No stars on the PGA Tour!

A month ago I asked the question "Who is the best golfer in the world?" The Sony rankings showed that Tiger Woods is the best, but that is only because he had such a large lead in points, no one could catch him for a while no matter how poorly he played, and how well everyone else played.

Let's face reality; no one individual has played well enough to be considered number one, or number two, or number three in the last few months. And that, in the long run, will ruin professional golf!

Yesterday I started reading some of the other golf blogs on the internet, and was pleased to see many others agree that without its stars, golf fans will not watch televised golf, and without viewers the ratings for pro golf will dwindle away, and without ratings professional golf tours will cease to exist.

Tiger recently stated to the press that he is playing poorly because he is not practicing as much as he should, and he went on to say that he will never practice in the future as much as he should practice because he is spending time with his kids. That statement surprises me simply because he is now divorced from Elin, and their kids are with her most of the time, which means that Tiger's time with his kids has to be limited.

I think a more correct statement would be that Tiger's mind is on his kids, and therefore his mind is not on golf, and we have mentioned for months that "golf is 90% mental, and 10% mental." Until his mind can forget his personal problems, he will not continue to be the best golfer in the world.

Then there is Phil Mickelson, the supposed Number Two golfer in the world. I don't know about you, but I am tired of hearing every week the TV announcers stating the same identical thing as that week's tournament is about to start, "Phil is threatening to pass Tiger and take over the Number One spot in golf!" I'm sorry, but Phil is not threatening to do anything!

I have mentioned for months now that Phil Mickelson should be the Number One player in golf even if Tiger's mind were clear and concentrating on his golf 100%. Phil has more talent than Tiger. His problem is the people around him, his ambulance-chasing attorney who threatens any golf manufacturer who attempts to get better golf equipment in Phil's hands, and his endorsement contract to play Callaway golf equipment.

As long as Mickelson puts endorsement money ahead of winning majors he will never play to his potential, and I am afraid that will be Phil's legacy to the game when he retires.

So, what tour player is going to step up to the plate and excite the spectators like Tiger used to excite them, and keep professional golf from dying a slow death? Women's professional golf was near death ten years ago when they had no American golfers to excite the viewers. Then a few young American women who had game and were pretty showed up on the LPGA Tour, and women's golf got a shot of adrenalin.

The PGA Tour has a chance this week to gain new life itself due to the playing of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone, where Tiger has owned the tournament for years. If Tiger can take advantage of his past domination at Firestone and do it once again this week, he has the chance to revive the PGA Tour and save what will otherwise be a very boring season.