BOMB: So, are you a journalist or a sports agent?
It's a question golf writer Steve Elling should be asking himself these days. On March 5 Elling wrote a piece about Erik Compton for CBSSports.com. Like many of us, Elling was clearly and rightly moved by Compton's story, although when he complains "Even we hardened, sarcastic, jaded beat writers were amazed the Compton story didn't gain more national traction last fall." I would point him to Jim Moriarty's fine piece, "Change of Heart," that ran in the Sept. 5, 2008 Golf World and was so well done it captured a first-place award in Golf Writers Association of America's writing contest.
But what really caught my eye was the following groundbreaking piece of journalism:
"None of us could understand why equipment makers or sponsors weren't busting down his condo door. While he doesn't have status on a major tour, he is getting a steady supply of exemptions, and every time he plays, he generates coverage. It was such a no-brainer, I personally contacted three equipment companies on his behalf to try to get the guy, at minimum, some fresh tools -- he had given away his clubs, convinced he would never play golf again and not completely sure he would survive. He was using garage-sale-quality clubs at Q-school last year, making the story that much more unbelievable."
Huh? OK, Compton's a great guy with a great story. But when it comes to covering a sport, it should end there. Why any journalist is making calls on behalf of a player to try and get him an endorsement deal or some sticks is crossing a line that shouldn't be crossed. It's easy to cheer for a guy like Compton, but there's a reason there's no cheering in the press box. Besides, be serious -- although Compton may have had trouble securing an endorsement deal, there is not a single equipment company in the land that would not happily have made him custom-built clubs at his request. And those garage-sale clubs at Q School? They weren't exactly hickory shafts and persimmon. He was playing with Titleist equipment barely removed from the current line -- or about what you can find in the bags of a handful of PGA Tour players on any given week.
GOUGE: Given the state of journalism today, I wouldn't be surprised that a sportswriter would need a second job. I wouldn't have picked sports agent of one of your profile subjects, however. If nice guys got endorsement deals, then most equipment companies would be out of money. The whole point is to sign players that are in the mix, hanging out in final groups on a regular basis and, well, for starters, have fully exempt playing privileges on a professional tour. I want Erik Compton to win six times this year on the PGA Tour, but if I'm an equipment company handing out full-year endorsement contracts, I'm making business decisions.
Speaking of business decisions on tour, though, let's look at how the rich are getting richer. To no one's surprise, the perennial leaders in golf ball (Titleist) and driver (TaylorMade) are once again on top of the list with their latest products. The 2009 Pro V1/Pro V1x franchise is the No. 1 ball played on tour and TaylorMade's presto-change-o R9 driver is the most played driver on the PGA Tour (although let's not overlook Nike's SQ Dymo Str8-Fit, which boasts a fairly similar adjustable idea and announced it earlier . Of course, it's also fair to say that for both Titleist and TaylorMade, relinquishing their respective positions on tour is unacceptable. But I do find it interesting that the No. 1 driver on tour is now 420 cc, or smaller than it's been since about 2004. Either this means we need to re-think everything, size doesn't matter or maybe, just maybe, Adams Golf and its Speedline driver might be on to something with the idea that the aerodynamics of supersized drivers are a problem, particularly for fast-swinging players. Of course, the USGA isn't planning to ban the Speedline, so maybe there's no there there. Yet.
And one other thing. Before you go messing around with your set makeup, don't overthink it. John Rollins opted to add a wedge and take out his 4-iron last week at the Honda Classic. Turns out the 4-iron was the club he needed on the 71st hole. His 3-iron nearly air-mailed the bleachers. Nice. That's why you really need to look at a distance gapping fitting session like those offered by a good fitter with a TrackMan (Soren Kjeldsen figured it out) or Ping's NFlight software. Not to sound too much like Yoda, but friends, "Don't guess. Know."
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