By Jeffrey A. Rendall; Photos By Jeff Janas

WILLIAMSBURG, VA – The 2004 PGA Tour season’s first event was the Mercedes Championship (at Kapalua, Hawaii) in early January, followed by the Sony Open, also in Hawaii.  Since then, the Tour’s moved to the California desert, over to Phoenix, back to California for the AT & T (at Pebble Beach), and finally down to San Diego for the Buick Invitational.

Already in ‘04, we’ve witnessed the continued outstanding performances of Vijay Singh (his San Diego performance notwithstanding), a resurgent Phil Mickelson, a potential rising star in Jonathan Kaye and the pleasing though controversial play of 14 year-old Michelle Wie, who teed it up in the Sony Open and barely missed the cut (though she was under par in doing so).  And how about John Daly?  Wow.

In other words, the season’s well underway – and there’s little need for a ‘preview.’  But several issues have already surfaced in this young season, and who better than former Ryder Cup Captain and current ABC Golf Analyst Curtis Strange to address them?  Strange is well regarded for his playing career, of course, and he’s given much credit for his straight and to the point broadcasting style.  He tells it like it is, and it’s clear he has a lot on his mind these days, with golf’s youth movement, his impending decision on whether to join the Champions Tour when he turns fifty next January, and also the coming Ryder Cup in September.

I visited with him after the FBR Phoenix Open, and he’s given us much to think about as we look forward to the balance of the 2004 PGA golf season:

GTMA:  Before we talk about the ’04 season, let’s hear about your playing plans for the year.

Strange:  I’m not playing a lot these days.  I’ll probably play what I did last year, six or seven events, maybe eight.

I’m going through the thought process of what I’m going to do next year, when I turn fifty, and there are a few different options.  One is to completely do TV and play only a few senior events.  Another is to try and split time both ways, which I will not do – if you split things up half and half, you can’t do either one well.   Yet another is to just play, and I don’t know if I want to do that.

There’s a reason why I didn’t like my game when I backed off from playing a lot – and certainly if I’m not working at it, it’s not going to improve.

GTMA:  Has the resurgence of the over forty players in recent times altered your thinking any?

Strange:  No.  I’m happy for ‘em, don’t get me wrong – but it doesn’t make me want to go out there and practice.  I’m not going to fool myself – I quickly remember why I went to the TV booth.  I also play enough now to know how I’m doing, to remind myself how hard this game really is.

There's little doubt -- with 4 top 10's in four 2004 starts, Phil Mickelson's walking with that swagger again, to the delight of fans everywhere.

And you have to put in a complete effort to play well.

You look at guys like Jay Haas, Peter Jacobsen, Craig Stadler, Steve Lowery, Loren Roberts, a lot of guys in their mid to late forties playing really well.  But they’ve stayed right in the middle of the game and continue to work at it.

The main thing is they’ve kept incredible enthusiasm through their forties.

GTMA:  Indeed they have.  Speaking of enthusiasm, I particularly enjoyed the Phoenix tournament, because of the ‘crowd participation’ out there.  You got into it a bit with Mike Tirico about that – what are your thoughts on crowd behavior on Tour?

Strange:  Oh, crowd behavior is generally pretty good, when you think about putting that many people on a golf course, week after week.  Forget about Phoenix – that’s the biggest crowd they have in golf around the world.

You have a vocal couple of ‘fans,’ and that always ruins it for a lot, but that happens.  It happened 20 years ago, too, so that’s nothing new.  I think the Tour is doing a pretty good job disciplining those few who step out of bounds.

Then you have Phoenix.

GTMA:  Is that bad?

Strange:  Phoenix is great for a fan out there, or somebody snowbound up in DC or New York, because it’s a lot of fun to watch.  That’s why ABC gives it a lot of airtime – it’s a lot of fun, and it’s different.

For my credibility, as an announcer/player, I have to say what the players are thinking.  From a player’s perspective, Phoenix is very disconcerting, very tough.  I’m not saying it’s wrong – because when you’re on that hole (the 16th, a par three), they’re pretty good.

It’s the hole before and after, and around the golf course that the noise gets to you. 

There’s an argument – and it’s a good argument – that the same thing happens at places like Augusta, with the roars amongst the pine trees.

They're not shy out in Phoenix -- the 16th hole may be the most exciting, but it's also the most controversial.

GTMA:  Yes, but at Augusta, they’re not chanting A-S-U amongst those pine trees.

Strange:  True.  But talking about it with Mike – he’s never walked out on that tee as a player.  I completely disagree with him, and that’s why I think it made for good TV, because we both presented our different thoughts on it.

What I’m talking about is the par five before that hole.  If you’re in that fairway, you’ve got a two-iron over water to a small green, then you have to listen to them chanting and singing things like ‘You’ve lost that loving feeling’ to Judy Rankin. 

One of the drunks went down to propose to Judy, and 500 people started singing that.  Well, it was funny.  From my point-of-view it was funny, because I’m not playing.  But damn if I want to be firing a two-iron over water while listening to that (laughs).

It’s okay once a year, I guess.

GTMA:  Another thing that we were originally supposed to see once a year is causing the most buzz around professional golf – speaking specifically of Michelle Wie and her performance at the Sony Open.  Care to weigh in on women playing on the men’s professional Tour?

Strange:  God, I usually try to stay away from this one.

First, let me say what Annika Sorenstam did last year at The Colonial was fantastic.  She was, by far and away, the best female player in the world, and she wanted to play against the men to see how good she was.  I think that’s fine, and I think it was terrific the way she handled herself, and how she played.

What Annika did was not a PR move, and I can respect that.

When we get into some of these others, you’re moving a lot closer to what I would say are PR moves, and I’m not a fan of that.

GTMA:  Wie played really well.  Does that make a difference?

Ricky Barnes is one of the exciting young players to watch in '04, though he'll have to take advantage of his sponsors exemptions to keep playing on the PGA Tour.

Strange:  I’m concerned about her for one reason – she’s fourteen years old.  I’m concerned that she’s too young for the atmosphere, the cutthroat competition on the men’s tour, especially. 

I’m not one of these guys who believes she’s ‘missing out on her life,’ because, as Ty Tryon found out recently – these guys and girls, golf is what they enjoy doing.  Like me, I grew up on the golf course.

So they’re not missing a damn thing – they’re doing exactly what they want to do, and they’re having fun.  So I don’t buy that argument.

GTMA:  So where’s the problem?

Strange:  I don’t know. She’s extraordinary, phenomenal at her age.  What she did at the Sony, I think surpassed what Annika did, just a little bit.  And that’s because she’s only fourteen. 

I’d like to see her play at her level and learn how to win.  I’m not talking about the junior level – her level is probably all the women’s big amateur events, and maybe even men’s amateur events.  I don’t know if she can even play in those.

I think it’s a little early for her on the PGA Tour.

Now, she can play on the LPGA Tour if she wants, but in my mind, she doesn’t accomplish anything by trying to succeed at a level where she hasn’t gone through the steps to know how to play with that type of competition.

GTMA:  She’s said she’s going to defend her US Women’s Public Links title down there in your neck of the woods, at the Golden Horseshoe in Williamsburg.  She passed up a sponsor’s exemption to the Booz-Allen Classic (formerly known as the Kemper Open) to do that.

Strange:  Which she should, and that’s the smart thing to do, the proper thing for her to do.  If she starts not defending big events like that – the US Women’s Public Links – only to play in a men’s PGA event, now you’re looking at PR moves versus what’s the proper thing to do.

GTMA:  She’s already been offered exemptions to at least seven PGA Tour events this year.

Strange:  Has she actually?  Well, that’s a PR move.  That’s where we get into the argument of what a sponsor is supposed to do with its exemptions. 

Stewart Cink used steady though quiet play to win a spot on the '02 American Ryder Cup Team. He'll need to do so again this year if he hopes to make the squad.

If you were a tournament director, and you had a choice of offering an exemption to Michelle Wie or Ricky Barnes (2002 US Amateur Champion, who played well in last year’s Masters Tournament), who would you give it to?

Do you go with Wie and the short-term PR boost, or with the long-term investment in Barnes and hope, if he hits it big, that he remembers that you gave him a spot and he comes back?

A lot of these tournaments are hurting, and seriously need to consider that publicity boost right away, since not every event gets the big names like Tiger Woods.

GTMA:  Greg Norman spoke out on the issue – he’s against granting exemptions to female players, and thinks it should be written into the Tour rules.  More and more players seem to be getting in on it.

Strange:  Oh boy.  See, this is where it goes to.  You can’t hardly blame the sponsor for granting these exemptions, because he’s trying to bring attention to the event.  At the same time, you can’t really bring it to an embarrassing level, like the Kemper Open did with Mark Rypien that time.

That’s just a tough, tough issue.

GTMA:  Another tough one that everyone seems to be wrestling with, but no one seems to know how to solve, is the equipment issue – how to deal with technological advances that may be changing the nature of the game.

Strange:  There’re new things out on the market right now, but nothing that’s going to change a lot from last year.  Drivers are as close to the maximum as they can get.  Irons are just getting better and more consistent; putters, the same thing.

If there is a problem, the argument goes that testing hasn’t kept up with the technology.  So now, we’re trying to get everyone together – the Tour, manufacturers, the USGA, everyone – to get the exact same testing for drivers and golf balls.

GTMA:  Are you for that?

Strange:  Oh yeah.  We have to have testing, absolutely.  I just found out last week that there’ve been quite a few guys who’ve had their drivers tested already, and it’s not mandatory.

John Daly's back. His win in the Buick Invitational has to rank as one of the most popular in recent times. Not bad for a guy who hasn't won on American soil in nearly ten years.

I heard seven were called illegal.  But what does that mean?

If my driver’s illegal, it means the ball’s going another one or two yards farther – it’s not thirty yards, like some people think.

GTMA:  Tiger’s been very vocal on the issue, as have many others.

Strange:  We all know who he’s talking about.  Not so much the person, but we know the company.  That company’s had a couple more than their share of illegal drivers on Tour.

GTMA:  Any hints?

Strange:  It’s not Titleist.  That’s the farthest I’ll go.

But again, if the driver’s illegal, you’re talking a couple yards.  So it’s the combination of a certain ball, driver and shaft that’s creating the increased distance – because some of these guys are hitting it a long ways, a lot farther than they used to.

But overall, I don’t worry about stuff like that, and it’s never bothered me too much.  If guys are crossing the line, we should test – and that’s the next step for us to do that.

GTMA:  As far as the season goes – the past couple seasons, we’ve had ‘themes’ such as first-time winners or the return of the veteran players.  Do you see any major ‘themes’ heading into this season?

Strange:  When I think about this year – everybody’s anxious to see what Tiger does, that’s a given, since it looks like Ernie Els has gotten better, and I think Vijay is relentless.  He’s just phenomenal with his work ethic, and the way he plays and doesn’t give up or get upset.  He just plods along, and at the end, it seems he’s always up there.

Then you’ve got Davis (Love III), Phil (Mickelson) and a handful of guys that it’s going to be interesting to see if they can make a run at Tiger for the world’s #1 spot.  There’s some light at the end of the tunnel with Vijay winning the money title last year.  That’s given some inspiration to the best players – they now know Tiger’s beatable.

GTMA:  That’s true, Vijay Singh beat him in one of the most important categories, capturing the money title.  I argued that Singh should’ve won Player of the Year last year because of it, and also because he was more consistent all year long.  You said Tiger deserved it, despite the fact he’d won it so many years in a row.  What was your thought process on that?

Funny how many commentators neglect to mention Sergio Garcia when talking about the game's best players. At 24, he seems like he's been around forever -- and when he puts it all together, he's definitely one of golf's most exciting players.

Strange:  First of all, how ever many years in a row he’s won it, that shouldn’t be a factor.  I’ve said on air that I think some players are looking for a reason not to vote for Tiger.  It’s nothing personal, but whenever someone wins an award like that for a long period of time, people want to see someone else get it.

My deciding factors were:  Tiger won five events, Vijay four, and Tiger’s events were more prestigious with better fields.  Tiger played in a lot fewer events to get those wins.  And, something that I put a lot of weight on – Tiger’s scoring average was about a half shot per round better than Vijay’s.  That’s huge.

Vijay had a wonderful year, and I’m glad he won the money title.  I think it’s good for golf and the Tour and good for the locker room chatter to have a serious debate on who deserved it more.

So many people have said Tiger had a bad year by his standards, so why would he be player of the year?

Well, because he’s still the best player.

GTMA:  You probably won’t get many arguments that Tiger’s still the best player, and still deserves the #1 ranking, but you have to admit 2003 wasn’t a great year for him.  He did win those tournaments, but he was a virtual no-show in three of the four majors.

Strange:  He just didn’t play well on those occasions.

When I’ve been doing his events, and I tell him – he drives it all over the lot.  He’s just so good that he can still win from there, but he’s just got to get back to swinging the way he swung a couple years ago.

He’s not working with Butch (Harmon) anymore, and it’s easy for me to say, but I think that’s a mistake.  I know Tiger knows his own swing, but then again I think he’s working on some things that I’m not so sure I agree with – because we talk about the golf swing quite often.

But who are we to say otherwise when a man’s that good. 

GTMA:  A lot of people are saying he’s just not getting the putts to fall.

Who says there isn't room for individualism in golf? You don't need to see his face to know this gentleman is Duffy Waldorf.

Strange:  Putting is in and out all the time, but when I see him, I’m seeing the fact that he’s driving so poorly.  When you’re not in the fairway, everything else becomes that much tougher.

I just remember a couple years ago when he was winning six or seven tournaments in a row, and he was just perfect.  Maybe he’s just set a standard that’s hard to keep up with.

GTMA:  Talking about falling putts and driving it all over the lot, do you think Phil Mickelson’s recent success means that he’s ‘back?’

Strange:  Yes, I do.

But when it comes to Phil, you just don’t know what to think.  As I’ve said, and it’s not a knock – but he’s a train wreck waiting to happen.  He’s so explosive, he’s the most exciting player in golf.

If you want to watch somebody and have some fun, he’s the one you want to go see.

GTMA:  Any other themes?

Strange:  It’s not a theme, and it’s also not getting a lot of attention, but I want to see how the new guys who won majors last year – how they handle that, from a TV standpoint.

I’m talking about Shaun Micheel and Ben Curtis – Jim Furyk was an accomplished player prior to winning the US Open last year, and so was Mike Weir prior to the Masters.  But Micheel and Curtis seemed to just come out of nowhere, and now they’ve got some attention focused on them.  I want to see how they react.

There are a lot of great young players on Tour now – David Gossett, Charles Howell, Chad Campbell, Jonathan Byrd, Aaron Baddeley, and Adam Scott – they’re going to be excellent players.  And what’s really neat is that they’re all good kids, too.  There are no hot shot, outlandish ‘Super Bowl Halftime Show’ type kids.

GTMA:  Golf doesn’t seem like a sport that would put up with that.  It seems like a lot of this ‘alternative’ entertainment stems from the major sports trying to appeal to younger and younger kids.  Do you see that happening in the world of golf?

Strange:  No.  First of all, the demographics for golf are fifty year-olds, not eighteen year-olds.  Sure, we’re trying to bring younger kids to the game, but not through beer sales.  We’re doing it through First Tee programs and education and different programs around the country.     

Vijay Singh's consecutive Top 10 streak may have ended in San Diego, but there's no doubt his quest to catch Tiger Woods in '04 will continue.

Corporate America has embraced us, and that’s an older demographic, established people with some money.  So no, I don’t see anything like that happening in golf.

GTMA:  Corporate America does love golf, but the purses at these tournaments are getting pretty big, and TV ratings aren’t necessarily increasing along with them.  Do you see trouble on the horizon?

Strange:  I see the issue from all different sides.  The TV side isn’t doing that great, so it’ll be interesting to see how that works out in three years when it comes to renewing the contracts.

The networks are losing money because they’re paying so much for the rights fees.  And some of it’s due to the economy.

The tournament sponsors are doing pretty well, but they’re pretty much stretched to the maximum.  Hopefully they’ll hang on.

There’s a point of no return with every sport, and TV is losing money with every sport, not just golf.  The rights fees have just gotten so big, it eventually had to happen.  It’s got to stop somewhere – and I’m not just an older guy saying the guys get paid too much money – hell, you can’t blame them for asking.

Look at hockey.  They say the TV rights fees are going to go down 50%.  When you eventually pay so much money for it, you just can’t get anything back in return.

GTMA:  Is that where you get the clamoring for Michelle Wie to come in and bring more interest into the events?

Strange:  (Chuckles) Possibly, yes.  Sponsors are looking to do anything – if they don’t have Tiger Woods, they’re looking for something to create interest.

GTMA:  Wrapping it up, what are your thoughts on the ’04 Ryder Cup?

Strange:  My first thought is that I hope we behave up there in Detroit.  Not we, the players, but we, the fans – as the English fans did over at the Belfry in ’02.

Train wreck waiting to happen? Here, Phil Mickelson's dropping after putting one in the water -- but this time, it's because he hit the ball too far.

As far as the play, it’ll be close, as always.  It’s going to be played on a wonderful golf course (Oakland Hills CC in Detroit).  It’ll be exciting as it always is.

I hope the beer sales are in check and everybody treats the guests (the European team) as they should be treated, because we were treated royally over there at the Belfry.  I hope we show them the same respect.

GTMA:  Any players you’d like to see make the team?

Strange:  You’re going to have your core group of five or six guys, from Furyk to Tiger to Davis, Phil…  But what’s fun is to see the young guys, playing for the first time.  I loved seeing David Toms, Scott Verplank, Stewart Cink in there for the second time.

The excitement in those guys’ eyes is a lot of fun.  They’re excited about being there, and being a part of the team atmosphere the entire week.  It’s one of those things you don’t forget.

So I’ll look for who’s young like that – possibly a Jonathan Kaye.

GTMA:  Hal Sutton will be busy with the whole issue, like you were.

Strange:  Yeah, but he’s got a lot of help, and it’s all set in place for him.  Being the Captain is a joy, not a chore.  He’ll have fun with it.

We’ll all have fun watching the best players in golf competing against each other throughout the 2004 PGA Tour season.  That’s one of the things making professional golf unique – it’s on every week, and there isn’t a huge layoff between seasons.

It’s also fun to listen to folks like Curtis Strange and Johnny Miller, seasoned tour players talking us through the thought processes of the guys (and gals) hitting the shots.

Golf offers a different stage and script every week, with a different though familiar cast of characters, which virtually guarantees a set of unpredictable endings that many a Hollywood producer could only dream to create.

Chris DiMarco uses the claw grip to putt as Jonathan Kaye looks on. These are definitely two to watch for this year's Ryder Cup team.

Simply put, it’s fun.  And I know I’ll be watching.