COVER STORY
of the
State
Game
The HSBC Golf Business Forum, which took place in the United Arab Emirates in late April, discussed all manner of topics affecting golf today. The one which garnered almost universal agreement: the lack of charisma among the world's best players. Lewine Mair reports.
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To Smith, the various psychologists, nutritionists and trainers stand guilty of “squeezing the joy and expression” out of their charges’ play. Everything was becoming too scientific. “Too much analysis,” he cautioned, “is a killer. A professional, regardless of his sport, needs to feel more like an amateur and love what he is doing.” Smith knew, because he had at one point been a victim of the overzealous approach. In 2000, he did everything the "experts" asked of him and proceeded to have one of the worst seasons of his cricketing life. Three years later, when he set out to combine his cricket with a more balanced lifestyle, the results, as you will have guessed, were at the opposite end of the spectrum. The first question Smith put to Manassero was whether he saw golf as an art or a science. “I’d much rather be recognised as an artist,” said the 21-year-old Italian, to all-round relief. Before too long, he and Smith arrived at the conclusion that children should grow up with their natural talent and not be exposed to too much science until the day came when they wanted to fine-tune their play. (Manassero has only recently started seeing Jean-Jacques Rivet, the renowned biochemist who works with Justin Rose, Matt Kuchar and the top French players.) Dana Garmany, the Chairman and CEO of Troon Golf who was attending the conference, would almost certainly have excluded Manassero
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portsmen have become too focused on themselves. That was arguably the most striking point to have been made at the recent HSBC Golf Business Forum in Abu Dhabi. It is too soon to say whether those golfers who lose their identities as they disappear into the so-called “zone” are responsible for the dip in spectator figures at the 2013 Open and this year’s Masters Tournament. But the alarm bells are sounding just the same. Peter Dawson, the CEO of the R&A until September of next year, said that the game needed some stars to bring back a touch of the spark it had enjoyed in Tiger Woods’s heyday. Dawson’s definition of a star was a "multiple winner" and someone who had a touch of the ‘X’ factor besides. Italy’s Matteo Manassero, he thought, had what it takes to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Greg Norman, Seve Ballesteros and Tiger were he to become the world number one. “He could definitely be a serious star,” said the CEO, before recalling how Manassero, at just 16, had made a riveting address to the International Olympic Committee on the subject of golf’s return to the Summer Games. In Abu Dhabi, Manassero shared a Q&A session with Ed Smith, the former England cricketer and an author whose specialist subject of the moment concerns the way sport is heading.
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Matteo Manassero, who R&A Chief Executive Peter Dawson believes could follow in the footsteps of the likes of Seve Ballesteros and Greg Norman, says golf is more art than science
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"The modern player plays more from logic and less from passion than in the past and this makes for a dull watch for television viewers. Even Tiger seems to be “toned down” as far as showing emotion goes."
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Arnold Palmer, considered one of the great characters in professional golf history, used to fly himself from tournament to tournament on the PGA Tour 50
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from his observation to the media that golfers needed to hone their social skills. Garmany did not follow Smith in mentioning the mind men and the way they were encouraging the players to go about their business. His view was that the golfers needed to take a long, hard look at themselves. “There are very few charismatic characters around now,” he said. “Too many are too zombielike and do not engage. For the most part, they are a bunch of clones. “Bubba Watson is a bit different and Ian Poulter tries to be different, but even he is not exactly an Arnold Palmer.” Garmany recalled how, years ago, he had been introduced to Palmer for the first time and spoken with him for no more than a couple of minutes. Yet when they met for a second time some 12 months later, Palmer had greeted him with a, “Good to see you again, Dana”. “I’d love it if that kind of approach were to make a comeback,” said Garmany. “The trouble with today’s players is that they don’t feel the need
to interact with spectators. Unlike Palmer, they don’t appreciate just how much they owe to the fans.” What Garmany had to say struck a chord with one saddened spectator who said subsequently that he had been following golf for 30 years – and that there had been little to keep him amused since Tiger first took the game by storm with his Masters’ win of 1997. “The modern player,” said the disillusioned one, “plays more from logic and less from passion than in the past and this makes for a dull watch for television viewers. Even Tiger seems to be “toned down” as far as showing emotion goes. “Like others, I look to players such as Bubba and Poulter to see a little emotional life on the links but I am not holding my breath for any sparking repartee from these two. “Even the golf swing,” he added, “has become an imitation of 'Iron Byron'. I remember the varied swings of the older players on the old Senior Tour; Arnie's corkscrew follow-through, Jack's back-breaking "Reverse C", and Trevino's "Figure 8", now used by Jim Furyk.” Giles Morgan, Global Head of Sponsorship and Events at HSBC, said that for someone like himself who looks at golf with a commercial eye, characters are a must. “If I were a manager,” said Morgan, “I would be working on the players’ demeanour, fostering HKGOLFER.COM
“Bubba Watson is a bit different and Ian Poulter tries to be different, but even he is not exactly an Arnold Palmer ... for the most part, they're a bunch of clones." the things which make them stand out. The thousand-yard cowboy stare into the distance isn’t what people want to see.” Morgan cited Phil Mickelson as one who knows what is good for him and good for golf. Besides winning the HSBC Champions in Shanghai a couple of times, Mickelson had never failed to hang back each day to sign autographs for every budding golfer in the land. Was it a coincidence that he currently has a series of course design projects on the go on the Chinese mainland? Morgan thought not. In much the same breath, the Hong Kongbased Morgan talked about the 2014 HSBC Women’s Champions and Paula Creamer’s winning 75ft putt. Fuelled by the excitement, the American skipped and tripped her way to the hole in a little cameo which has by all accounts attracted a million views and more. Photographers at the conference gave a knowing nod at that. Newspapers everywhere had used a Paula picture because, as they said, her reaction to winning the tournament had been altogether different to that of so many of the current winners on the professional scene. “As often as not,” said one, “you get a player who manages nothing other than a half-hearted raise of the arm as he plucks his ball from the hole. It’s almost as if it isn’t cool to win any more.” Mike Kerr, the CEO of the Asian Tour, shared in the general frustration. Kerr marvels at his cosmopolitan constellation of players, all of whom, rich and poor, have their own very individual stories to tell of how they have come so far in the game. Yet, as he says, the moment they disappear into their expression-free zones, they might as well be all the same. Recently, Kerr has picked out a dozen or so of his tour's players for special training and, with their approval, is putting them forward for every media opportunity on offer: “They ‘get’ it but I still have a few players out there who don’t.” It was the aforementioned “disillusioned one” who suspected there could be a light at the end of the tunnel and that all could come right with our royal and ancient game. “Maybe in time,” he hazarded, “new, well spoken, bright faces, with interesting things to say, will appear, and perhaps another ‘phenom’ like Tiger, abounding with enthusiasm and passion, will jump into the fray and Iron Byron will disappear back in the workshop.” 52
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Love him or loathe him, there's no doubting Ian Poulter's passion for the game
The late Seve Ballesteros shares a laugh with Gary Player during a practice round at the Masters Tournament
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