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 Michelle Wie is a card-carrying member of the LPGA Tour (Photo: Getty Images). It’s a safer route, because if I’m wrong, you won’t remember. But if I’m right, I’ll remind you. Last year I said Tiger Woods would only win one major championship — the U.S. Open. Hello! I also said Padraig Harrington would win a major championship, maybe two. OK, I predicted that in 2005, but it wasn’t my fault the Irishman took three years to make me look good. How good are these predictions from me and others for 2009? Only time will tell. • Tiger Woods will be back to his competitive self after missing most of 2008 because of knee surgery. But will he be dominant again? “He’s not like a running back or an NBA player who might lose a step when he returns,” said Rick Beardsley, a Woodland Hills physical therapist whose credentials allow him to have enough capital letters after his name to start a game of Scrabble without pulling tiles. But he did acknowledge that he isn’t familiar with many golfers who’ve torn their anterior cruciate ligament. “It’s a deceleration injury that usually happens when an athlete plants a foot and changes direction,” Beardsley said, adding that Woods likely will have to go through another round of swing changes. “He cannot continue to snap that left knee forward as aggressively as he has,” Beardsley said. “But Tiger is on a higher level than most any other athlete and he will likely astonish people.” • Dave Youpa, PGA director of golf at Industry Hills Golf Club, thinks Woods won’t miss a beat. “Tiger’s going to be good again, no doubt about it,” he said. As far as New Year’s resolutions go, Youpa, who went kicking and screaming into the world of technology by getting his first cell phone last year, added: “I resolve not to read e-mail on my phone, nor will I text.” I replied with an LOL, but he didn’t get it. • Eric Lohman, PGA general manager at Irvine’s Oak Creek Golf Club, has high hopes for a well-known teenager. “I predict Michele Wie will be the best player on the LPGA Tour this year,” he said. “And the Tour will get much more coverage because of it, and that will be good.” • Two people are predicting big things for one of the stars of the U.S. Ryder Cup team. “Anthony Kim will win a major championship this year,” said Jay Colliatie, the PGA director of golf and general manager at Simi Valley’s Lost Canyons Golf Club. Former Los Angeles Times golf writer Thomas Bonk agrees. “Kim is the real deal,” he said. “AK doesn’t have Tiger baggage. He’s part of the new group of golfers hitting the tour that predates what Tiger’s done the last 10 years. These guys don’t care and aren’t scared of him. They either believe they’re too good to be denied or they’re too stupid. Only time will tell.” Scarier predictions involve the tough economic times that are sure to affect the golf industry, both here and nationwide. • Oak Creek’s Lohman predicts an increase in player development programs to attract golfers with lower-priced lessons, clinics and range deals. “This in turn will help drive people to the game, leading to a positive impact on everything from clubs to the tee sheets,” he said. • Colliatie of Lost Canyons said courses will need to keep a golfer’s bottom line in mind. “Golfers are always looking for a deal and they can find them all over,” he said, “so a golf course’s price point better be competitive.” I didn’t want to leave a fun column of predictions on a negative note, and I knew where to turn. The most positive person I know in golf is David Kramer, the general manager at Los Serranos Country Club in Chino Hills. Kramer, who has a busy and successful 36-hole facility, has trained his mind to always look for the good in every situation. He never says what’s wrong with the game of golf or the economy or life in general. His philosophy is simple: “Something right isn’t there and we have to find it.” What a great thought to have as we enter a new year. Times are tough, but Kramer continues to focus on the positive possibilities. People just need to “enjoy life and play golf,” he said. Happy New Year. Eric Tracy is also known as The Mulligan Man. He can be reached at eric@themulliganman.com. |
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