Your Favourite Golfers.

Forgot about JD. Was a massive fan of his in the mid to late 90s, even though he seemed to spend most of it self destructing. I remember getting his autograph when I was about 10 at the Irish open. I was delighted with myself!

Great thread Fix,

Irish: Rory comes in under all time great so it has to be Padraig. Super nice guy. I loosely sort of knew him in his amateur days and when he turned pro (who remembers the old Boyne Links ?), and have randomly bumped into him on occasion and he’ll always say hello. Probably could have picked up another major or two had he not left Bob Terrence and tried to change his swing after winning the third one.

European: back in the day, Seve all the way. Could watch him play all day long. Always liked Langer and Ollie too. Of current players, hard to say, they almost all seem decent but I’d love to see Kaymer make a proper comeback to where he was. Was lucky enough to play with Woosnam once and I didn’t know what to expect, wouldn’t have been his biggest fan, but he was absolutely sound, completely changed my opinion on him. Nick Dougherty is sound too, played with him in a corporate thing back around 2007/8 when he was competitive, seriously impressive golfer at the time, and someone you’d imagine would be great to sh1te talk with over a few pints. He did an informal Q&A at the event I was at and some of his comments were very funny, particularly regarding coaching and coaches.

American: showing my age but always liked Couples and Love III. Never warmed to Tiger, despite happily acknowledging his greatness. No real reason, no more than I can explain why I’d support one football team over another. Would always have taken Phil over Tiger.
Anecdotally, I’ve heard JT is sound from someone I’d trust so he’d be my pick of the modern crop. Rickie does seem a decent sort too in fairness.

RoTW: Els, Goosen and Nick Price. Remember watching Goosen down in Mt Juliet at the AmEx and it was other worldly how he was hitting it. Actually Nick Price was the same, a completely different sound when he struck it.

All time great: many won’t agree but Rory is the best golfer I’ve ever seen. I know he won’t finish with anything even close to Tiger’s career, but give me him over Tiger any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Very hard to say I hate any player, but I can’t stand Hatton and wouldn’t be a fan of Matt Wallace either. No reason other than their on course demeanours.

Irish Golfer - Harrington. He was quality back then

European - kaymer

American - Tiger

All time Great - Tiger = “the most dominant golfer in the history of the game. No one comes anywhere near him. The most skilful player we’ve ever seen”. - Arnold Palmer.

Rest of World - Els or Goosen.

Irish. Harrington
European. Sergio or Poulter.
US. Jordan Speith or Justin Thomas.
All time. Tiger
Not so great......the Prince.

Ok Fix, I'll try and go 'deep' on this one.

My first exposure to golf was watching it on TV with my Dad. My first favourite player was Jose Maria Olazabal, mostly due to the name, the pronunciation of it fascinated me, allied to the fact his second name was my mother's first, all very exciting for a young lad watching him win the Masters in 1994.

Loved Woosy as well because he was small and temperamental. Nick Price also, always like his swing and manner. Payne Stewart beating Phil in the US Open of 99 also left an impression on me. As a kid anything unusual always sticks out and his plus fours look definitely did.

Probably the first tournament I remember watching properly was the 96 Masters, hated Faldo as a golfer, so boring, but loved everything about Greg Norman, from his swing to his overall demeanor and personality. His nickname and the hat didn't hurt either following on from Crocodile Dundee :pac:

Rory always reminds me so much of Greg, exceptional golfer (especially driver), but with their head screwed on realising there's more to life than golf. Greg is probably even more naturally talented than Rory, whereas Rory was born with a club in his hand much like Tiger, Greg I was reading recently didn't take up golf until after giving up on his surfing career at 15 :eek: He popped up to nearly win another open in his 50s

My Dad passed at the end of 1996, so I didn't actually watch the '97 Masters and always regret missing out on that monumental moment in the history of golf. Started watching again more closely from '99 and wanted to love Sergio from Medinah but he soon lost me.

Tiger, what can you say about Tiger?! 2000 was incredible and that holed chip/pitch at 16 in 2005 was my most joyous moment watching golf. In your life?!

Obviously a fan of Ernie considering my username Probably found Phil the most entertaining of this time period however, never a dull moment with Phil the thrill! Also a fan of Furyk and Toms at this time, have to admire the shorter hitting guys who could compete through precision play. And Jim's swing was a joy in a time of the prototype swing.

Think I would have really liked watching golf when Seve and Trevino were in their pomp. Golf seems to be becoming a bit more diverse again lately in terms of characters and swings. Bubba, Byrson, Wolff, Johnson, Brooks and Morikawa are all interesting and different for varying reasons.

Missed out loads but there you go!

Hovland seems like good craic, if you've ever seen any of his interviews

Amazed to see such dislike for Gary Player!
I love to watch his stuff, always comes across as a very positive fella. Big fan of his.
My fave ever is Shane.
Love JD as well.