Transitioning the Madness

Talk about a difficult sports weekend to contend with for the PGA Tour! As I joined the majority of Americans pitching back 12-ounce goodness and screaming at basketball teams I have no affiliation with aside from picking them to win or lose. And as my brother from another mother watched on and described in great length and emotion in Jacksonville as an Ivy League team did the unthinkable, just down the road in the Tampa area the Tour continued on at the Transitions Championship.

If competing with Northern Iowa’s upset of #1 overall seed Kansas, Cornell’s unbelievable run, continuous last second heroics, and the possibility of Gus Johnson making broadcasting gold wasn’t enough, word came out that Tiger was going to answer questions for the first time since his ‘incidents’ and ‘indiscretions.’ Between the five minutes with ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi and The Golf Channel’s Kelly Tilghlman, Tiger faced ten minutes of grilling from the friendly confines of an Isleworth veranda. All the while Tour vet Jim Furyk completed his steady assault on Innisbrook.

Although limping in a bit on the back nine with some late bogies, Furyk’s two under par round of 69 was enough to finish with a one shot victory over Korean KJ Choi, and was his first win since the 2007 Canadian Open. Although there have been a lot of players who have gone this long without a win, the amazing thing about Furyk is that he was able to stay within reach of the Top Ten in the World Golf Rankings during this slump in victories. To me it shows Furyk’s mark of consistency.

Maybe known more for the looping hitch in his swing than anything else, Furyk has been a mainstay on leaderboards over the past decade. Setting his mechanics aside in his career he has cashed in one major (’03 US Open) and has 13 career PGA Tour wins. On top of that he has been widely known as one of the best and most consistent putters on Tour over the past decade in golf. And as we fall inside of a month from the ‘Tradition Unlike Any Other’ this win shows Furyk still has the game to get it done.

And now that the Sweet 16 has been established down the Road to the Final Four and Tiger is out of silence we will move forward to Arnie’s place down the Road to Augusta. With back to back veteran wins from Els and Furyk, we seem to be getting a throwback feel back to the Tour. With Duval back at Augusta and players like Els and Furyk playing well along with the return of Tiger will seem to have a turn of the decade field. But we all know that one of the many youngsters can ruin this veteran party and continue this ‘transition’ from old school to new school. But for right now the old guys are king!