Lydia Ko ... downside of professional golf

[Lobby]

As I said, “teaspoon.”

[ChipNRun]

7 hours ago, PuffyC said:

There are plenty of team sports where you can throw out a lackluster performance and most won't notice.

 

In both wrestling and golf, it's just you against one foe, or the field. In football the QB that can complain the wide receiver ran the wrong route, or your tennis doubles partner didn't rush the net hard enough.

 

In wrestling and golf, it's just you. Want to see why you didn't win your match yesterday? Just look in the mirror.

[brutus27]

Boo hoo, so hard to be a pro golfer. It’s the same way for all of us. Suck it up buttercup or find something else to do.

[Ghostwedge]

4 hours ago, JohnnyCashForever said:

Re-Ranking of the World's Most Difficult Jobs Where You're Evaluated Every Single Day:

 

1002. 1. LPGA Professional Golfer

2. Brain Surgeon

3. Heart Surgeon

4. President of the USA

5. Secret Service Agent

6. Airline Pilot

7. Police Officer

8. Fire Fighter

9. Pope

10. Air Traffic Controller

 

 

You can shove #4 pretty far down the list....

[GolfGuitarsCars]

It must be terrible having to play a game for a living.

[Soloman1]

Did I stumble into Reddit somehow?

[iBanesto]

In perspective, she has been scrutinised on a global scale since her early teenage years. She won her first professional event at 14 years of age. Everything was golf and she probably didn't get to enjoy the social side of a teenager.

 

Everyone was looking at her to be the next big thing in golf. We all know how many "next big thing" fail to achieve much.

 

The fact that she has achieved a WGHOF career (majors and World No. 10) is actually an accomplishment given how many professional golfers don't make it.

 

During her slump around 2018-2020 there was a lot of scrutiny from the media about her swing change and influence of her family. This probably wasn't easy for a 21 year old.

 

It is great to see Ko regain some form in early 2024.

 

[tacklingdummy]

Lots of truth in Ko's quote. A lot of people are very judgmental and think that you are only as good as your last round. However, I think it is a very shallow way to look at it. Personally, I take into account a players history and what they have done in the past. The pros are human, golf is extremely hard and can have bad days. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 17, 2024 by tacklingdummy

[bladehunter]

6 hours ago, JohnnyCashForever said:

Re-Ranking of the World's Most Difficult Jobs Where You're Evaluated Every Single Day:

 

1002. 1. LPGA Professional Golfer

2. Brain Surgeon

3. Heart Surgeon

4. President of the USA

5. Secret Service Agent

6. Airline Pilot

7. Police Officer

8. Fire Fighter

9. Pope

10. Air Traffic Controller

 

 

I’m with you until the pope.  He’s riding around in the pope mobile, with his tall hat and pointy shoes , chillin.  😎 the pope usually makes it to 97-100. Very little stress ! 

[straightshot7]

It's a choice on how much you react to and listen to the "scrutiny".

 

It affects some a lot more than others!

[Rapidcat]

23 minutes ago, bladehunter said:

I’m with you until the pope.  He’s riding around in the pope mobile, with his tall hat and pointy shoes , chillin.  😎 the pope usually makes it to 97-100. Very little stress ! 

 

That's because he doesn't have to deal with female marital issues.

[WorkItBothWays]

That quote just screams Generation Z.

[dashanks]

Speith says hardest thing about golf is counting to four.

[ahenderX]

2 hours ago, dashanks said:

Speith says hardest thing about golf is counting to four.

It’s a rule which needs some major tweaking.

[Hawkeye77]

17 hours ago, ssp said:

It was a 'msn.com' article that the Golfwrx admin removed.

We aren't allowed to know the source of articles any more?  But we can't get this thread in the LPGA sub-forum where we enjoy discussing LPGA players and topics? 

 

 

[bobfoster]

23 hours ago, jonsnow said:

 

But ...

 

 

[dashanks]

2 hours ago, ahenderX said:

It’s a rule which needs some major tweaking.

 Spieth should have had a five minute discussion with Greller about which number comes after 3.   Whole thing could have been avoided.

[KennyP]

Typical millennial. "Can't we all be winners".

 

My grandfather had to be 'results driven' on the Normandy beaches in 1944.

[ahenderX]

13 minutes ago, dashanks said:

 Spieth should have had a five minute discussion with Greller about which number comes after 3.   Whole thing could have been avoided.

Not the first or last to do it. 

[tatertot]

20 hours ago, jholz said:

Was the OP's passage taken from a major print publication?

 

Regardless, someone needs to learn how to use the word "bias" in a sentence. 

What was biased? Most of it was a quote.

[tatertot]

On 2/16/2024 at 8:17 AM, ssp said:

Pretty interesting answer ... not one I had thought of before.

 

 

 

 

 

Isn't this called a "job"?

[bscinstnct]

2 minutes ago, tatertot said:

Isn't this called a "job"?

 

Yeah

 

And nobody here ever complained about their jobs before 

 

🤣 🍻 

[bobfoster]

On 2/16/2024 at 7:31 PM, brutus27 said:

Boo hoo, so hard to be a pro golfer. It’s the same way for all of us. Suck it up buttercup or find something else to do.

Bit harsh, doncha think? To be fair, I don't think I've ever heard her complain about anything over the years. She isn't known as a whiner, isn't a Sergio or Sabbatini. She's almost always upbeat, even slightly playful, but always with an extreme focus on her game. This is not some "poor me" kind of pampered athlete. And she didn't even remotely say or imply her life was harder than anyone else's. She wasn't comparing her job to anyone else's. 

 

She was specifically asked what her least favorite part of being a professional golfer was. Gave a blunt, succinct, honest answer - solely about herself - that I found pretty interesting.  I mean, what should she have said in answer to that question? "Everything about it is amazing. There are no negatives or difficulties of any kind. It is all good 100% of the time."

 

That's the deal with interviews. Someone asks you a question. You answer it. If the interviewer had asked, as a follow up, "do you regret choosing to be a professional golfer", I'd be willing to bet the answer would have been "not in a million years". But that question wasn't asked. Good grief, she wasn't complaining - she was just answering a question. 

Edited February 18, 2024 by bobfoster

[Murphy76]

5 hours ago, dashanks said:

Speith says hardest thing about golf is counting to four.

 

I have the same problem, but with seven.

 

 

[bobfoster]

The most interesting thing about her answer - it got me thinking about the mathematics of golf, something that makes the pro level a bit unique amongst sports. In golf, every stroke in a four day tournament counts. We usually think in terms of strokes-to-par. Last week at the WM, Nick and Charley tied at -21 to force a playoff. But they actually tied because they had each had 263 individual strokes.

 

Track with me here. Football? There are lots of plays where the pass is incomplete, or a running play is stopped at the line on scrimmage. Lots of baseball innings that are three and out. Even in individual sports - in tennis, you can lose an entire set 6 - 0 and still win the match. But in golf, every stroke is a number on a scorecard. Every shot has importance equal to the final shot on 18 on the final day. A single blowup hole on a Saturday morning can mean the difference between finishing 1st or T5 that Sunday afternoon (and on the PGAT, can literally mean hundreds of thousands of dollars - last week Nick took home around $1.6 million ... Scottie finished T3, and took home about $520K, a difference of over a million dollars - entirely due to several ridiculously short, missed putts over the course of four days). 

 

I think golfers may evaluate everything they do - every day, every stroke - in a way that doesn't exist in other sports, because the nature of scoring requires it. I have a feeling a lot of professional golfers might agree with Lyd's answer. 

Edited February 17, 2024 by bobfoster

[PedronNiall]

59 minutes ago, bobfoster said:

Bit harsh, doncha think? To be fair, I don't think I've ever heard her complain about anything over the years. She isn't known as a whiner, isn't a Sergio or Sabbatini. She's almost always upbeat, even slightly playful, but always with an extreme focus on her game. This is not some "poor me" kind of pampered athlete. And she didn't even remotely say or imply her life was harder than anyone else's. She wasn't comparing her job to anyone else's. 

 

She was specifically asked what her least favorite part of being a professional golfer was. Gave a blunt, succinct, honest answer - solely about herself - that I found pretty interesting.  I mean, what should she have said? "Everything about it is amazing. There are no negatives or difficulties of any kind. It is all good 100% of the time."

 

That's the deal with interviews. Someone asks you a question. You answer it. If the interviewer had asked, as a follow up, "do you regret choosing to be a professional golfer", I'd be willing to bet the answer would have been "not in a million years". Good grief, she wasn't complaining - she was just answering a question. 

Interesting take from you given how harshly critical you've been of anyone millennial or younger in general in the past when complaints are voiced. 

 

As to her statement, you're competing at the highest level of your sport, of course your performance matters. No doubt she's responding to the question and is going to feel as she feels, as are the people who have opinions on her answer. 

 

I enjoy watching her play, but my take on what she said is the same I'd have for any top player in any sport making that kind of comment: that's not the vibe I get from most others at the top. I don't know anyone in the working or sporting world with any level of success who openly bemoans that performance level matters. That's a given, so you'd better perform if you want to hold on to what you have or want to achieve better. 

 

As to golf being different, nah, not really. Messi, The Williams, Hamilton, Kobe, Rossi, Tiger, Rory, Phelps; pick any top athlete you want, and the media is going to have at them after every round, game, match, series, and so on. That's also assuming you're ignoring social media, because if not there's even more criticism coming your way, even when your win. You'd better bring it every day or you're going to hear about it, period. That's not unique to golf. Yes, golf requires you to write down the score and replay the shots at the end if you want to double-check what you're putting down, but the scrutiny is real everywhere in the world of sport, so deal with it, or deal with feeling it working on your mind and turning you into a headcase. 

 

Life: the thing where almost everyone will judge you for how you perform and doesn't give an eff about the why when you fall short of expectations. That's just how it goes. I get her having been in the spotlight since being a teen can be wearing, but Woods is the same, as was Kobe, as is LeBron, as are The Williams, and many more. Some succeed, some fail, but she is not at all the only one who's been judged from an early age in a sport. Her situation is not unheard of but I can't think of many who have voiced what she has and I can't think of any who have and have been lauded for it.

[bladehunter]

1 hour ago, bobfoster said:

The most interesting thing about her answer - it got me thinking about the mathematics of golf, something that makes the pro level a bit unique amongst sports. In golf, every stroke in a four day tournament counts. We usually think in terms of strokes-to-par. Last week at the WM, Nick and Charley tied at -21 to force a playoff. But they actually tied because they had each had 263 individual strokes.

 

Track with me here. Football? There are lots of plays where the pass is incomplete, or a running play is stopped at the line on scrimmage. Lots of baseball innings that are three and out. Even in individual sports - in tennis, you can lose an entire set 6 - 0 and still win the match. But in golf, every stroke is a number on a scorecard. Every shot has importance equal to the final shot on 18 on the final day. A single blowup hole on a Saturday morning can mean the difference between finishing 1st or T5 that Sunday afternoon (and on the PGAT, can literally mean hundreds of thousands of dollars - last week Nick took home around $1.6 million ... Scottie finished T3, and took home about $520K, a difference of over a million dollars - entirely due to several ridiculously short, missed putts over the course of four days). 

 

I think golfers may evaluate everything they do - every day, every stroke - in a way that doesn't exist in other sports, because the nature of scoring requires it. I have a feeling a lot of professional golfers might agree with Lyd's answer. 

Yep. It essentially requires perfection most times. 

[aenemated]

5 hours ago, bobfoster said:

Bit harsh, doncha think? To be fair, I don't think I've ever heard her complain about anything over the years. She isn't known as a whiner, isn't a Sergio or Sabbatini. She's almost always upbeat, even slightly playful, but always with an extreme focus on her game. This is not some "poor me" kind of pampered athlete. And she didn't even remotely say or imply her life was harder than anyone else's. She wasn't comparing her job to anyone else's. 

 

She was specifically asked what her least favorite part of being a professional golfer was. Gave a blunt, succinct, honest answer - solely about herself - that I found pretty interesting.  I mean, what should she have said in answer to that question? "Everything about it is amazing. There are no negatives or difficulties of any kind. It is all good 100% of the time."

 

That's the deal with interviews. Someone asks you a question. You answer it. If the interviewer had asked, as a follow up, "do you regret choosing to be a professional golfer", I'd be willing to bet the answer would have been "not in a million years". Good grief, she wasn't complaining - she was just answering a question. 

 

Me, before even seeing your perfect response ...

 

Quote

 

What would have been a preferable response? 

 

"LOL I make more money hitting one shot than some loser moving furniture makes in a decade. Sucks to be them! Excuse me while I check the time on one of my free Rolexes ... OK. What'd you ask again?" 

 

 

[bscinstnct]

2 hours ago, aenemated said:

 

Me, before even seeing your perfect response ...

 

 

 

 

 

The irony of course of Golfwrxers ripping LK for complaining 

 

Is that all Golfwrxers do all day (myself included) 

 

Is complain about everyyyyything 🤣

 

 

[Blaiser]

On 2/16/2024 at 12:24 PM, Ironman_32 said:

On one hand, I understand what shes saying. Usually in other sports its not swing to swing, or play to play. No one says to Justin Jefferson "your running style go a little sloppy on the 8th play of the 3rd quarter". And like any other business, you can have a good day of golf and just not have it come together, and you have to answer to that. So, a businssman can develop a lot of good contacts, but a day without sales is a day without sales at the end of the day. 

 

 

Hate to be that guy, but absolutely they do. At the top level, you watch hours of film per day and you will rewatch not only every play of every game, multiple times, but you will also watch every play from practice as well. I played D1 football, and if you mess up the tiniest thing on any play the first thing that goes through your mind is "sh*t, coach is gonna crush me in film for that later." They will literally replay it 50x in a row just telling you how bad of a job you did because you stepped at a 20 degree angle when they wanted 45 degrees. It's savage.

 

You should check out MrGo30 on YT/IG. It's a comedy take and is absolutely hilarious, but oh man does it make me feel like I am back in the film room with coaches just dehumanizing you during film.

Edited February 18, 2024 by Blaiser