Friday, February 15, 2008

2008 PGA Tour Outlook

Tonight is the start of a new P.G.A. tour season. For those of us who consider golf to be the king of sports, the agonizing wait is over and the new season is here! The Sony Open played in Hawiwa is the P.G.A. tour's first full field event of 2008. While several big stars are absent (notably Mr Woods, Phil, and the European contingent: Justin Rose, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, and South African Ernie Els) we get to see Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker, Zach Johnson, and 22 graduates from the school with the hardest final exam: the TOUR's qualifying school, simply known as Q school.

For serious golf fans like myself, the Sony Open is the start of a long golf season which culminates at Valhalla with the 2008 Ryder Cup. What does '08 hold in store for us? Let me peek in my crystal ball and make some predictions, observations, spectulations, and flat out guesses on what will occur...

Tiger Woods wins multiple tournaments, captures several events and leads the money list...again (Well duh any person on the planet could tell you that). Will he win the grand slam this year like he eluded to? First he's got Augusta, where he is so dominant. You get the feeling that this child prodigy could beat Nicklaus and Palmer when the two golf Gods were in their prime. Next up is the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. This is a golf couse where he grew up and has won several times. The course sets up perfectly for him: long and extremely difficult. Woody looks so comfortable there, like he is playing with Earl on a lazy Sunday afternoon. I predict Tiger will win 2 or 3 majors this year. Somewhere along this stretch, some professional will have to outplay Tiger on a major Sunday. I do not know the identity of this golfer but i will pray to God that he has a servant who can actually get the ball in the hole, in less shots than Mr Woods. Tiger wins 7 times including the Fed Ex Cup and Vardon Trophy (awarded to the player with the lowest scoring average). David Duval, Justin Leonard,Davis Love, Phil, Ernie, Furyk and Vijay realize there is not enough tournament points to be gained in the next 20 years to knock Tiger from number 1 in the universe.

Here is my top 5 money list for '08. Tiger, Phil, Furyk, Ernie, and Steve Stricker will lead the way. Bo Van Pelt, Tim Clark, and Justin Rose finally win their first P.G.A. tournaments. Vijay falls out of the top ten and Davis Love is so absent that you wonder if he is in the witness protection program or snowboarding all year in Idaho.

No-name watch: Watch out for Brad Admamonis, a personal friend who earned his TOUR card for '08, three years ago I said he should go teach and give up on his dream. Good thing he did not listen to me!!


Sit back golf fans and enjoy a wild and crazy '08!

1 comment:

amencorner said...

Tiger doesn't win at Augusta, Ernie will not be in the top 20 in earnings for 08'.