What Ever Happened To.

FixdePitchmark

Was looking at world rankings today and down in 41st is Martin Kaymer. I guess it is a very long career and you have highs and lows - a first major can be a point where you hit a wall in a way. You reach a goal and it is hard to stay at it. I guess he came on the scene so quick and his rise was meteoric. But, I felt he was going to be in or around majors for years - but no. Sort of floating around - has shown signs he is on his way back. But, it just goes to show how fickle and high the standard is. Any sort of drop off and you are way down.

I can think of a few others. But will see do others say their names here.

But is there any other golfers out there, that you think have been a let down ?
Are way off where they should be ?

I can see Martin come back - but as we have seen , when you fall below a certain level and lose touch - it can be very very hard and becoming harder to get back.

Rippeditup

He tried to change his swing to allow him have shots in the bag and it just hasn't worked for him yet. He has shown some signs of coming back though. I think he will be back with a bang sooner rather than later.

PARlance

Nicolas Colsaerts.....big things expected of him after the Ryder Cup, some big hype surrounding his move to the US, it's been a disappointing year for him.

Not a massive drop in rankings 36th (2012) to 58th (present) but this time last year he was the next big thing. 3 missed cuts in the Majors, a decent performance in the US Open in fairness.

ssbob

Lee Westwood is all the way down in 21st now from 1st!! He had his chance to win the open this year but blew it again, he hasn't had a top ten since!

PARlance

Aaron Baddeley seems to have dropped off the face of the world as well in the last 2 or so years

Panrich

Bubba down at 29 too. He has lost his way a bit not having won since the masters.

gotapaininmy

PARlance wrote: »

Aaron Baddeley seems to have dropped off the face of the world as well in the last 2 or so years

Yes, I remember watching Baddeley winning those Australian Opens as an amateur kid, loked like he had such a simple method that not much could go wrong. Trevor Immelman is another guy who has disappeared, I know he had lots of injuries but he has been fit for pretty much the last 2 years and has done nothing. I think it may be a case that these guys get too much money too young and where does the motivation com from then? They can't all be driven to the same level, everyone is different.

m r c

I kinda had expected Patrick Cantlay to do what Jordan Speith has done, although I always like Speith's game though. Cantlay has earned his tour card though which is no mean job. He seemed to never really get it going when he was on the sponsors exemptions this last year.

^^^^ not exactly what you were asking I know.

PARlance

I'd throw Jeff Overton in there too... Everything was looking rosy back in 2010 when he holed that eagle in the Ryder Cup... he had drifted out to 175th in the world at the start of this month.
He was never in the top 25 but he was floating around there in 2010 and big things expected... it's been a fairly steady decline since.

Panrich

Chad Campbell was another who looked like he could have been headed for big things. Now down at 274.

SnowDrifts

First name that springs to mind for me is Rickie Fowler. I know he has only ever had one win (Wells fargo last year) but when he burst on the scene the yanks built him up to be the next Tiger and that he was the man to take on Rory.

Also... David Duval and to a lesser extent Mark O'Mera both seemed to just completely slip off the radar.

Panrich

Camilo Villegas is another ex hotshot languishing at 259

PARlance

FixdePitchmark was another guy that was causing a bit of a stir last year but you hear very little in terms of his rounds this year.
There's talk that his "win" late last year went to his head, apparently he has dumped the Irish apples in favour for only the finest French grapes now and it's more likely that'll you find him in Druids Glen rather than Corballis.
Rumours are rife of a bust up with his coach too, apparently his coach believes Fixde has been cheating on him with some guy that has been giving him tips on his short game and Par 3 management...

gotapaininmy

what ever happened to Mark Hensby? Australian dude who had a purple patch there a few years ago, played President's Cup too

ssbob

SnowDrifts wrote: »

First name that springs to mind for me is Rickie Fowler. I know he has only ever had one win (Wells fargo last year) but when he burst on the scene the yanks built him up to be the next Tiger and that he was the man to take on Rory.

Also... David Duval and to a lesser extent Mark O'Mera both seemed to just completely slip off the radar.

Agree with you on Rickie and Duval but think O'Meara just happened to be one of those players when he hit his forties, his game went into decline......it is only lately do we see players competitive right into their forties.

For instance I would class Monty the same as O'Meara, his last win came at 43/44 I think!

gotapaininmy

Actually along the same lines as Jeff Overton, fellow Ryder Cuppers Brett Wetterich, Vaughn Taylor, JJ Henry?? I think Oliver Wilson has gone from Ryder Cup 2008 to Europro Tour this year? Only golfing Gods know what happened to Nick Dougherty?!

FixdePitchmark

@ ParLance . Awful name.

Can I not make a thread not about me for once.

But back to your best there. I dont think you are one to be speaking of duplicity.
That 75 went to me head. Know how Martin feels.

Looked up Martin there. He is in love. I know where his game is at now.

Dr_Colossus

PARlance wrote: »

FixdePitchmark was another guy that was causing a bit of a stir last year but you hear very little in terms of his rounds this year.
There's talk that his "win" late last year went to his head, apparently he has dumped the Irish apples in favour for only the finest French grapes now and it's more likely that'll you find him in Druids Glen rather than Corballis.
Rumours are rife of a bust up with his coach too, apparently his coach believes Fixde has been cheating on him with some guy that has been giving him tips on his short game and Par 3 management...

In a similar fashion opened this thread to expect to read, what ever happened to Tones69, the Carlow GC member who was making great strides in lowering his handicap having dropped an astronomical amount of shots over a season and recounting his exploits here along the way.

paulos53

Panrich wrote: »

Chad Campbell was another who looked like he could have been headed for big things. Now down at 274.

He was part of the Ryder Cup team that played in the K Club along with these guys

Chris DiMarco - down to 589 in the world rankings
Vaughn Taylor - 387
JJ Henry - 162
Brett Wetterich - 619

A big fall from being the amongst the top 12 americans and earning 2 to 3 million dollars per year to where they are now.

PARlance

Dr_Colossus wrote: »

In a similar fashion opened this thread to expect to read, what ever happened to Tones69, the Carlow GC member who was making great strides in lowering his handicap having dropped an astronomical amount of shots over a season and recounting his exploits here along the way.

Tones69 made a reappearance about 2 weeks ago, he had just got a cut to get him back to 9.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=87028153

PARlance

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

@ ParLance . Awful name.

Can I not make a thread not about me for once.

But back to your best there. I dont think you are one to be speaking of duplicity.
That 75 went to me head. Know how Martin feels.

Looked up Martin there. He is in love. I know where his game is at now.

I do agree it's an awful name, but at least I'm not using my password as my username anymore

Two of me would be dangerous.

FixdePitchmark

gotapaininmy wrote: »

what ever happened to Mark Hensby? Australian dude who had a purple patch there a few years ago, played President's Cup too

Some names coming up here. I was even thinking more along lines of higher profile lads. But, keep them coming. Amazing some were even Ryder Cup players major winners.

Buba is a good point. But lets face it . His swing and playing style is mental. He would even try spin a putt. Sort of thing that will be very hot or cold.

Hensby had a car crash. Got back then more injuries.

Tin_Cup

How about Rich Beem ?

Last I seen he was knocking around Europe on invites with Shaun Micheel and Todd Hamilton

Dbu

ssbob wrote: »

Agree with you on Rickie and Duval but think O'Meara just happened to be one of those players when he hit his forties, his game went into decline......it is only lately do we see players competitive right into their forties.

For instance I would class Monty the same as O'Meara, his last win came at 43/44 I think!

Mark O Meara won both his majors at 40...??

FixdePitchmark

Tin_Cup wrote: »

How about Rich Beem ?

Last I seen he was knocking around Europe on invites with Shaun Micheel and Todd Hamilton

Not like I know. But looking up a few as they come.

Rich had back surgery . Vertebrae.

Id say injury is a bigger deal than we hear about. The injuries tend to be out of tournament, so not as visible as other sports.

Think about it. If you go the range everyday for a week how would you feel. The lads in late 30 s . Early 40s feel it first.

FixdePitchmark

Dbu wrote: »

Mark O Meara won both his majors at 40...??

Both at 41, then injury problems.

So Mark was a different type. A multiple winner over a long time.

Id say you could summarise most of these lads by. Sort of joking but truth in it.

a) Age/Injury
b) money/motivation drop
C) women/kids

If you have:

1 of above . In trouble
2 heading to tour school
3 Tiger Woods

SnowDrifts

Dbu wrote: »

Mark O Meara won both his majors at 40...??

It was '98 - think he was either 40 or 41. Then in the subsequent years.. you see a lot of CUT typed on his stats page.

Russman

Per Ulrik Johansson ?
1 or 2 Ryder Cups, European Open at the K Club

Martin567

Paul Way. Two time Ryder Cup player at age 23, expected to be up with the big 5 of European golf back in the 80s. Completely lost his game shortly afterwards and never got it back.

Russman

Our very own Padraig, 3 majors out of 6 in 2007/8, now hoping to be second reserve on Stackstown's Metro team !!

Russman

Maybe the most dramatic of them all, Ian Baker-Finch. From Open Champ to missing the first fairway at St. Andrews (twice !!).

Sandy Lyle, although he did come back and win in Valderrama a few years later.

Ryo Ishikawa more recently maybe ? Lots of time still on his side though, might be a bit premature to include him in fairness as he's won f--k all outside of Japan.

Michael Campbell anyone.....?

Retief Goosen, although that's probably just age and injury.

Just remembered Mike Weir - a WGC and a Masters, then goes Stack & Tilt for some reason............

FixdePitchmark

Here is 2 big names in recent golf.

Louis Oosthuizen now world number 30 was world number 4

Alvaro Quiros was world number 21 now 246.

SnowDrifts

Quiros - now there is one. Such a powerful striker of the ball - great to watch in real life. Immense talent. Think he has had a few niggling injuries over the years though.

FixdePitchmark

Yes just look it up Quiros was wrist surgery end of 2012.

In fact he did very well to get back in March 2013.
His best result was the Irish open.

So he is still recovering form.

blue note

Michelle Wie

SnowDrifts

blue note wrote: »

Michelle Wie

Her new putting stance is definitely going to help her to hole out

TheRoomWrecker

Anthony Kim biggest Nike deal after Tiger (now Rory) burst on the scene has a famous victory against Garcia in the Ryder cup, 3 PGA tour victory's, had alot of injuries and now ranks 1319th in the world! still only 28 so may return....their are some rumors on american forums that he may be serving a drugs ban, as he has just disappeared and the USPGA don't publish bans, his body shape changed alot from his amateur days but so have many others.

cormacjones

Geoff Ogilvy is way better than 115!!

FixdePitchmark

Well done on Kim - a legend.


http://bleacherreport.com/articles/500688-anthony-kim-did-the-loose-cannon-party-too-much-in-vegas

Barnaboy

Another one that had a massive fall from grace- John Daly. Now there's a biography that would be a great read.:)

Rikand

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

Looked up Martin there. He is in love. I know where his game is at now.

Same thing happened to duval - fell in love and didnt want to play a golf for a long time


Louis Oosthuizen been injured since around the US masters

FixdePitchmark

Rikand wrote: »

Same thing happened to duval - fell in love and didnt want to play a golf for a long time



Louis Oosthuizen been injured since around the US masters

http://archive.mensjournal.com/david-duval


Was thinking that - or knew that in the back of my mind - but seems to have gone on a long time - must look it up.

Yes - it showing how much more injury comes into play.

http://golfweek.com/news/2013/oct/01/presidents-cup-louis-oosthuzen-ready-to-play-ingur/

FixdePitchmark

It seems to be much harder to keep track of what is going on with lads.

Your watching euro tour for a few weeks - then US - some players are playing both , some just one tour - then some are going over to Asia .

Then 6 months are gone past and you go, hey what's up with Alex Noren. Following two tours is hard work.

scrubber72

Shot a 62. That's what happened OP.

bobwilliams

m r c wrote: »

I kinda had expected Patrick Cantlay to do what Jordan Speith has done, although I always like Speith's game though. Cantlay has earned his tour card though which is no mean job. He seemed to never really get it going when he was on the sponsors exemptions this last year.

^^^^ not exactly what you were asking I know.

big fan of Cantlay,his one problem is lack of power,expect to see him pop up on the short tight courses
regards Kaymer, looking at his swing lately I think he's very close to getting back to top form again,expect him to have a really good year next year

razorblunt

Philip Price, great win over Mickelson in the Ryder Cup, guess he just got to an age where injuries took their tool. Has he moved to the Senior Tour at all?

Robert Rock always seemed to have a good showing 3/4 seasons ago, never seemed to kick on. Probably because he never wore a cap!!!

Speak Now

Andres Romero,Sean O'Hair, Robert Karlsson and Rhys Davies are others to have gone on a big slide down the rankings.

foxyboxer

Trevor Immelman. No wins since his Masters win.

I think he had tendonitis though since 2009.

You can easily see it happening though, keeping the head down practising with little distractions then with making a breakthrough at a Major. You are guaranteed exemptions, get invited to the Wheelbarrow Tour and sign up to a multitude of endorsements all of whom demand their pound of flesh. Then while having the financial security you practise a little bit less and hey presto you find yourself in a slump.

FixdePitchmark

I've had a few injuries myself - when I upped practice, so I can only imagine how much of an issue it is for top lads as they get in mid to late 30s. It has come up so much in this thread. It is not something talked about much in golf.

perhaps the modern pro has to practice more , play more and this may become even more of an issue in future - only thing they have responded to this with core work , gym work - very few out of shape pros now.

PARlance

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

Can I not make a thread not about me for once.

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

I've had a few injuries myself - when I upped practice, so I can only imagine how much of an issue it is for top lads as they get in mid to late 30s. It has come up so much in this thread. It is not something talked about much in golf.

Obviously not

FixdePitchmark

PARlance wrote: »

Obviously not

contextualisation.