Don DeLorenzo
it's your SWING
Don has been the PGA General Manager of Gilroy Golf Course since
1985. He is a former winner of the Bill Stausbaugh award given by the PGA
of America for excellence in education. He was named the 2014 Gilroy
Chamber of Commerce Man of the Year and was born and raised in Gilroy.
Does PGA mean…Personalities Gone Away?
D WESTERN
on’t get me wrong. There
is more talent playing the
PGA tour right now than
ever before. This isn’t like the “old
times” when the competition was much
less and only a handful of players really
had a shot at winning. Now, at every
tour event there are twenty, thirty, may-
be even forty players who could win
on any Sunday. Most of these play-
ers are well seasoned by playing the
Web.com tour or one of the many
foreign tours. Just as many came
right out of a college program that
is very much like playing the PGA
tour. They all hit their tee shot 300+
yards and hit laser crisp irons and
putt like robots. But unfortunately
robots are just about what many of
today’s tour players are. Where are the
personalities of yesteryear?
Where are the Lee Trevino’s who
honed his game on the hard-pan fair-
ways of Texas? Stories are told about
him feeling the pressure of a PGA tour
Sunday. Pressure, he would say, is
playing a $20 nassau with only $5 in
your pocket…that’s pressure.
Where are the Chi Chi Rodriguez’s
who would use his putter like a swash-
buckling pirate after a big putt was
made? Waving it rhythmically in the
air like he was going to face off with an
imaginary foe, then sliding it back into
his belt loop to walk off the green.
Where are the Roger Maltbie’s who
after winning the Pleasant Valley Classic
Tournament did what any spirited
San Jose native would do and head to
the bar to celebrate? What Roger did
after that made him infamous. He left
the check at the bar! The tournament
issued him a new check and the
original check was later found by the
GETAWAYS
106
owner and was framed and displayed at
T.O. Flynns, the bar where Roger left it,
for many years.
Where are the Arnold Palmer’s
who would attack a golf course with a
golf swing so unbridled it would look
totally foreign to the swings of today’s
“robots?” He would consistently fling
his cap to the crowd after winning a
tournament. When was the last time
you saw someone do this?
Where are the Fuzzy Zoeller’s who
during a sudden death playoff grabbed
his towel and waived it at his opponent
as if to give the surrender signal? And
he did it with a great big smile on
his face.
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
FALL/HOLIDAY 2019
How about Payne Stewart? One of
the all-time favorites of the PGA tour
not only due to his play but his style;
his signature “knickers” could be seen
at every event. And to show his support
for the local team, he would dress in
the colors of the nearest NFL team on
the final-round Sundays.
Then there’s John Daly, who burst on
the scene as a nobody and won the PGA
championship. His long and powerful
swing became a signature of his go-for-
broke style. A style that he adhered to
on and off the course. Heck, there are
only two PGA players who have a drink
named after them. Most of you know of
an Arnold Palmer, a combo of iced tea
and lemonade. Well just add vodka and
you have a John Daly. Add tequila and it
becomes a Juan Daly.
The only player in todays’ game who
has the flair for dramatics like these
players did is probably Tiger Woods.
His popularity is beyond comprehen-
sion. During this year’s US Open at
Pebble Beach, fans four to six deep
would clammer around just to get a
glimpse of the great champion.
Well, as the PGA tour moves into
the next decade, we hope a few more
personalities emerge. The game will
always be extremely popular because
we enjoy watching an athlete do some-
thing that we couldn’t even dream of
doing. But hopefully they do it with a
little more personality and flair!
GOLF
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