Our Town: Magic of PGA comes to Long Island

The stars of the PGA arrived this week to play the Barclay’s at Bethpage Black.
The Barclays is the first leg of the 4 tournament FedEx Playoffs and the winner takes home $10,000,000. Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson would be facing  “The People’s Country Club”.  
Long gone are the days where the PGA tour was a place for potbellied beer drinking players who would drive from tournament to tournament in their cars.  
Now all you see on the range are young, very fit, very tall, very lean young men hitting golf ball after golf ball into the stratosphere.  And these guys no longer use cars to get around.  
They fly in private jets, get picked up at the airport and are taken to the course in Cadillac Escalades with tinted windows.  This is very big business.
I was lucky enough to meet Zach Johnson on Tuesday night at a cocktail party and got a chance to see up close and personal what these guys were like.  
On television Zach looks like your average unassuming guy who is in no way imposing in stature.   
But always remember what Marshal McLuhan said about television. He said it makes people look small and dull. Oh how right he was.
The first impression you get of Zach Johnson in person is that he looks just like the British actor Robert Pattinson who starred in all those Twilight Saga vampire movies playing the role of Edward Cullen.  
Zach is squared jawed, broad shouldered, bright and has piercing blue eyes.  His knowledge of the golf swing was encyclopedic.  
What I learned by talking to Zach Johnson was that he, like all the others stars on the PGA tour are small corporations who have a  contingent of experts that support them on a daily basis.  
He uses a chiropractor, fitness trainer, nutritionist, a swing coach, PXG for his clubs and Club Champion for his shaft fittings.  
I didn’t ask but my guess is that he’s smart enough to use a sport psychologist as well.  
In other words they have all bases covered.
But as impressive as this two time major champion is, Zach Johnson is only ranked 52nd in FedEx standing.
So the question is exactly how good are the other guys?
It didn’t take long to find out.
When I got to the range the first guy I noticed was Dustin Johnson, this year’s U.S. Open winner.  
He’s a tall 6’4” rangy, lean and fluid player that has a distinctive swagger as he moves.
I then sauntered over to the short game area and watched Brandon Grace, the South African star proceed to hit 60 yard wedge shots to about three feet each and every time.
To those who may not know lots about golf that’s like taking a piece of thread and throwing it at a needle about 10 feet away and threading the needle each time.
Over to the putting green and there was Jason Dufner, the creator of ‘dufnering’ which means  sitting slouched over against a wall with a blank look on your face.
He was doing a putting drill by hitting downhill right to left fifteen foot putts that were all going in one after the next.  And he was doing it with only his right hand.
Back to the range to watch VJ Singh begin his warm up routine by hitting 90 yard wedges to a pin.
The thing that stood out is that his shots never went right and never went left. They all kept going straight to the pin.
Next to him was Adam Scott all tall and handsome  and he was doing what VJ was doing, hitting every shot totally straight to his pin but he was hitting three woods and the ball was going about 270 yards.
I following Adam Scott on the first hole and watched him hole out his wedge to make eagle two on the first.
I then walked over to the 17th tee in time to see  the lovable Bubba Watson make his arrival. A fan shouted out  ‘Thank you Bubba for representing your country in Rio’ to which the crowd roared their approval.  
Golf fans still remember that  Bubba played in Rio and that Jordan, Jason, Rory and DJ did not.
As I made my way back to the clubhouse I overheard someone say that Rory McIlroy was to tee off in 25 minutes.  
I quickened my pace and rushed over to the range to try to catch him before he left for the first tee.
As I approached the range I could see an army of fans were watching one guy.  This kind of fan gathering was once reserved for Tiger Woods on the range.  And as I got closer there he was, Rory McIlroy finishing up his warm up and all eyes were on him.
Right away I could see what  every fan was seeing.
This guy was better than the rest. His ball flight was more penetrating and more controlled and his ball went longer and landed more gently.
Rory is the definitive ”it” golfer of his generation and everyone knows it.  
As I watched him  I also understood that no matter what the media may write about an athletes decisions regarding the Olympics  in the end it doesn’t matter.
Transcendent talent will always trump a typewriter.
In fact the contest isn’t even close.  
Rory has all the heroic talent of a Tiger Woods who had that special combination of raw talent, work ethic and perfection that mesmerizes all who watch. Rory is another impact champion.
The golfing gods came to town this week and boy were they ever a joy to behold.
Thank you Rory, Patrick, Ricky, Jason, Jordan, Brandon,  VJ, Adam, DJ and Zach. Aren’t you a special group.  
Golf has never been in better shape.