Q&A With Dan Jenkins, Vol. 3
Tuesday marks the paperback release of Jenkins At The Majors, a compilation of Dan's favorite write-ups from golf's majors. As he did the last two years (here and here), Jenkins answered the questions via email on the eve of 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.
GS: I know you've been distracted by the looming World Cup, but we are returning to Pebble Beach for the U.S. Open. What do you like most about the place?
DJ: Club 19 in the Lodge is what I used to like best. After that, it's 7, 8, 9, and 10. Great stretch of holes. Right up there with Amen Corner. 8 and 9 are particularly immortal. Did I once name that stretch Abalone Corner?
GS: Pebble has produced a Hall of Fame winner every time it's hosted a major, does this mean we're due for a drone?
DJ: Pebble is probably due for a drone. Every great course gets one; sometimes more. Oakmont has it's Sam Parks Jr., Oakland Hills has its Steve Jones, Olympic has its Jack Fleck, and Baltusrol has its, well, Baltusrol.
GS: Who do you think will end up with more post-car accident major wins, Hogan or Woods?
DJ: Hogan won six majors after his accident. If Tiger Woods tops that, the good news is, I'll be dead and won't see it.
GS: You wrote that Tiger could "come back and even win again, if he man's up, but if he does he will only be a hero to the 'you-da-man' and 'get-in-the-hole' crowd. And I can't imagine him coming back as a 'humbled man.'" How do you view his comeback thus far?
DJ: So far, his comeback is a total failure. And compared to Hogan's, it's laughable. Ben tied for the LA Open 11 months after he almost got killed, won the Greenbriar in May and the Open in June. All Tiger has done is hold a staged press conference in front of employees and hired weepers.
GS: Phil Mickelson now has more green jackets than your man Hogan. What say you Ancient Twitterer?
DJ: Phil may have three Augustas to Hogan's two, but Ben geared his game toward U. S. Opens, of which he has five, counting the one in wartime, while Phil has a record 5 runnersup, cornering the market on silver. But I like Phil and root for him. He's good with us print guys. And he likes me. I like people who like me.
GS: So in the era of layoffs, downsizing, shrinking expense accounts and the overall demise of print, how's Jim Tom Pinch getting by?
DJ: Jim Tom is glad he lived and worked in a better world. And he has little sympathy for dying newspapers. They started digging their own graves by being spineless and politically correct.
Final word. Sorry Jenkins at the Majors is coming out in paperback before I had a chance to include Tiger's press conference for the hired weepers.
Sunday, June 6, 2010 at 09:11 PM
Reader Comments (24)
Even Jenkins getting into the 'snarky about Tiger' bit. Golf writers must really, really hate that guy.
"but Ben geared his game toward U. S. Opens.." I call BS. Ben couldn't putt.
"He's good with us print guys. And he likes me. I like people who like me." That's why Dan's opinion is meaningless. On Meet the Press, it's called "Spin" ie lying to support your friends and punish enemies or the people who won't eat dinner with you.
"If Tiger Woods tops that, the good news is, I'll be dead and won't see it." Hohoho, what a funny guy!
Poor Dan, the Tour just isn't the same since they ended the restrictions.
Hurry up back to that Kool-Aid stand......and have one on Dan.
All because Tiger wouldn't have dinner with Dan. What a shame Dan can't get over it. We all know that golfers exist only to feed the ego of self-important writers.
Wrong. It is part of their professional obligation for professional golfers to communicate with the interested public through golf writers and broadcasters. Hogan did it, rather famously, despite his desire to keep to himself (while being a difficult cuss much of the time). As has every champion golfer you care to name. With one notable exception.
"but Ben geared his game toward U. S. Opens.." I call BS. Ben couldn't putt.
Later in his career Ben got the yips. One reason is that the encounter with the bus left him with severely compromised vision in one eye. He never complained or made much fuss about that. But as Rosburg or someone said, among professional golfers on TOUR you have your good putters and your very good-to-excellent putters. No one wins 4 (or 5) US Opens if he can't putt. Not to mention 64 TOUR wins.
"He's good with us print guys. And he likes me. I like people who like me." That's why Dan's opinion is meaningless. On Meet the Press, it's called "Spin" ie lying to support your friends and punish enemies or the people who won't eat dinner with you.
Which means that Phil is just being a professional. Like him or not (and he may cross the line at times), not sitting down with Jenkins for the occasional one-on-one is the equivalent of a national politician ignoring the editorial boards of the New York Times and Washington Post, Time and Newsweek, and his local paper. It is hard to imagine that Jenkins really cares what Tiger thinks of him personally, but he is the Arthur Crock/Walter Lippman/Scotty Reston/Damon Runyon/Grantland Rice/Bernard Darwin/Pat Ward-Thomas of extant golf writers. By doing his job Jenkins would not "be making money off Tiger's name", contrary to what Tiger seems to think (about everyone with a professional interest in his career).
"If Tiger Woods tops that, the good news is, I'll be dead and won't see it." Hohoho, what a funny guy!
Yeah, pretty much.
Poor Dan, the Tour just isn't the same since they ended the restrictions.
Very funny.
Jack Nicklaus
I'm sure Byron & Ben did as well.
Print is dead? Do you only look at the pictures on "this cool, new thingy called 'the internet?'"
Mike T.
Okay, let me clarify. The days of bigfoot writers, pundits and publications shaping the agenda of golf (or politics) are over. Back in the days that KLG mourns, a few writers and publications were the gatekeepers through which the public learned about golf and golfers. Guys Like Arnie played ball and were rewarded handsomely as his popularity shot up - taking golf and golf writers with up him. The writer was, in effect, a participant in the business of golf. The writer had a stake in Arnie's success and would be hurt by inconvenient revelations about the King and others. (JFK, too).
The abilty to shape the public perception of The Tour has been diffused by many other actors in the business. The PGA Tour is much more visibile; The Golf Channel; IMG; Nike; Titleist; Tiger Woods Inc; Johnny Miller; Jack Nicklaus; Tom Watson; CBSNBC; ANGC; USGA; Sergio; paddy;etc;etc.
All of these organizations have specific interests in the game and can enthusiastically choose from a wide variety of platfoms (spoken just like Timmy) to get their messages out. The least important medium would have to be newspapers and magazines. Certainly there is no way to control (or gatekeep) this roiilng mess of conflicting interests and agendas.
Also, it seems like all the good writers have exchanged their Smith-Corona for a microphone and makeup.
My larger point is that Tiger is better off not humoring Dan Jenkins. Dan hasn't been relevant for 25 years and has settled into writing very predictable columns about how wretched the game has become. And Tiger would receive no benefit by kissing Dan's ass.
jb
But "you da man" is a big no-no.
You'll figure it out.
Harry, you look quite the fool for your comment per Hogan and US Opens.
T5
T3
NT(no tourney)
NT
NT
NT
T4
T6
WIN
dnp
WIN
WIN
3
WIN
T6
2
T2
dnp
T10
T8
T9
In TOP 10 for 20 years. Gulp. Wow.
Given that your posts have been so well thought out, free of emotion/hatred, full of reason (easily in top 15? 15? really?), and eloquently delivered, I had to question my own analysis of Hogan's ability.
And I found out you were right all along. You see, I think I figured out how you judged his greatness. The way I figured it, you added his finishes together to get a sum. Adding up his finishes, I got 62.
That is a REALLY high number, like, oh my God, bigger than the number 50!
It's science.
I'm pretty sure you'll find Tiger isn't bigger than the game as you earlier asserted. Maybe he's become bigger than the PGA Tour. But the PGA Tour isn't the game. And golf would still exist without the PGA Tour.
Participation in the USA has declined since Tiger's famous "hello world". So how much influence is he having on those who play, as opposed to those who watch?
The game was played for hundreds of years before Tiger arrived and will still be played long after he departs. Each generation will have it's stars / heroes who inspire people to play. Tiger is just this generations star.
Cheers
CT
Yeah, right.
Is there an ignore feature at this website?
OT- I'm currently visiting Bandon Dunes. Old Macdonald is amazing. Everyone who loves golf architecture should be scheming to come play it ASAP!
Tiger and IMG see any contact with others not as simple human interaction, or as cooperating with others in the industry in which they work, but as an opportunity to enlarge an already huge waterfall of money.
Tiger doesn't look small because Dan Jenkins is trying to make him look small. He looks small because his is small.
Maybe if Tiger hadn't denied himself the normal human interaction that actually enriches all our lives, he wouldn't have been compulsively seeking the tawdry, sleazy type of relationships he sought.
'Maybe if Tiger hadn't denied himself the normal human interaction that actually enriches all our lives, he wouldn't have been compulsively seeking the tawdry, sleazy type of relationships he sought."
Well said!