It was a tough week for Corey Conners.
As tough as playing golf for a living can be, I suppose.
The Listowel native was one of 12 golfers on the International Team at the Presidents Cup, along with fellow Canadian honorary Listowelite (or is it Listowelian? Or Listonian?) Taylor Pendrith.
Neither registered a point for the International Team, despite some really solid play over the four-day team competition at Quail Hollow, near Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Americans, for the 12th time in 14 playings of the competition, took home the Presidents Cup by a score of 17.5-12.5.
As an avid golf fan (I don’t get to play as much as I would like), I was tuned in most of the weekend, hoping for an International Team upset.
While I didn’t get to see that, much to my chagrin, I did get to see many of the rising stars of the game.
Obviously, I was familiar with names like Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay and Collin Morikawa on the American side.
Coming into the Presidents Cup, I had heard of names like Sebastian Munoz and Si Woo Kim, but had never seen them play before.
All 24 men in the event are tremendous players, all deserving of being at the competition.
However, as I watched on Sunday afternoon, I had a feeling I discovered a flaw in the way golf is broadcast.
For years, ever since Tiger Woods burst onto the scene and fist pumped his way through our television sets, the PGA Tour has been looking for its “next big thing” – the next athlete to become a household name just like Tiger, Jack and Arnie.
However, when you spend four or five hours every broadcast showing robot after robot, you aren’t going to find that athlete.
I noticed this lack of emotion and lack of charisma mainly from the American players, which American broadcasters tend to heavily favour in their coverage of PGA Tour events. Sunday was no exception, as Conners was 3-Down to Xander Schauffele after 11 holes in their singles match. Conners won three consecutive holes to tie the match, and all we saw was Schauffele missing putts that would have tied the hole.
That’s just one example.
This weekend, what I noticed was the American players were laser focused on having no reaction to any shot whatsoever. No personality, no charisma, no reason for me become invested in them as a player.
Heck, the American team had a super-soft celebration after winning the Presidents Cup – Michelob Ultra (the closest thing to water that beer can be) and some puffed on a cigar. The celebration was merely high fives and pats on the back.
Robots are great for many things – efficiency, reliability, productivity – but are not very entertaining.
The International players, however, I can get behind.
Conners and Pendrith, obviously, you can’t help but cheer for because of their ties to this community. Guys like Munoz and Si Woo Kim showed the world they can play, and when they make something happen they are going to let you know about it. Case in point: Si Woo making a birdie on the 18th hole to win his match against Thomas on Sunday. That fist pump was Tiger-esque.
Then there is Joo-hyung Kim.
The 20-year-old was the highlight of the event. He goes by the name Tom, as he was a huge fan of the Thomas the Tank Engine series as a youngster.
When he stepped onto the first tee on Thursday, he was introduced and given a nice round of applause. Channeling his inner Happy Gilmore, he encouraged the crowd to keep cheering, which they obliged. When he stepped over the ball to hit, the crowd got quiet. He stepped back, threw his arms in the air to get the crowd to make noise, then proceeded to bomb a drive down the fairway.
When he or his teammate made a great shot, he reacted as you or I would – he cheered, pumped his fist, or gave an enthusiastic high five. If his partner was standing over an important putt, he would cover his eyes or peek through his fingers to watch the putt fall in the hole.
Did I mention the guy can play too? He’s 20 years old and has 10 professional wins, including the Wyndham Championship on the PGA Tour last month.
Tom Kim brought an energy to the game of golf that I haven’t seen since a young Tiger Woods.
That’s something the PGA Tour needs to show more of if they want to grow the game. A star was born this weekend, but something tells me it won’t get a chance to shine.
Until then, the robots will be back next week.
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Mike Wilson is the editor of Midwestern Newspapers. He doesn’t believe he is a robot on the golf course; rather, he mutters many words that cannot be printed here. Comments and feedback are welcome at mwilson@midwesternnewspapers.com.
