There is something about a Wednesday before a PGA Tour event that you wish you could share with everyone.
You’d like to wander around Waialae Country Club picking this person and that person to come sit down with you in the Sony Open in Hawaii media room just to see what they’re missing. We’ll be talking story this day with former world No. 1s Adam Scott and Jordan Spieth in the morning, and Steve Stricker and Charles Howell III in the afternoon.
All four interviews will reveal what it’s like to play golf for a living from the perspective that your career is still in front of you like Spieth’s and maybe winding down a bit like Stricker’s. Howell and Scott are in that middle-aged part of life on tour where family creeps into the trophy presentation pictures. As Howell pointed out, you want to be a part of your children’s lives and not that dad who’s only home for the holidays. Scott mentioned the big adjustment of going from one kid to two.
In this light media environment where only a few national writers and one local yokel are in the clubhouse, the golfers feel comfortable to tell a chapter or two of their life stories without fear of something off the record suddenly being on it. They know these gentlemen well and aren’t afraid to show a part of themselves that you don’t always see in other sports.
This is the fun part of the job, the reason you switched majors to journalism much to the chagrin of everyone you knew. You traded in financial security for these mornings and afternoons spent talking with folks destined to be millionaires like their moms and dads. It’s a country club existence without the arrogance of privilege. They swing sticks and chase after little white golf balls for goodness’ sake. They know they’re among the fortunate few.
So, with that said, what do these men talk about 24 hours before playing for real? For the recently married Spieth, he’s not sure what this week will bring. He is one of those golfers who started winning big when he was young. Like Rory McIlroy, he found himself capturing majors like the Masters and the British Open before he could rent a car. He’s world No. 1 one moment and then he’s 17th the next. He’s trying to find himself and his game.
“Honestly not sure,” Spieth said when asked where he’s at right now. “Like I have lesser amount of certainty of that than I’ve had in a while. It doesn’t bother me right now. I don’t feel anxious, like I have to do anything. I feel pretty patient with what’s coming because I know I’m working on the right things. Took me a while to figure out what that was. It’s a matter of time, but I need on-course, in-tournament reps as well to continue to speed that up.”
Spieth is not the only former world No. 1 out on the course. There are four others teeing it up today in the first full-field event of the calendar year, including Scott. He is a little farther down the road than Spieth, an Australian who has plied his trade for two decades. He’s five years removed from being the best in the world and he knows it will be difficult to regain that kind of status.
He’s comfortable with it and confident enough to imagine he could be playing for the title on Sunday, despite not touching a club for six weeks during his time away from the game. Some love to swing the sticks so much, they couldn’t imagine 42 days without a putt. But the break is what the 38-year-old with a young family needed. All of you who have kids understand.
“I feel like the kids are a little bit older,” Scott said. “I think there is a big adjustment from having one kid to two kids. Just in my life I think it was a lot on my plate with my personality and the way our household was running. We had to make some adjustments.
“I played a couple of years ago and although my result here wasn’t very good, it showed me a few things I needed to work on to get the year going. Then I came out and played a really fantastic 2016. So, I kind of feel like I hope it’s similar this week. If I don’t, I’ll get a good picture of what I need to work on the next few weeks before I play the rest of the West Coast.”
At 39, Howell is a year older and coming off a big win in the fall. There were a lot of golf tournaments between victories for Howell, a lot of days wondering if he’d ever hoist a trophy again. When he was younger, it nagged at him for not winning more. He has learned to deal with more seconds and thirds than firsts. Having a family helped him realize that his consistency has resulted in a good living, one where his children aren’t worried about the lights being on.
His victory at the RSM Classic last fall was in a playoff, much like the last time he won a decade before at the Nissan Open. Here at the Sony, he has never won, but pocketed $2.7 million by being near the top of the leaderboard year after year. It’s that consistency that has given the three-time tour winner a staggering $37.1 million in career earnings.
“As I’ve gotten older I’ve appreciated maybe consistency and having nice finishes, nice years,” Howell said. “When I was younger it bothered me a lot more (not winning). But I still love the game. I still love playing. If I viewed golf as a job or just going to do this because I can earn a living at it, I don’t know how it would feel. I still love playing. I hope to sit here in 10 years and say I still love playing. I want to play the Champions Tour. I don’t know if that will be the case or not.”
It is the case for Stricker, who will tee it up on Oahu this week before heading to the Big Island to play in the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai next week on the senior circuit. He and fellow seniors Davis Love III, Kenny Perry, Vijay Singh and defending Mitsubishi champ Jerry Kelly are here this week hoping to shake off a little rust and find a little magic.
That’s where Stricker is at this point in his life. He’s going to play more on the PGA Tour this year as part of his role of being an assistant for captain Tiger Woods at this year’s President’s Cup held in December in Australia. He will also take part in the Champions Tour, particularly the majors. He’s never won one on either tour and is still deciding how he will play it.
Does he go all in on the senior circuit as Tom Kite recently told him to do, or hang on a little longer out here and try to swing with golfers who are half his age and hit twice as far? Thing is, he can’t decide.
“Winning out there (on the Champions Tour) has been a lot of fun,” said Stricker, who was disappointed he didn’t start his year on Maui in the winners-only PGA Tour event. The last senior to play on Maui, Oahu and the Big Island back-to-back-to back was Love in 2016. “It’s kind of a Catch-22 because I’m excited to play and win out there, but it drives me to do some better things out here, too.”
By the time Stricker exits the stage, your brain is full. There’s so much been said. How do you fit it all in? You don’t and that’s why you wish you could invite in a fan or two just to see what they’re missing, that golf is a sport played by normal people in insane situations. Today, it will be different. It will be mostly about the round. The lightness in the room will be gone, replaced by birdies and bogeys, and the tension those two words create.
Not that it’s a bad thing, but it’s not like a Wednesday where all questions are on the table with some of the answers giving you insight to life on the PGA Tour. Enjoy this day. They don’t come by that often.
