Every week of the 2009 PGA Tour season, the editorial staff of the SI Golf Group will conduct an e-mail roundtable. Check in on Mondays for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors.
Alan Shipnuck, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: Howdy, y'all. We begin not with golf but tennis. Watching the Wimbledon final today, you always had the sense that Federer would win but Roddick played with such heart and panache it was impossible not to root for him. In defeat his reputation was elevated as much as Federer's in victory. Which brings us to the AT&T National. It was probably fated that the host would win but I was most interested in how Anthony Kim would play when paired for the first time with Tiger, and I have to say I was very disappointed. The guy has as much firepower as anyone on Tour but Kim made nary a back-nine birdie and seemed strangely docile, showing none of Roddick's passion or aggression. What did you all think of the Great Belt Buckle?
Jim Gorant, senior editor, Sports Illustrated Golf Plus: Don't know about Kim but love your belt buckle line. Actually, I predicted Kim would shoot a 74 today, so he did three strokes better than I expected. His Sergio takedown at the Ryder Cup gave reason to believe he would be unbothered, but Sergio ain't no Tiger.
David Dusek, deputy editor, Golf.com: Roddick played his guts out against a legend, with legends like Bjorn Borg, Rod Laver and Pete Sampras looking on from the Royal Box. They competed on holy ground, the Centre Court at Wimbledon, and Roddick looked gutted by the loss. I have trouble envisioning Kim being that openly crushed in defeat.
Farrell Evans, writer-reporter, Sports Illustrated: Anthony Kim is enjoying the lifestyle and perks of being a successful Tour pro: the cars, the entourages, the big house and easy money overseas to play in second-rate events. But he's not yet a big-time player with staying power. Sometimes I think the media is more in love with the thought of him — the flashy belt buckle and swagger — than it is with his golf game. Today he showed why he's a pretender.
Gary Van Sickle, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: As for pretenders, with Phil on the sidelines, who the hell is the No. 2 player in the world right now? Lucas Glover? Bryce Molder? Kenny Perry? Man, what happened to everybody? No one else is putting together any consistently good play and/or wins.
Damon Hack, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: Kim has two wins and a Ryder Cup at age 24. Pretender, Farrell, isn't the word that comes to mind. Youngster, sure.
Evans: I'm standing by pretender until Kim competes every week.
Dick Friedman, senior editor, Sports Illustrated: I was worried for a while that he would set a record-for most times losing his grip and swinging one-handed. But let's give him a little credit, Farrell. He shot a sizzling 62 in the first round, and after a 70, bounced back yesterday to grab a share of the lead. He's not the only guy who's wilted in the glare of Tiger.
Michael Bamberger, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: Tony Kim showed he's still a kid today. It's nice to see youth intimidated. It shows a sort of intelligence. He's not ready and he knows it. The question is what he'll do next: retreat or man-up.
Shipnuck: Let's hope it's a man-up. This season has been defined by the poor performances of the so-called headliners and I, for one, am tired of it!
Jim Herre, editor, Sports Illustrated Golf Plus: Kim is also working through some swing issues, which explains his erratic play from round to round.
Hack: AK was a bit like Luke facing Vader in Empire Strikes back — not ready to match light sabers with the big man. Luke lost an arm that day. Also learned that the big man was his daddy.
Van Sickle: Right after that he learned the chick he had the hots for was his sister.
Rick Lipsey, writer-reporter, Sports Illustrated: We all make so much of this mind stuff — is he ready for prime time? Can he handle it? They wheeled a guy up the 18th fairway who lost two legs, two arms and one eye in Iraq. That guy was really under fire. Yes, golf plays with the mind, but it's not nearly as complicated or intense as the media make it out to be. That's why Tiger is so dang good. He doesn't listen to or think about any of the garbage everybody else takes on. As a kid, Tiger called it the "loser loop," according to his childhood coach, Rudy Duran. Tiger stayed away from locker rooms, all the golf chit-chat, etc., because that stuff was for losers. He wanted to be a winner.
Van Sickle: I think Tiger is less susceptible to pressure because his technique is so solid and so repeatable. Those reps pay off.
Shipnuck: The thing I love about Tiger is that early in the back nine he can hit it in a hazard and have to take a drop, and then on the next hole fat a sand wedge into a bunker. But on the closing holes, when it really matters, he simply gets it done. It speaks to the clarity that Lipsey referred to, and three decades of positive reinforcement.
Lipsey: Tiger's 33. Scary, but true, as AS points out, that he's had three decades of positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement for my toddlers happens when they bring a dirty dish into the kitchen. Earl clearly had a diapered Tiger on the AP program.
Shipnuck: He'll need all that reinforcement at his next start, the British Open, which begins a week from Thursday at Turnberry. This is the third time this year Tiger has won his final start before a major. After the Memorial most of you seemed to want to cancel the U.S. Open and declare Tiger the winner. I wasn't so sure, given his inability all year to put together four clean rounds in a row. I'm still not convinced the great man will get it done at Turnberry. This win was a testament to Tiger's scrambling and the fact that he's the greatest winner in the history of sports, but he hit too many loose shots this weekend to allay my doubts that he can stay out of trouble in high winds on a really firm, fast track framed in knee-high weeds. Thoughts?
Van Sickle: Sorry, I'm still on the Tiger Train. I look for him to win at Turnberry and in the PGA at Hazeltine and run the table the rest of the year for as long as he cares (and that may or may not include the FedEx Cup events). Tiger never played perfect golf even at his best, although he was close a few times. He hits it closer than anyone else, gets up and down more often than anyone else and makes more putts than anyone else. All he has to do is get off the tee — which he did this week. When he plays well, he is close to unbeatable because he's that much better than the rest, and despite some bobbles, I'd say he's playing well. Here comes another wave of Tiger domination, in my opinion.
