CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA | The day after becoming the first player selected in the 2023 NFL Draft, quarterback Bryce Young arrived here to be introduced to the community.
Hundreds of fans waited outside Bank of America Stadium to greet Young, who moved on to press conferences and social-media engagements, meeting the Carolina Panthers’ coaching staff and trying on his new uniform for the first time.
Nothing unusual about that.
Here’s the unusual thing: Young arrived in Charlotte with his mother and father.
No one else.
No agent on his hip.
No entourage in his wake.
No phone in his hand.
What does that have to do with golf, you ask?
Professional golfers are now surrounded by their own “teams,” and catching a player by himself is a rarity. The stars almost always have their agents/managers nearby, especially during media sessions so they can cut off the questions before too much time elapses.
Imagine what Hogan would have thought of today’s team concept or players saying “we did this” and “we did that.”
There are swing coaches and physios, the occasional sports psychologist, sometimes a chef and often one or two others in the inner circle doing whatever they do.
And, of course, the caddie.
Jack and Arnie didn’t need all that. Neither did Trevino or Snead.
That’s not to say it’s wrong, only to say it’s a different world in professional golf now. The money is bigger, the attention is greater and actually playing the game is only part of a larger picture, it seems.
Spend some time around the game’s biggest names and it’s easy to see how they are pulled in so many directions. Pro golfers tend to be creatures of routine, and having someone around to help them stick to that routine is a benefit.
Tour players have become small businesses, with not-so-small incomes and opportunities. Practice rounds at the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open seem to have almost as many people inside the ropes as outside.
One thing hasn’t changed: Hitting the shots is still up to one person.
A caddie may be able to tell his player how the wind might affect his shot, but it’s the player who has to swing that 7-iron or fit a tee shot into a narrow fairway. No one else can do it for him.
It’s like being a quarterback – surrounded by a team – making a decision in the pocket.
That part of the game hasn’t changed.
Ron Green Jr.
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