Jerry Kelly, Players, Believe Golf Will Survive Without Tiger
Posted By Dan Levy 1:40 PM
With all the talk of National Championship games and guns in the locker room going on today, it's no wonder that the official start of the PGA Tour season is flying just a wee bit under the radar.
But today is the official start to the PGA season with the first round of the SBS Championship. The event, formerly known as the Mercedes Championship, annually brings together the winners from the previous PGA Tour season to kick off the following year's campaign at Kapalua, Hawaii. One champion from last year who didn't make the trip? Yes, the golfer formerly known as Mr. Eldrick Tiger Woods.
Now to be fair, Woods habitually skips the Hawaii swing of the tour, starting his season in the contiguous states, thus making the season-opener rather anticlimactic in a normal year. But this year is somewhat more interesting, what with the whole 'indefinite leave of absence' looming over the sport. So (gasp) will the sport survive without Tiger? The players think so.
And by players, obviously that means veteran Jerry Kelly (transcribed from the ESPN footage above):
"He is not the sport. Golf will move on. When Tiger Woods retires, no matter if it's tomorrow or 10 years or 20 years from now, the game of golf will have its stars. The game of golf will survive."
We haven't even played a round in the 2010 season and already the players are fed up with the Tiger talk. And undoubtedly Kelly is not the only player who feels this way. Even the soft-spoken Retief Goosen stated that Woods should just come out and apologize already. Meanwhile, the man whose face still adorns the PGA Tour player page -- and the current No. 1 golfer in the world -- is MIA, reportedly in Africa or the Caribbean or James Dolan's estate on Long Island. And all the talk is of when he'll return -- smart money on Arnold Palmer's tournament at Bay Hill on March 25th, just two weeks before the Masters -- and not the bevy of talent at this week's season-opener.
Think about it: even without Tiger, 28 champions from last year, including all four Major winners, are at Kapalua starting today. Finally, the only iron play we'll need to focus on is on the course, not through a windshield.
But if the players (and broadcasters and golf media) are sick of the Tiger talk already, they might want to enjoy the weather and spacious accommodations in Hawaii. You've only got a few months before the tabloids move in.
