I am not going to make fun of tennis players any longer. The point is if golf was so easy, why is it so hard?

No doubt it is a sport. It's way more than muscle memory.

@ballpeen said:

You know, (regarding Martin) there's a thing called the "Special Olympics"? There's also wheelchair basketball. So to even the playing field, should Le Bron have to play in a wheelchair? That's the point.

@ballpeen said:

I don't hear tennis fans doing much booing. Golf is every bit and more demanding than tennis. So if golf isn't a sport, neither is tennis. If I was you I'd quit pimping tennis and calling golf a non sport. Tennis can't even get on TV except for their major tournamants....and nobody watches. Seriously Larry, you are pimping Tennis and you make fun of golf? That's pretty funny.

Give it up 'Peen- we're arguing over the semantics of what a sport is. as I said before- if you want to talk "mental aspect" then chess is a "sport". Hardly making fun of golf- what's the old saying drive for show, putt for dough? Like Diehard said- it's a game, like jarts or cornhole.

BTW- golf isn't 1\10 physically demanding as competitive tennis- you're sweating after two games on the court- the only time I ever broke a sweat on a golf course is when it was 90 degrees outside.

Webster has two definitions- 1) source of diversion. OK- that's your definition. 2) Athletic contest- that's MY definition of a"sport". MHO is you couldn't find me 5 golfers on the tour who would physically last one set against any of the top 10 tennis players- well, maybe they would- because they wouldn't even be able to see one of Andy Murray's 140 mph serves coming at them, and wouldn't last 12 minutes in a pickup game against any NBA scrub. Golf is a skill- at least in my book. Period. It takes no great endurance- see above (Martin, Casey), or superior physical strength (legions of pro golfers) to qualify it as an athletic endeavor. I'll bet the ranch on four finger Jason Pierre-Paul in an arm wrestling match against anyone on the Tour. And to take it further, regarding my other- not for me any more- competitive sport cycling- they'd all get dropped of the back within 30 seconds in the Tour de France.

BTW- Nielsen rating does not = degree of athletic ability required. So yeah- there's legions of hack golfers who watch golf- because they stink at it so bad, they have delusions of grandeur when once in a round, they have selective memory when they hit a decent shot. The most demanding (in my book) "sport" of all- serious mountaineering and rock climbing, has zero TV appeal. Haul a 100 pound pack 40 miles to basecamp- and then do 300-500 chin ups in a row to keep the arms toned up like Alex Lowe used to do. Nothing like the mental aspect being 2,000 feet up on El Capitan knowing if you screw up a move, you're dead. Most people don't even know who Ed Viesturs is, and he had a VO2 max that would shame virtually any other competitive athlete.

Finally- regarding Tiger- MHO is his body is starting to break down on him- I'll put his odds of ever winning another Major at around 5%.

@erie-dawg said:

Especially the good looking women players:

@miktoxic said:

Not true at all. LPGA golfers are phenomenal but they play a different game. It just is a fact that women, for the most part, don't have the strength that men do. That makes all female sports weaker in comparison to men. Tianlang Guan played in the Masters in 2013 as a slight 14 year old kid and did a great job but lacked the power to play the course but his tits weren't the issue.

@erie-dawg said:

I can't watch women's tennis, golf, or basketball

The tennis is unwatchable for the simple fact , the women scream on every shot, as if they were giving birth on the court

The golf is unwatchable because I am used to watching the guys play at a much higher level

The basketball is a COMPLETE joke

@miktoxic said:

His name was Ben Wright.

@hoorta said:

I don't hear tennis fans doing much booing. Golf is every bit and more demanding than tennis. So if golf isn't a sport, neither is tennis. If I was you I'd quit pimping tennis and calling golf a non sport. Tennis can't even get on TV except for their major tournamants....and nobody watches. Seriously Larry, you are pimping Tennis and you make fun of golf? That's pretty funny.

@hoorta said:

I totally disagree......you do know Martin was disabled, don't you?

So riddle me this....was Jack Nicklaus a great sportsman or was he just a fat kid from Ohio?

that's why charles barkley sucks at it.

Baketball is played in a 68 degree arena with no wind or rain. And a baketball court is the same size all the time.

Every golf shot is different, while most basketball shots are taken from inside the same 25 foot range.

@browns149 said:

I disagree- in large part a golf swing is largely a repetitive learned mechanism. You can build a machine that can hit them 300 yards right down the middle- every time. So is throwing a bowling ball consistently between the 1-3 pocket. I'll grant you learning how to line up a putt involves more skill. I played competitive tennis- well- and golf- poorly. Why? A tennis serve is as much a learned action as hitting a drive off a tee on on fairway. BTW, in tennis, you're seeing that ball coming at you at 100 mph (120+ on a serve) with various spins applied.

So I say BS- make a guy run a couple 5 second 40 laps around the green before he tries to sink that putt- like a basketball player would before he tries that game winning free throw- or a tennis player lining up a serve being down a match point- and I'll call it a sport. Excuse me if I think you could be a freaking robot and still earn a decent living on the tour if you were sound mechanically.

PS- golfers don't have 5,000 people yelling "MISS IT!!!!" Or waving foam sticks behind their line to distract them either. Doesn't matter the sport- you have to blot out the background noise.

@ballpeen said:

IMO it is MUCH harder to make a 10 foot putt to win a golf tournament then it is to make a game winning shot in basketball.

Basketball is 90% physical and 10% mental. It is way easier to teach the physical parts of a game then the mental parts.

Basketball is a much tougher on the body then the brain. Golf is the COMPLETE opposite of that.

Plus in golf you swing the club for about 2 seconds and the rest of the time you are thinking about the next shot. Making a game winning shot in basketball is almost ALL reaction and very little thinking

And really, who cares? I get it that people that don't like golf what to insulted. You could do the same thing with football or baseball I suppose. As for Tiger Woods? Well I usually hate to see any great sportsman actor musician etc, fall apart. On the other hand he seems like he's been something of an asshole so life goes on. Nobody stays on top forever.

"it was never meant to be a game"

50 points for that reference...

WSS

@ballpeen said:

And again- it's where I disagree. Had to Google the name- Casey Martin wanted to play the pro tour using a cart- if you can't walk a couple of miles- well, just how fit are you? BTW- mental pressure doesn't make it a sport. You want mental pressure- I suppose chess is a "sport".

I'd agree most Tour Level Golfers are fit- but on the level of say Pro level tennis players- it's a total joke to even discuss.

So it depends on whether you want to define "sport" as superior athletic ability- or skill. I take the former. Apparently plenty of people take the latter, as most of the big tournaments have mulit-million dollar payouts for watching guys who have this particular skill.

No fella's, golf might be the greatest sport of them all. Nope....it's not a physical sport but one needs to be in shape, but it is a very hard sport to master, you have no teammates to carry you on a off day, and it is total mental pressure. Making that 6 foot par putt is every bit as hard as nailing that last shot in basketball, kicking that 48 yard field goal to win the game, or driving in the winning run.