No Tiger Means Twitter Stream Instead of Talking Heads

It is the eve of the US Open. As a society, we seem to have a fascination with knocking people off their pedestals, gawking at a car accident, and seeing a train wreck, precisely what the US Open tends to do. Men who make the game look easy week in and week out will be brought to their knees this week. With the USGA’s goal of the greens running at 14, it will be much like putting in your bathtub and trying to stop the ball short of the drain. In the past, watching the US Open has benefitted my golf game. I try to replicate the mental toughness and grinding demonstrated by the players this week. After all, what they go through this week is a little of what we go through every day playing the game—a struggle! After watching the US Open, I seem to play my best rounds of the year. What I am looking forward to this weekend is the Twitter action. I have been on Twitter for three years, and without a doubt, the most fun I have had on Twitter was at this past Masters during Sunday’s final round. It may have been that it was perhaps the best 4 hours of drama and action golf has seen in a while, and Twitter certainly enhanced it and took it to a new level. Not much on TV makes me too excited these days; a major is one of the things that I still can. The interaction of tweets taking place as Rory was having a meltdown and eight players were within two shots on the back nine was almost as exciting as the golf itself. What do you watch: your Twitter stream, CBS’s online coverage of Amen Corner, or CBS’s national broadcast? The commentary on Twitter was certainly more entertaining than the talking heads on TV. I met many good people from all over the world that Sunday and look forward to having the same kind of fun this weekend. With Tiger not teeing it up, Twitter has become much more critical to me. I will not have a horse in this race; I will root for the course to win instead of any particular golfer. For that reason, Twitter will undoubtedly enhance the tournament for me. The talking heads will spend too much time discussing what I’m missing, watching Tiger play at a high level. If you had a shot contest every time the talking heads mentioned that Tiger was not playing, you would be passed out before the leaders tee off on the first hole. There is only so much a Tiger fan can take. It’s been a long 18 months with only a few days of brilliance. Listening to the NBC telecast try to justify the tournament is as good as it would be if Tiger was there—well, good luck with that. Therefore, the volume will be down, the Twitter stream will be turned up, and I will be rooting for golf to continue on Monday…