating himself this year to the game. We’ll have to see about that.

Alex Prugh and his broomstick
This 25 year old grad from a big year on the Nationwide Tour is off to a rousing start on the PGA Tour, finishing 5, 5t, 10t in last 3 starts. No problem, except for he uses the long putter. Yuck! He’s in his mid twenties and his nerves are already so shot that he’s got to result to the broom? As for the stats, his broom must be working. From 3-5 feet, where the money is made, he’s made 95.56%, 13th on tour.  From 5-10 feet he’s 14th at 66.04%. I’d sure like to see what those numbers would look like if he’d used a real putter.

The San Diego Open (sorry, but as a native of San Diego, I just can’t get into that last second name change) had, in some ways the feel of a mini major, perhaps because the event is played at Torrey Pines, which hosted the Open in 2008. I could also be biased considering that Torrey was my home course as a youth.

The event probably felt a bit like a major as well to those seeking their first PGA title, including 21-year-old phenom Rickie Fowler. Paired with three time major winner and local favorite Phil Mickelson, Fowler showed a big case of nerves on the first hole when he lagged an 81 foot putt to within six inches of the cup while his 18 years old playing partner stumbled to a bogey. Mickelson also bogeyed two and three while Fowler made easy pars. So much for the intimidation factor of playing with the world’s #2.

Fowler continued to methodically dissect the South Course, taking few chances, a game plan that produced three birdies and eight pars through 11 holes. At that point. Fowler had picked up five shots on his distinguished playing partner and owner of 37 tour titles (including three San Diego Opens).

Fowler finally blinked at the 505 yard par 4 twelfth, a par 4.5 if ever there was one, making his first bogey after driving into a fairway bunker. No problem. He got it back on 13 by hitting the green in two and deftly lagging a super fast, downhill 66 foot putt to three feet (below the cup, of course!).

Pars on the next trio of super tough holes and a fairway splitting tee shot on 17 put Fowler in position to get aggressive on his second shot to a dangerous back pin. If this shot had come earlier in the round, he probably would have played safe to the left of the pin. But this was winning time, so Fowler went into attack mode, but pushed his shot 35 feet to the right into deep rough on the short side.

The subsequent double bogey ended his hopes of winning, but he did rebound for a birdie after stuffing a 95 yard wedge over the pond to 4 feet on 18 to finish two back of Ben Crane in a tie for fifth.

Fowler probably figured he needed a birdie to have any chance of winning on 17, so he gambled and lost. The irony of it all is that, if he had stuck to his smart golf game plan, a par would have landed him in a playoff and guaranteed no worse than his second runner-up finish.

Despite his hiccup on 17, Fowler showed a lot of game over the four days on the cliffs above La Jolla. Om Thursday at the shorter Torrey Pines North, he reached the 18 greens in only 36 shots on his way to an easy 67. He then put together three consecutive 70s on the always difficult South Course.

Best of all was the way he played on the final day. In this mini-major, he played with a certain cool all day long – no cursing or club throwing, just a clam and businesslike approach to the game. And, despite Gary McCord’s assertion that “He will try any shot at any time,” and that, “He is not afraid of anything,” Fowler, despite his youth, plotted his course around the way like a young Jack Nicklaus.

He hit lots of greens (16 in the final round - 4t for the week), played for the fat part of the green on the longer holes, and made his score on the par fives (he was four under on them on Sunday). In short, he seems to have a gift for knowing when to play safe, and when to attack. He was also reasonably straight off the tee, ranking 25t in a field of 78 despite his length (he was 15t in distance).

So, let’s sum of this young man’s play. Fowler is a superb ball striker. He is an excellent lag putter. He’s got the course management skills of a veteran. And he’s cool under Sunday pressure. Add those qualities up and they bring to mind a certain player who celebrated his 70th birthday not long ago.

Sure, the odds are still long the Fowler will live up to the hype because of the sheer magnitude of his early career press. But at least, after failing dismally in his first two starts this year, we once again have reason to believe that this kid might be something special – very special.