Capelle On Golf

I was rooting for Phil Mickelson to win his third straight major at the 2006 U.S. Open. Hey, I’ve got good reasons. I grew up in San Diego, my name’s Phil, and I play lefhanded. I remember slamming the remote on the couch when his second shot hit a tree and he imploded. They say that you must make lemons of lemonade. And so, as time passed and I read more about Geoff Ogilvy, I took a liking to the 30-year-old Australian. Mickelson and his fans loss was the game’s gain.

Ogilvy’s old school – he believes in traditional values like shotmaking that have all but disappeared with today’s high tech gear. While on the subject, here’s a bit of what he had to say in a phone interview with Golf Digest’s Jaime Diaz. I’ve never heard anything remotely like this come out of a pro golfer’s mouth:

Because of equipment, it’s probably easier than it used to be to have a one-dimensional game and play well. But for as much money as we play for now, you can have an unbelievable career playing like that. It’s like mechanical trading on the stock market. They have these computer systems that take all the emotion and intangibles out of the decision, and they buy and sell on your behalf. We are starting to play golf on tour almost like that. It’s kind of like the way Dave Pelz coaches pitching — with set swing lengths for specific distances. It’s the exact opposite of Seve, who was all emotion and art.

Ogilvy is old school through and through, and he can be counted on to say the coolest stuff. This is no cookie cutter pro giving canned spiels of politically correct nothingness. No sir, he shoots from the hip, but in a most engaging manner. Trouble is, of late he’s been more of a palaver than a player, and that’s a shame because he looked like he was on the launching pad after his win at the U.S. Open.

Sadly Ogilvy responded to his win like nearly every player of the Woods Generation. The moment they get a whiff of career mo, it’s a no go. They recede from the spotlight faster than the tide, unable to fulfill their potential as the Great Spoiler of Tiger’s Time.

The week following his win at the Open, Ogilvy ascended to eighth place in the WGR. Like a paratrooper, he’s been slowly descending back down golf’s ladder. He’s currently residing in the seventeenth position, and he’s heading lower. If it were not for the slow decent feature of the WGR, he’d be even further down the list. His Open victory was originally worth 100 points, but it’s degraded to a value of 16.30. By Torrey Time is will be worth zippo.

So what has Ogilvy done lately? He went on a three tournament run in the later half of 2007, finishing 6t at the PGA, 4t at The Barclays, and 6t at the Deutsche Bank. Then he took nine weeks off for the birth of his second child in early January. As a result, he came out of the blocks slowly in ’08 with three MCs and a one and done at the Accenture Match Play.

But, like a golfing Phoenix, Ogilvy rose from the grave at the PODS Championship this week, flashing signs of his former WGR Top 10 self. On the super difficult Copperhead course at the Innisbrook Resort and G.C. he went 10t, just four shots back of Sean O’Hair’s -4 winning score.

Ogilvy’s finish wasn’t all smoke and mirrors either. Through his largely disappointing 2007 season Ogilvy’s GIR was a lowly 62.75%, 158th best on tour, hardly the numbers of a world class Tiger Tamer. But at the PODs he hit 68.1% of the greens to tie for ninth in GIR.

While golf continues to scour the countryside for the next great hope, a second banana to golf’s leading act, maybe one will emerge from the pack of possible breakout players who broke down after experiencing the giddy heights of a major title.

Justin Leonard is making rumbling noises again, 11 years after his 1997 British Open. And now it appears as if Ogilvy is preparing to join the party. Let’s all hope so – because it would just be super cool if one of the game’s top five players was also the sport’s best interview.