Predicting 2014

If crystal balls were truly magic, Las Vegas would not exist as it is now. In sports events, who would have guessed that an NFL playoff team would make up a 28 point deficit at half time and then win, or that the University of Oklahoma would beat Alabama by two touchdowns? "Unreal"? No, it was very real and it happens all the time. Underdogs win and that is what keeps Ben Hogan's words alive "Mr. Hogan, who do you think is going to win today?", "I have no clue, that is why they are playing, to see who wins!" Wise words.

No one can predict the future. However, due to historical indicators, the best we can make is educated guesses. For instance, if a professional golfer hits a ball inside a foot from the hole, you can predict, with 99.999% certainty that he'll make the putt. But there is still a 0.001% that he'll miss. Who would have predicted in 1983, that in his prime, Hale Irwin, no less, would totally whiff a 6 inch putt in the British Open Championship to lose a chance for a playoff? One putt that very possibly changed the final outcome and his career? The same happened to IK Kim last year when she missed a one foot putt on the last hole to win the Nabisco Championship which she later lost in a playoff to Sun Young Yoo.

"No shot?"

In a larger scale (the above were "one shot" blunders, even if they affected the whole outcome), how about all those who predicted that Phil Mickelson would never win a British Open Championship, or, due to his play a month earlier in the U.S. Open, when he faltered the last few holes to finish second, that he would not blow another major down the stretch? But, against all odds, he finished as strong as anyone has in recent years in a major by making three birdies in the last four holes under the most difficult conditions. Who would have bet against Tiger Woods in 2009, during the PGA Championship where he had a two stroke lead on eventual champion Y.E. Chen? Who would have bet any amount of money that since 2008, Phil would have two majors against zero for Tiger?

I love hearing a golf announcer say, "he has no shot", and then see the golfer hit it stiff. Sure, there are times when there is no possible shot, but there is a reason that the Rules of Golf say define an Unplayable lie as, "the player is the sole judge as to whether or not the ball is unplayable".
 
What is unplayable for me, is certainly not unplayable for Tiger, Phil or Henrik. If I hit in 6" rough, I have to lay up or even take an unplayable if I feel I cannot cut through that grass, while they will advance the ball farther than most can imagine.

So, why do I want to "predict" 2014? Because it is fun to find out how close you were to the truth... or how far, I guess. Sometimes our predictions are no more than wishes of how we would like things to turn out, with that in mind, here are some things to look for in 2014:

PROFESSIONAL GOLF
- Tiger Woods will contend in all majors, but win none.
- Phil will win the U.S. Open at Pinehurst where he finished 2nd for the first time out of six (then, his
    story will be made into a movie just like Ben Hogan's story was made into "Follow the Sun")
- Jordan Spieth will win a major.
- U.S.A. will win Ryder Cup in Europe.
- The PGA of America will announce that they WILL NOT take the PGA Championship outside the United States (there is rumor that they want to)
- Fox Sports will hire Johnny Miller to do the U.S. Open starting 2014 (The U.S. Open has been in NBC for a while, and it was in ABC Sports before, but USGA recently announced that Fox Sports will have the telecast starting in 2015)
- The Masters will not leave CBS.... for the record, since the first telecast, they are on a year to year contract.
- Except for the major where Jordan wins, the other three majors will be won by someone who has won a major before.

- The Masters (CBS) will not hire Johnny Miller to telecast their tournament
- Tiger will not play the Par-3 Tournament at the Masters.... he has no business there anyway, this is for sharing a good time with others and having fun... not about work. Toger is "all work".
- Phil will, once more, use one of his daughters as caddy for the Par-3 Tournament at The Masters.
- Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus or Gary Player, will all
make a hole in one in the Par-3 Tournament.
- All three, will live to be 100, at least! (Palmer is 84, Nicklaus will be 74 in two weeks, Player is  78)
- An American will become #1 in the world in women's golf.
- A girl by the name of Anya Alvarez, will make full status in the LPGA
- There will be a big surprise at the Senior Open in Oklahoma City.

LOCAL:
- Team Elk City will win Bedlam Cup... again.
- There will be 7 holes in one in Elk City, one more that last year.
- We will have more member rounds than in 2013.
- The "4th of July Tournament" which will have a new name in 2014 (how about "Summer Classic"?)
    will be won, again, by an Elk City golfer.
- Logan Gore will make top 5 in the State Tournament. 
- Kelsi Wilson will better by one her finish in the State Tournament (for the record, she was second in
    2013).
- Brock Walker, Berek Dyson, Keegan Hall, Logan Gore & Joby Gray will have a fundraising
    exhibition match against Cory Smith, Russ Smith, Dustin Gunkel, Andrew Albert & Sean Cowan
    Now, wouldn't that be nice and fun to watch!