14 Reasons We Love Pro Golf

February 14, 2013

Let’s get one thing straight: we love pro golf and we’re not afraid to say it! You love it. I love it. We all love it. And as we celebrate Valentine’s Day today, we also celebrate our love for the game we watch with eyes peeled and ears perked every weekend, here are 14 reasons we love pro golf:

1.) The Quirks: We may try to replicate them, but the real thing can never be duplicated. Keegan’s stutter step, Furyk’s swing, Camilo reading a putt — not to mention Sergio’s affinity for taking plenty of time before a shot — are the quirks we love to examine as we watch the game we love.

2.) The Golf Boys: Anyone that says pro golf lacks character clearly hasn’t seen “Oh Oh Oh,” the official video from the most talented boy band in golf, Ben Crane, Bubba Watson, Hunter Mahan and Rickie Fowler.

3.) Mashed Potatoes: Some people say they’re getting sick of the instant cheering following a marquee player’s swing, but I’m not one of them. Give me as many Mashed Potatoes, You the Man, or Get in the Hole exclamations as humanly possible.

4.) David Feherty: Snide, witty and self-deprecating. Feherty has what all of the top stand-up comics possess. Oh, and he knows his golf too!

5.) The 16th at TPC Scottsdale: It’s like Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium mixed with the Super Bowl mixed with Fenway Park when the Yankees are in town. But better…and louder.

6.) The Competition: Sure, there’s millions of dollars to be won in prize money and sponsorships. But we love the competition. The Sunday showdowns that end on holes 70, 71 and 72.

7.) Duffs, Yips and Shanks: We go out every weekend and try to avoid messing up. Heck, it sure is nice to see them do it once or twice, isn’t it?

8.) The Wardrobe: From questionable plaids to John Daly’s Loudmouth collection — and every flat-brimmed hat in between — pro golf fashion has it all, and in crazier ways than ever before.

9.) The Everyman: Like no other sport, golf allows us to play like the big boys. We would struggle to field 18 players for a pick-up baseball game and men’s league basketball is hardly at a level we’d call elite. A competitive foursome on a Sunday, though? That’s a realistic endeavor and it’s why the PGA Tour’s down-to-earth golfers like Phil Mickelson make the game more enjoyable and allow us to connect with our favorites even more.

10.) Records and Milestones: Records were meant to be broken and we sure love to examine them. Will Tiger break Jack’s record of 18 major championships? Who’s next to join the sub-60 club? It’s why we follow each red-hot round and root for Tiger four times a year.

11.) Age Doesn’t Matter: In few other sports can the game’s youth dominate the way it can in the game of golf. Rory McIlroy, golf’s No. 1 player, is just 23. Nicklaus was 46 when he won his final Masters. The golf ball isn’t concerned about the age of the person hitting it. Quality golf is played across all of the professional game and it’s a big reason we love it.

12.) Near Misses: They can be as dramatic as Jean van de Velde’s collapse at the British Open or as exciting as Phil’s near-miss for a 59 at TPC Scottsdale. The misses and dramatic finishes have us on the edges of our seats.

13.) Major Championships: We love the week-to-week competition but four times a year, we really get up for these. It’s the Master’s, officially kicking off the golf season. We love the ankle-high rough at the U.S. Open. We wake up at dawn to watch golf in its truest form at the Open Championship and wait for the best of the best to duke it out at the PGA Championship. We love golf’s four majors.

14.) Palmer, Nicklaus & Player: In no other sport are the ultimate legends still as tied into the way the game is played, ruled and managed. Kudos to the ultimate pioneers in sport.