Why don't American golfers travel well?

Why is it that American golfers make such bad travellers? Only last week we had Bubba Watson moaning about life at the French Open and generally slagging off the nation that created the ideals that his country is based on. And yesterday Kris Blanks was moaning on Twitter about being made to play with non Americans, he actually claimed this would effect his chance of winning!

I think that we discussed similar after the Bubba comments but my opinion is that they have it ingrained in them that America is the best country in the world so there is no need to leave their shores. As such, they have little interest in other countries and their cultures which for us as islanders seems alien but that is their culture so it should be respected if not agreed with.

Maybe he realised that French fries are actually French?

Bubba: get in the hole!

I remember Jerry Kelly hacking his way up the 7th at RSG in 2003 looking thoroughly fed up with life, that same year Kenny Perry finally accepted the invitation to play The Open after refusing for years.
They don't get these conditions in the States, it's an alien game to most of them, US courses are target golf, watered fairways and responsive greens, the idea of drilling one perfectly and finding your ball has rolled into a pot bunker with a 9 foot face doesn't appeal to many.
Thats said, Tiger and St Andrews appear absolutely made for each other and it's well documented that he rates the course his favourite of them all

Grizzly wrote:They don't get these conditions in the States, it's an alien game to most of them, US courses are target golf, watered fairways and responsive greens, the idea of drilling one perfectly and finding your ball has rolled into a pot bunker with a 9 foot face doesn't appeal to many.

10 of the last 20 Open winners have been from the US, compared to Britain's 2 so they can't travel that badly!?

The average American doesn't know anything about worldwide issues, geography, and many have never been outside their own state. The 'world news' revolves around a bit of gossip, and then straight into what Obama's wife wears. Bubba probably promised his wife that he'd be home early, because he didn't realise that France was actually in Europe.

They don't travel that well, but those that do are top, top players and can manage outside of their own comfort zones

Doc, Id probably hazard a guess that the average Brit has never been outside of Western Europe. Which is probably roughly the same size as the USA.
Like I said on teh Bubba thread I wonder how much knowledge European golfers have of the States that they play in when they are over there, very little Id imagine.

MustPuttBetter - Exactly. The number speak for themselves. If American professionals don't "get" it, then why don't just the UK golfers win all the links contests? For years we in the states were told what a master of European golf Monty was (and he sure had the checkbook to prove it) but he never won an Open Championship on those links courses he mastered. Yet Ben Curtis did. So did Todd Hamilton.

It's an all-too-easy stereotype to suggest American professional golfers don't "travel" well. This is a big country and if there is no "one" type of American course. The conditions in Texas are far different than those in North Carolina or Northern California, etc.

Plus, at the very top level the professionals have pretty much every shot in their bag. Luke Donal doesn't win on one type of course -- he's proven that this year.

But, take a bunch of amateur hacks (I speak from personal experience) and plunk us down in Ireland or Scotland on even a mildly windy day and most of us will have challenges that we've rarely faced before. Problem is the game is just a little more addicting than it is frustrating

You just beat me to it MPB, for everyone like Blanks or Bubba that moan, there's plenty more that make it work for them. Cink, Hamilton, Curtis, Leonard, Woods, Lehman, Calcaveccia, Watson, Miller, weiskopf, Trevino, Nicklaus...yep the list of Americans who 'don't travel well' is endless

And of course Arnie!! Oh and the man considered not fit enough to travel due to his horrific injuries, made the trip just once, to the toughest venue of them all and walked away with the claret jug, a certain Mr Hogan.

How many US golfers compete in the Open, 50 ?
It's the high profile failures of players like Mickelson who are talented beyond belief but have struggled in these conditions.
Of course the likes of Tiger, Nicklaus, Watson etc aren't just good golfers they've proved themselves to be exceptional over many years, but I guess the perception is that a few big named Americans flop and they're considered poor travellers.

I get the impression that this thread was aimed towards Mickelson, whose Open record is very mediocre, especially compared with his record elsewhere. I think that in this case, he just does not have the game for British links' courses, which there is no shame in bearing in mind his CV back home.

I'm sure that I read a couple of years ago that he was looking to play in Europe a bit more in a year or two once his kids get old enough to appreciate different cultures. Would be great for us Europeans as he's a bloody good bloke that would probably enjoy being out of the comfort zone of US shores.

sharrison01 wrote:I get the impression that this thread was aimed towards Mickelson, whose Open record is very mediocre, especially compared with his record elsewhere. I think that in this case, he just does not have the game for British links' courses, which there is no shame in bearing in mind his CV back home.

I'm sure that I read a couple of years ago that he was looking to play in Europe a bit more in a year or two once his kids get old enough to appreciate different cultures. Would be great for us Europeans as he's a bloody good bloke that would probably enjoy being out of the comfort zone of US shores.

I'm a bit surprised at Mickleson's relatively poor Open record. He's certainly one of the more creative pros out there (period) so I would have thought 'classic' links golf would have been right up his street. Maybe he needs to master a low ball but whatever it is, I'm sure he'll master it if he puts the effort in. Be nice to see more of him on this side of the Pond.

I think when you take a sportsperson and get them to do something slightly different from normal, eg play links instead of parkland golf, it can actually invigorate their game and sense of fun and appreciation. I'd put a lot of the US success in The Open down to this. I'm sure there are some who love the challenge of something different and adapt very quickly.

I'm trying to think of a similar situation in another sport.... perhaps tennis players when they come to Wimbledon to play on the slower surface of grass?

Isn't grass tennis meant to be faster? Though there were complaints this year that Wimbledon was slower than it should be

Davie they have slowed the surface down massively at Wimbledon......just about the time when Henman was looking like he might win it ! The balls they use are slow, they use different balls for each slam I believe.
Funnily enough the surface at the French is much quicker now than it used to be.

I'd love to see Mickleson make the transition, win at least one and therefore elevate himself to being classed as one of the true greats. It's a mystery to me why he doesn't do better given the talent he has. Even last week he fell flat when I thought he had a chance on fairly forgiving links
If I were him I'd be asking old Tom if if I could play practice rounds with him and pick his brains. I can only assume it's the gung ho grip it and rip it 320 + off the tee that sees him come unstuck year after year.

It would be great to see him base himself in the uk to work toward winning an open.

Well either way I still think the large number of US winners has to do with the break from their everyday courses and the change of scenery for them.

Its like when you get kind of stale using the same chip shot all the time then you try something different and suddenly your senses are awoken, balls start rolling towards the cup, par becomes easy, the handicap drops, trophies arrive, champagne is uncorked and beautiful ladies attend to your every need.... sorry what were we talking about?

Diggers wrote:Davie they have slowed the surface down massively at Wimbledon......just about the time when Henman was looking like he might win it ! The balls they use are slow, they use different balls for each slam I believe.
Funnily enough the surface at the French is much quicker now than it used to be.

Yeah. They've ruined (almost) Wimbledon to the extent that the volleyers are gone. Personally, I find an Edberg/Becker/McEnroe at least as awe-inspiring to some 30-shot baseline rally ended with a cr*p drop shot.

I think Mickelson would be better playing over here on our Tour permanently. He seems to like it despite his lack of success and he has the imiagination to deal with the greater variety of courses our tour offers.

S_R - Mickelson will make far more money on endorsements in the states and will be afforded equal or larger purses week in, week out. There is no doubt about that.

There is sufficient diversity of courses throughout the US tour to accommodate Mickelson or any player. The "sameness of US course" argument is just an overblown stereotype.

I didn't say they all American courses were the same, I said we had better variety over here, also far different conditions in which to play.

I am just speculating here but I don't think Mickleson is particularly motivated by money or endorsements nowadays. He's had a family reminder of how fragile life can be and big life events like that can make people take a step back and re-evaluate life.

I think he has a genuine desire to try a master a style of the game that has so far eluded him and I'd take my hat off to him if he did. I was never his greatest fan but in the last few years I think he has just shown pure class. I don't think there's another yank I'd like to see win the open more than Big Phil.

Agreed JAS, A yank who actually has a likeable personality who can respond properly in interviews and genuinely. All round good egg.

SR, I dont actually think there is any shortage whatsoever of personable yank golfers who are clearly not stupid. Furyk, Cink, D. Johnson, Tom Watson, Watney, Zach Johnson, Steve Stricker....stacks of them.

S_R - Again, there are generally 4 very full seasons in much of the US. Those seasons, coupled with the varied terrain throughout these United States, offer golfers vastly different conditions. California alone might match the variety of the entire United Kingdom. Ask Kwini what it's like to play golf in Central New York in late October, which is very different from Late June.

You could probably argue the case that Europeans don't travel well either (as far as tourneys in the USA go). There is a huge number plying their trade over there now but they win maybe 3 or 4 events a year(?) on average?

I was going to ignore this thread.
Clearly Bubba was stupid and I think Bubba's a good enough guy to feel worse about what he said than the rest of us do.
Haven't seen the Kris Blanks quote and certainly don't understand the context. He's playing with Pampling and Mayfair (Billy, not W1) so hopefully they'll set Blanks straight.

But most US golfers will be thrilled to have the chance to play The Open, whatever the conditions.

And, as Shotrock rightly says, the variety of conditions available for golf match, or exceed, those in GB&I tho clearly the number of comparable links courses are slim to none.

We British can be just a little too precious sometimes . . . . .

I speculated on BBC 606 that Phil would play a summer in Europe soon, and stil feel it's likely that will happen.

goodness.....you enter The Open and you have to play with...with...foreigners

pfft next they will be holding it at an all male club......








Sorry couldnt resist

....they won't let Betty Lou into the clubhouse....and....and they drive on the wrong side of the road.

Have just reviewed Kris Blanks's Twitter account and he never said anything like what the OP is alleging.

Facts:
1).He is not playing at The Open. (I know, no surprise there.)
2).He was commenting on tee-time groupings at The Open, not the Viking Classic where he's in a threesome with Pampling and Milly Bayfair.
3).His only observation was, "just noticing at the pairings (sic) for the open (sic) and find them odd."
4)."Who you play with has a big effect on how you play. There are enough Americans in the field to put a cpl of them together in a group."

Look, Blanks doesn't have much experience of Majors and likely doesn't realise that Europeans have to put up with playing with "Americans" almost every time they tee it up in the USA.

In actual fact there are a couple of USA pairings, but no top players from any other country playing together. Far better to say that Kris Blanks is an ignorant sod, tweeting about something he's not bothered to check up on, than to label American golfers as ones who don't "travel well". He's playing in Mississippi and, from everything we know about him, Mississippi is a good place for him.

But that wouldn't have made for a good thread.

dlong, Please do your homework next time. Thank you.

I wonder if Americans were asked if they could drop the Open Championship as a major and replace it with the Players Championship, how many would agree to that.

I wonder why Blanks thinks that Americans should be placed together though, there are enough English players to group them together, but why buddy people up, the draw is done without fear or favour.

Diggers, Zach Johnson???, I find his constant evangelising probably more irritating than Woods stoic, predictable and wooden responses, although you are right there are some very decent septics out there, Mickelson however (along with Tom Watson) stands out as someone who could very easily settle into European culture.

Would I be right in thinking that The Open pairings are drawn out of a hat?

In which case I think that this is a far fairer system than some of the other events that quite obviously pair players together that will draw in the crowds. We all know that playing with better players makes you play better so why should, say, the top three in the world get put together when this could give them a clear advantage if they are all playing well?

I don't think they are drawn out of a hat, there appears to be some sort of order and thinking to them but in a way as not to favour any particular group.

SR
They used to be drawn which I always thought was great.

Now the top players are placed in spaced groupings for TV and crowd control. The R&A do this well and most of the groups are interesting.

They are also fair, if you have a very late or early draw on the first day you are given a decent time on the second.