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Goydos is a Good Guy, Good Golfer
by John Maginness, PGATour.com
January 14, 2007
Paul Goydos is a millionaire professional athlete just like Lebron James
and Barry Bonds. Yeah, it almost makes as little sense as saying that
Paul is a professional golfer just like Tiger Woods.
Actually, Paul and Tiger have both won the Arnold Palmer Invitational,
formerly known as the Bay Hill invitational. The difference is that Tiger
won the event four times in a row and Paul's only victory to date on TOUR
came in 1996 at Bay Hill. And that is what I love about professional golf.
On any given day or any given week a player like Paul Goydos can beat
Tiger Woods.
Paul Goydos, and guys like him, are what the PGA TOUR is all about. His
career spans the better part of two decades. It is riddled with highs
and lows -- but with the underlying theme being perseverance. You need
not look any farther back than the end of last season to see what I am
talking about. Coming into the final full field event of 2006, the Chrysler
Championship, Paul was 160th on the money list. He was coming off more
than three years of injuries. The likelihood of Paul finishing in the
top three and moving into the top 125 was remote at best. Paul managed
a tie for second with Brett Wetterich, though, and earned the largest
pay check of his professional career, a little over $405,000. He vaulted
all the way to 97th on the money list.
His good play this week at the Sony Open in Hawaii comes as no surprise
to the players on TOUR. Waialae Country Club is not a bomber's playground.
It is a methodical test of patience that requires accuracy off the tee
and precise iron play. Waialae is yet more proof that a golf course does
not need to be 7,500 yards to test the best players in the world. Players
like Paul need to take advantage of tournaments and courses that require
a specific type of accuracy and intelligence.
During Paul's career the game has changed dramatically. It seemed likely
that his recent bout of injuries would have effectively ended his career.
The tendency for players coming off injuries, especially players in the
second half of their careers, is to try to reinvent themselves. That did
not happen in Paul's case. The basics of his game have remained unchanged
and unfazed by golf's newest revolution.
As the golf public waits for Tiger to come out of his den and Fabulous
Phil to magically appear there are great stories going on right now on
the PGA TOUR. Paul, who looks and sounds more like a CPA than a professional
athlete, is one of those stories.
As fortunate as we are to have the most popular athlete in the world in
our sport, players like Paul Goydos are the heart and soul of the PGA
TOUR. Keep an eye on him this year. Put him on your fantasy team. Don't
be surprised if he picks up TOUR victory No. 2 this year. He might even
smile when he does.
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