The Halfway House Indoor Simulator Golf and more, 565 S. York Street Elmhurst, see Halfwayhousegolf.com for more information. The Tinley Park Golf Expo is getting ready to tee it up in 2016 at the Tinley Park Convention Center, show dates are February 12-14. More details at Tinleyparkgolfexpo.com. This Year sponsored by Beggars Pizza. _____________________________________________________________________
The Gog Blog Chicago’s # 1 Golf News Source by Rory Spears Editor and Director of Content. Follow Rory on Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter @GogBlogGuy.
The 2016 part of the PGA Tour tee’d off this past weekend on Maui in Hawaii at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.
Kapalua Maui is an outstanding place, that I have been to 8 times. In the past years Gary Planos did a great job of running the place and the tournament. Now it’s former Chicago area guy Mike Jones who is getting it done.
Another guy who “got it done” was world #1 Jordan Spieth. Not only was Spieth in the field, he spent the week working off the rust, and shot a measly 30 under par to win by several shots. 30 under par on week 1 of 2016. If Spieth continues like this, he will take another run at the Grand Slam before 2016 is over.
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That could be very good for golf. In fact Spieth and most of the other top players were in the field, at least the ones who were eligible to be there. Since you do have to win get in, not everyone in spite of world ranking had an invite.
In the old days when the world revolved around Phil and Tiger, and they quit showing up people started to wonder about the event.
Not anymore, Spieth is already in for next year and he will return, and says he will be there every year if he is eligible to play. Jason Day was there, so was Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson. Rory McIlroy was the one top player who didn’t make it, but once he gets past all that goes with his upcoming wedding, he probably will attend going forward.
How much does the world love Jordan Spieth, well a 52% increase in TV ratings speaks volumes, especially when going head-to-head with the NFL playoffs and the golf not being on a major network.
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While I love watching Spieth play, and it’s great for game to have him winning. It still would be good if he doesn’t win all the time, like Tiger did 16 years ago, which ruined golf for a number of years.
But if he wants to make another run at the Grand Slam that would be just fine, it’s been a lot of years since Bobby Jones did it.
What will be tough this year, will be somebody winning the British Open and then winning the PGA Championship two weeks later with this years crazy schedule due to the Olympics.
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Whatever Spieth does accomplish this year in terms of winning will add to his career that is really taking off. But if he has a big year with 6 or more wins, then he is going to explode across the globe.
ESPN will have to create a “Spieth Seeker” for all the tournaments he plays in.
Spieth won’t be in this weeks Sony Tournament over on Oahu, but he will be back before you know it on the west coast swing. You see he is not skipping that either, he would like to win at Pebble Beach and the celebrity format is not scaring him away, like it does some guys. In fact it seems little if anything scares Spieth, he surely wasn’t afraid to start talking the Masters up, while still on Maui.
As Spieth charges into 2016, so does golf. Ratings are already up, and numbers from 2015 have come in on the positive side. The top courses in the Chicago area are all reporting an increase in rounds played in 2015, courses with recent renovations are getting off the charts demands to play.
As I start to get ready to depart for Florida and the 2016 PGA Merchandise Show, it’s a year filled with a lot of promise. I’m hoping that it stays the course, and Spieth does as well. RS.