Maginnes: Lesser-known names deserve star treatment, too  PGATOUR.com Correspondent PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- If they don't keep score, there is a pretty good chance that I won't watch it on television. I used to watch the news but I don't really care what happens to Anna Nicole's body. I thought the coverage was making me dumber, and I have already spotted the field a few shots in that regard as it is.  Getting to know guys like Boo Weekley is part of the fun on the PGA TOUR. (Marc Feldman/WireImage)
As a sports fan I am always amused by the stars who emerge from obscurity through achievement or circumstances. We see it a lot in the NFL. A starter goes down and his understudy proves to be a superior replacement. It happened in Dallas last fall when Tony Romo took over the quarterback duties for Drew Bledsoe. Romo reeled off several victories in a row and was considered to be the second coming of Troy Aikman. The ordinarily skeptical sports "experts" were even talking Pro Bowl. It baffles me that the same type of consideration isn't given to players on the PGA TOUR. During his run Romo was compared to Peyton Manning, who is considered the best quarterback in the game today. Why is it that when a field of the top pros assemble, absent a few marquee names, the discussion in the local press is as much about who is not there as it is about who is competing? Additionally, the similar berating from the national press, the same guys who turned Romo into a god, seems contradictory at best. I am not so naïve as to think that Mark Wilson and Boo Weekley in the final pairing of The Honda Classic on Sunday should have the television executives jumping for joy. Heck, I love covering Tiger, too. He is arguably the most popular athlete in the world. As members of the press, though, we are not doing our jobs if we don't introduce you to guys like Mark and Boo. Going into the final round of The Honda Classic, seven of the top eight names on the leaderboard were Nationwide Tour alums. Of those seven players, only 2006 Comeback Player of the Year Steve Stricker had won a PGA TOUR event. Compared to other sports, professional golf's lack of star power is more a product of its nature than it is lack of marketable personalities. Brett Wetterich, another Nationwide Tour alum, earned his first PGA TOUR victory at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship in 2006. The Ryder Cup rookie finished 10th on the year-ending PGA TOUR money list. Even with that success, though, the self-proclaimed "goofball" enjoys relative anonymity compared to stars in other sports. If he were the 10th-best player in football or baseball in 2006 he would be best player on his team and an all-star nationally known. What makes golf different from team sports is the fact that it is a transient sport. Every week a tournament is played in a new city. In team sports, players are identified as part of the local community. As their star rises so go the hopes of the community. In this era of free agency, traded players are immediately ingratiated into the community -- even when they played for bitter rivals. Can you say Johnny Damon? In addition to the nomadic existence of the PGA TOUR, there is the added element of so many international players. Of the top 10 players in the world only Tiger, Jim Furyk and Phil Mickelson are were born in the United States. Even when some of the top names are missing, it's unfair to take shots at the tournament or the players who are competing in it. Every week some of golf's lesser-known personalities are featured in the golf magazines and right here at PGATOUR.com. Get to know these guys. I promise you that you will not be disappointed. It sure beats some of the stuff that passes for news these days. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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