PAR FOR THE COURSE
The respective world No.1s would wind each other up publicly over how many tournaments they had won and their joshing was good for the sport.
You can’t imagine Nelly Korda and Scottie Scheffler – both as dominant today as Sorenstam and Woods were at their peak – doing a similar thing, which is a shame as it would spark interest from armchair golf fans.
Korda, whose father is 1998 Australian Open tennis champion Petr, has the bubbly personality off the course to get involved.
But Scheffler? A nice guy but not a man blessed with charisma.
The 25-year-old Korda has won the last five tournaments she has played in, with Sorenstam (2004-2005) and Nancy Lopez in 1978 the only other women to achieve that feat.
Not surprisingly, she pulled out of the JM Eagle LA championship during the week due to “feeling exhausted”.
Scheffler, 27, has won four out of his last five events, one of them The Masters. He is the first player to win four times on the PGA tour since Tiger Woods in 2007-2008.
The American is playing so well that his caddie, Ted Scott, who is on 10% of the prize money, is out-earning Rory McIlory.
There is no doubting Scheffler’s talent but he is never going to be a break-out star of world sports like Woods and Sorenstam. He is risk-free when it comes to his game and is so far ahead of everybody else he is coming up to a full year as world No. 1.
With the men’s game still split between the PGA tour and LIV it needs a figurehead that the fans can unite behind. Scheffler ain’t that guy.
Woods finished last of those who made the cut at The Masters at 16-over-par and his time at the top is long gone. McIlroy can still come good and hopefully a win by the Northern Irishman in one of the three remaining Majors can get everybody excited.
Phil Mickelson and Jon Rahm, the other real showmen still playing, are on the LIV tour. Englishman Tyrrell Hatton whose volatile temper on the course makes him entertaining to watch has also defected.
Some may think I am being too hard on Scheffler. After all Jack Nicklaus was considered boring compared to Arnold Palmer but I am a golf romantic.
I would rather see Seve Ballesteros hitting from the car park at the 16th at Royal Lytham on his way to winning the 1979 Open than Scheffler relentlessly going from tee to green in a Major.
The most-boring round that I have witnessed in the flesh was Nick Faldo’s final one made up of 18 pars at Muirfield to win the 1987 Open.
Faldo went on to become one of the greatest-ever players and I accept I am open to accusations of taking greatness for granted.
Maybe I won’t properly appreciate Scheffler till he stops winning so regularly but until that happens given the choice I’ll keep watching Korda.
‘ It needs a figurehead fans can unite behind. Scheffler ain’t that guy