Why do you like the golfers you like?

Tadashi70

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What qualities do your favorite golfers have? What is it about them that makes you root for, defend and back them. And what would it take for you to stop backing them?
 
Charisma and being well spoken in interviews both after winning and losing really goes a long way for me. That and style....JT is quickly becoming my favorite because of the shoes he wears and some of the outfits he sports from time to time....love the pink pants and that cool tie and sweater outfit he wore at last year's Open Championship were cool. All those things and showing some guts and being clutch in big events (especially the Ryder Cup (see, Reed, Patrick))!

Once I become a fanboy I'm usually hooked for life and it would take something pretty bad for me to turn on them. Hell I still root for Bubba all the time, I started to be a Bubba fanboy turned apologist clear back when he has his own brand of Bubba Golf clothes WAY before he won anything. He was fat and had a buzz cut, loved it! He whines and is a dick to his caddie but I'm still a fan. And well TW....I'll ALWAYS be a Tiger fanboy too....and well we know his story well enough now.
 
I like the guys who seem genuine, meaning they seem like the type of guy who would act the same way whether the cameras were on them or not, and who have good, positive attitudes. A few guys who I root for that come to mind are Rickie, Kuchar, and Gmac.
 
I like the guys who seem genuine, meaning they seem like the type of guy who would act the same way whether the cameras were on them or not, and who have good, positive attitudes. A few guys who I root for that come to mind are Rickie, Kuchar, and Gmac.

Agree with this wholeheartedly. Also, as a younger guy, I will pull for the young guns a little more.
 
Players like Rickie Fowler, Graeme McDowell, Matt Kuchar, etc.

They play the game with a quiet confidence and go above and beyond for their fans. I have seen too many times when golfers have been given a pass over their rude behavior because they are 'fierce competitors'. I respect players like that but it does not mean I like them.
 
I like a good backstory and personality, can't stand guys that treat the fans like crap. I've always kinda liked the bombers too. Nothing like a good underdog either.

Good example is Tommy Gainey, he checks off everything. DJ is a freak and his skill is just intriguing, his personality...not so much.
 
I'll always be a Tiger homer. He's the reason I started watching golf and ever picked up a club. I didn't start playing until 2004, and I was brutal. I was on the fence about continuing to play, then Tiger sank that chip on the 70th hole of the Masters, and my dorm room full of 10 guys went nuts (reason for my profile pic). Great memory, and that level of excitement is why I play today.

That said, over the last couple years I've definitely grown fond of most of the young guns on tour. A lot of guys with fun, positive attitudes and a ton of game. So cool to see smaller guys like JT and Fowler just crush the ball off the tee. I know some people have been critical of the young guys being too friendly with each other, but I have no problem with it, especially because you still see lots of competitive fire from them on the course. Whether its JT, Spieth, Rory, or Rickie, I'm just rooting for someone to put on a show.
 
Unapologetic fan of Annika. I have always enjoyed the quiet way she went about golfing. Her swing is so beautiful to watch. I love her seeming unflappability. If I could have a swing half as pure as hers, I'd be a content golfer.

And now let's talk about the way she treats her fans. And the way she quietly broke barriers - or tried to quietly break barriers, as the press kinda went rabid on that one. And what she's done for the sport of golf, and specifically what she's done for women's golf. And sure she's raking in the dough, I'm not stupid, but she opened an academy instead of retiring off into the sunset - so technically she's still working for women's golf.

I'm an all in, complete and total full on fangirl. Not sure what it would take for me to stop being a fan, short of something absolutely out of character for her that I honestly can't imagine her doing.
 
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I will always be a Tiger fan as he drew me into the game and is the best golfer of my generation.

Outside of him I route for guys who look like they are having fun playing and appreciate the fans.
 
One of the big things for me is accessibility- Social media being what it is, I like seeing a glimpse of their personal lives. You realize that the SB crew are young kids who like to have fun and play a little golf. Things that we can relate to on a relative level. (we're all not jet setting across the country to play golf, but we all get out and play a round with friends)
 
I don't really have a "favorite", per se. I will root for an underdog in a tournament, over a more established player most of the time. What I like about 99% of golfers is they seem like really good people. There's the 1% who can act douche-y, so I will root against them. But not very intensely.
 
Attitude, how they interact with fans, golf style.

No secret I'm a JT fanboy. I hopped on the bandwagon after his 3rd win last year not knowing who he was so I read up on him and how successful a collegiate golfer he was at Alabama so on and so forth. He came to our local tournament and he chatted with me as well as taking a picture and following him for 9 holes that day. Bam. Fan for life.

Never would've guessed his career would blossom to what it is today with 8 wins including a Major and now a chance to be the #1 Player in the World but that is awesome. Sure he has had his comments about fan behavior/language and he said "**** YEAH BABY" that so many people overreacted to but whatever, doesn't bother me at all, my interaction with him was memorable and I hope he goes on to win 10 Majors....

Or more.
 
Most of the time I play with my brother, father, and brother-in-law, so I guess I am stuck with them ;)

But, for others, I usually play with people that I like having conversations with. We talk about sports mostly, especially fantasy football.
 
I like personalities, not robots. I was not a huge fan of DJ personally until I listened to his NLU podcast a few weeks back.
 
I think this is another unique thing about Golf- I root for them all, I don't really have any that I prefer or root against, I'm always happy for the winner.

Well except for Tiger, I always root for the Big Cat.
 
I like the face or the looks , ex. Jordan Spieth, Chun In Gee, Jessica Korda, Michelle Wie, Rory Mc Ilroy, Phil Mickelson, Jason Day.

I like the swings, ex. Jason Day, Rory Mc Ilroy, Chun In Gee.

IF God give me , I wish to copy Chun In Gee's Swings or Rory's Swings.
 
Phil has always been my favorite golfer, mainly because of his wedge play.
 
This is a very timely topic for me, as I have been thinking about this a lot. I just spent 4 days immersed in the match play championships here, spectating and volunteering. I was thinking about how to explain to my wife about which golfers I would root for and why. I figured out that there are more that I root against than for, which was kind of a surprise to me.

I like Matt Kuchar a lot. He played some fantastic golf this week, and I was bummed when he was eliminated. I remember when he burst on the scene at the Masters as a college kid (I also went to Georgia Tech), and it's good to see him still trying to live up to that promise. He just seems to be having a good time out there, and aware of how lucky he is. I completely understand how a player would want to shut out everything on the other side of the ropes, but it's cool to see someone who is relaxed enough to scan the crowd and give an occasional thumbs up.

I didn't like Phil when he first came out, but he has won me over - as much through his near-misses as through his wins.

I had given up on Sergio a couple of years ago; thought he was a head case and would never win a major. But he really seems to have matured lately. There was a lot of downtime around the volunteer trailer and I heard three different people relate personal anecdotes of seeing Sergio go far out of his way to be nice to fans and kids.

I am kind of neutral on Spieth, but living in Austin I am almost required to root for him.

For some reason I don't like JT - just don't like the way he looks. I definitely respect what he has done, clearly the best golfer in the world over the last year. But he rubs me the wrong way somehow. My volunteer gig was player nd VIP transporation, and I got a chance to drive him mother to the hotel on Wednesday. She seemed like a very nice lady, and went out of her way to talk to me a couple of times later in the week. So maybe I am selling him short.

I don't like Patrick Reed or Tyrell Hatton. The in-your-face competitiveness is just not my style. For the same reason, I shouldn't like Rory, but I do. Ian Poulter doesn't bother nearly as much as he used to. Guess I should add Luke List to the list after he broke his putter on Wednesday.

I like Bubba because he's different and interesting.

I tend to like the guys with interesting backstories, kids who shouldn't have grown up to be professional golfers (like Jason Day and Xander Schauffele) more than country club kids.

There wasn't a tremendous amount of player interaction as a volunteer driver, but we all had our moments and shared our stories, which changed some of my loyalties. I did drive one player to the airport and changed from a lukewarm supporter to a "maybe I'll root for the other guy".
 
I enjoy watching good golf. It doesn't matter to me who is playing it. It is rare that I find myself rooting for one golfer over another. I don't own a magic wand and even if I did I like to think that I wouldn't use it.
 
I like guys who play well and are class guys. I like Streelman, Zach Johnson, etc. I don't like guys who drop F-bombs and swear a lot when they play. (JT comes to mind). There are too many young kids watching and it's not cool. My kids are grown now, but I would have been pissed if I was at a tourney when my kids where younger and had to hear a lot of bad language. If you're out with your buddies that's your choice, but when you're a pro and on TV worldwide, it's a bad habit and bad for the game. We get too much trash talking and bullcrap in a lot of pro sports - golf is usually a welcome exception and it's one of the reasons I love watching it so much.
 
Great topic. I root for guys who break barriers, like I do in every sport. In basketball, I'm a big time fan of Jeremy Lin and Steve Nash. Loved Fernando Valenzuela back in the day. I rooted for Danica Patrick at her first few Indy 500s. In golf, my guys are Tiger, Harold Varner III and Matsuyama.

But Spieth is also one of my favorites because the way he handled himself after the Masters meltdown was extremely impressive.
 
Unapologetic fan of Annika. I have always enjoyed the quiet way she went about golfing. Her swing is so beautiful to watch. I love her seeming unflappability. If I could have a swing half as pure as hers, I'd be a content golfer.

And now let's talk about the way she treats her fans. And the way she quietly broke barriers - or tried to quietly break barriers, as the press kinda went rabid on that one. And what she's done for the sport of golf, and specifically what she's done for women's golf. And sure she's raking in the dough, I'm not stupid, but she opened an academy instead of retiring off into the sunset - so technically she's still working for women's golf.

I'm an all in, complete and total full on fangirl. Not sure what it would take for me to stop being a fan, short of something absolutely out of character for her that I honestly can't imagine her doing.

Well said! Annika does have all the qualities I like in a pro golfer.
 
I like to root for Ricky Fowler, Bubba Watson, JT, and Tiger.
Ricky is a no brainer because he is a good guy to everybody and can play with all of them.
Bubba is the the flashy guy in my group. He does stuff with a golf club that the rest of us wish we could do.
I behind JT because he's absolutely solid. Besides after everyone was fawning all over Jordan Speith, JT came along and basically
said, "Hey, he's not the only one with talent out here.
Tiger because he's the original power player.Even Nicklaus said that he plays a game with which I am unfamiliar.
 
I tend to root for the nice guys on tour. Spieth, Fowler, Kuch are always favorites of mine when they are playing. The other ones are those with freakish games. I will always be a huge Tiger fan. What he did and the excitement he brought made me a fan for life. Even though this isn't a popular choice I like Bubba also. Sure he's a whiny dick but the way he plays and shapes the ball is so entertaining.
 
Unapologetic fan of Annika. I have always enjoyed the quiet way she went about golfing. Her swing is so beautiful to watch. I love her seeming unflappability. If I could have a swing half as pure as hers, I'd be a content golfer.

And now let's talk about the way she treats her fans. And the way she quietly broke barriers - or tried to quietly break barriers, as the press kinda went rabid on that one. And what she's done for the sport of golf, and specifically what she's done for women's golf. And sure she's raking in the dough, I'm not stupid, but she opened an academy instead of retiring off into the sunset - so technically she's still working for women's golf.

I'm an all in, complete and total full on fangirl. Not sure what it would take for me to stop being a fan, short of something absolutely out of character for her that I honestly can't imagine her doing.

Big Annika fan myself. Quite confidence. Treats her fans very well. Put the LPGA on the map for me. Still giving back to the game even though she has quit professional golf.
 
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