Worried about Rory...

I love golf.  I particularly love tournament golf.  As a failed "tournament professional" myself, I marvel at the quality of golf on show around the world today.  The standard is so incredibly high and the riches on offer extraordinary but for someone who normally sees the glass half full, there are a couple of golfing concerns on my mind at the start of what is suppose to be the most exciting season ever (according to Fox News and Sky Sports).

The over-hyped Rory v Tiger extravaganza got off to a spectacularly disappointing start in Abu Dhabi.  No huge surprise to anyone who knows anything about how important one's tools are to one's trade - especially at this level of the game.

I must say Nike's advert featuring young Rors and Mr. Woods is exceptional and shows just why these two super-humans are the most marketable faces in the game today.  I do love Rory.  He is incredibly likeable, great for golf and an extraordinary talent.

Rory's deal with Nike is said to be worth around $200 million over the next ten years.  Presumably, Tiger is on a similar "package"?  (Plus bonuses, of course).  Whichever way you look at it, with whomever you compare them against, these are obscene sums of money given the state of the world economy.

Let's put aside the cash for a minute.  Rory's deal sees all his trusty, rusty Titleist stuff replaced with Swooshbuckling new Nike gear, including his golf ball. I'm wondering if after his superb victory in Dubai last November he had a few too many beers and dribbled in the ear of Conor Ridge, Just Do It...

Granted, he could beat most of the world's golfers with a set of clubs donated to the British Golf Museum by Old Tom Morris but don't under estimate just how big a deal this might prove to be.  I genuinely hope he goes out and wins next week, but with such fine margins in top class professional sport, to change your entire bag of tools at this stage of your career is a concern to me.  Rory, please prove me wrong and rightly take your place amongst golf's greats.

About me:

Career earnings as a PGA Professional of £328.75 were never quite going to make the grade but my love of golf is as intense as ever. MD of Jenahura, Marketing Director of Bearwood Lakes. Passionate for; life, my wife Lisa, Mum & Dad, a wonderfully diverse array of Friends & Family, a cold beer, fine food, fine wines, traveling the world, sport and music.

For more information, visit www.jenahura.com.

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