SI's Second Annual PGA Tour Player Survey
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED recently polled 75 PGA Tour players--about the
number who make the cut in an average week--to gauge their
feelings on issues involving golf and various other matters.
Some of the players declined to answer certain questions (so the
percentages that follow are for respondents only), while others
offered, under the cloak of anonymity, some choice one-liners,
the most telling of which are included.
1. On the golf course, boxers or briefs?
Briefs 44%
Boxers 37%
Boxer-briefs 12%
Commando 5%
Compression shorts 2%
[LOOSE LIPS]
"G-string."
"Briefs. I don't like freedom on the golf course."
2. Should Augusta National have female members?
Yes 49%
No 23%
It's up to them, not me 28%
[LOOSE LIPS]
"They don't?"
"It's too big for me."
3. Should women be allowed to play in PGA Tour events?
Yes 14%
No 72%
If they qualify/play
from the same tees 14%
[LOOSE LIPS]
"If we can play their tour."
4. Should the U.S. go to war with Iraq?
Yes......72% No......28%
[LOOSE LIPS]
"If there's an immediate threat."
"I'll pray for the President."
5. Do you work with a sports psychologist?
Yes 41%
No 41%
Sometimes 18%
[LOOSE LIPS]
"That needs to be plural."
6. Who is the most overrated player on Tour?
Jesper Parnevik 16%
Ty Tryon 13%
Sergio Garcia 10%
Also receiving votes:
Aaron Baddeley, Rich Beem, Michael Campbell, John Daly, Chris
DiMarco, David Duval, Brad Faxon, Jerry Kelly, Bernhard Langer,
Tom Lehman, Justin Leonard, Davis Love III, Scott McCarron, Phil
Mickelson, Greg Norman, Vijay Singh
7. Who is the most underrated?
David Toms 17%
Chris Smith 14%
Scott Hoch 7%
Chris Riley 7%
Jeff Sluman 7%
Also receiving votes:
Cameron Beckman, Rich Beem, Mark Brooks, Jonathan Byrd, John
Daly, Ernie Els, Bob Estes, Steve Flesch, Fred Funk, Retief
Goosen, Padraig Harrington, Brandt Jobe, Skip Kendall, Neal
Lancaster, Peter Lonard, David Peoples, Loren Roberts, Adam
Scott, Vijay Singh, Hidemichi Tanaka, Mike Weir, Tiger Woods
[LOOSE LIPS]
"Tiger. Really. People still don't know how good he is."
8. Have you ever played a Tour round while hung over?
Yes...........41%
No............59%
[LOOSE LIPS]
"Yes, and I shot a 66."
9. Which tournament has the best-looking gallery?
Phoenix 67%
Byron Nelson 31%
Memorial 1%
Colonial 1%
[LOOSE LIPS]
"Two different looks, but a tough call. Phoenix is more
natural; Dallas has more hairspray and makeup."
"All the Texas tournaments."
"Any tournament in Sweden."
10. Who is the best-looking Tour wife/girlfriend? (Can't vote for
your own.)
Dana (Tom) Byrum 23%
Elin Nordegren (Tiger Woods) 18%
Sonya (David) Toms 18%
Dawn (Brian) Bateman 9%
Jill (Per-Ulrik) Johansson 7%
Also receiving votes:
Jennifer (Fulton) Allem, Jodi (Stephen) Ames, Amanda (Jonathan)
Byrd, Karen (Brandle) Chamblee, Heather (Ben) Crane, Sherrie
(John) Daly, Michelle (Ed) Fryatt, Tabitha (Jim) Furyk, Angela
(Gabe) Hjertstedt, Missy Kretchmer (James McLean), Susan (Andrew)
Magee, Mia (Jesper) Parnevik, Ashley (Hal) Sutton
[LOOSE LIPS]
"Wouldn't date any of them."
"I'm getting too old to look."
11. Have you ever witnessed an act of cheating during a Tour
event?
Yes......29% No......71%
12. If your life depended on a player making a 15-footer, whom
would you have putt it? (Can't vote for yourself.)
Tiger Woods 48%
Brad Faxon 20%
Jack Nicklaus 6%
David Toms 6%
Chris Riley 4%
Also receiving votes:
Paul Azinger, Aaron Baddeley, Jack Burke Jr., Chris DiMarco,
Ernie Els, Raymond Floyd, David Frost, John Huston, Greg Norman,
Corey Pavin, Loren Roberts, Steve Stricker
13. You've got a one-shot lead going into the final round. Would
you rather go head-to-head with Tiger or have him be out of
contention?
Head-to-head 76%
Out of contention 16%
Doesn't matter 8%
[LOOSE LIPS]
"Head-to-head. If we're going to have fun, let's do it right."
"I want him to miss the [bleeping] cut."
"I want him home, sick in bed with the flu."
14. Who is the slowest player on Tour?
Ben Crane 37%
Bernhard Langer 16%
David Berganio 9%
Phil Tataurangi 9%
Bob Estes 7%
Dicky Pride 7%
Also receiving votes:
Stuart Appleby, Jim Carter, K.J. Choi, Glenn Day, Jim Furyk, Lee
Janzen, Per-Ulrik Johansson, Len Mattiace, Billy Mayfair
[LOOSE LIPS]
"Ben Crane. He's glacial."
"Ben Crane. I believe they bronzed him the last time I saw him
swing."
"Any Swede."
15. Who is the biggest whiner?
Loren Roberts 31%
Scott Hoch 14%
Jerry Kelly 8%
Fulton Allem 6%
Franklin Langham 6%
Mike Sposa 6%
Also receiving votes:
Woody Austin, Rich Beem, Jim Carter, Chris DiMarco, Sergio
Garcia, Paul Goydos, Tim Herron, Lee Janzen, Jonathan Kaye, Pat
Perez, Rory Sabbatini, Craig Stadler, Hal Sutton, Garrett Willis
[LOOSE LIPS]
"Not enough room to list them all."
"Seventy-five percent of them."
"So many you can't count them."
16. Have you ever become romantically involved with a member of
the gallery?
Yes......17% No......83%
[LOOSE LIPS]
"This is anonymous, right?"
"My first wife."
17. Who's the nicest guy on Tour?
Nick Price 22%
Joey Sindelar 22%
Dan Forsman 8%
Joe Durant 7%
Tom Lehman 7%
Jay Haas 5%
Also receiving votes:
Paul Azinger, Pat Bates, Rich Beem, Brandel Chamblee, Brad Faxon,
Brent Geiberger, J.P. Hayes, Charles Howell, Steve Jones, Skip
Kendall, Matt Kuchar, Justin Leonard, Andrew Magee, Larry Mize,
Vijay Singh, Chris Smith, Paul Stankowski, Steve Stricker
18. Should players who miss the cut be given a stipend to cover
travel expenses?
Yes......38% No......62%
19. Would you rather have a season in which you earned $4 million
but didn't win, or a season in which you won a tournament but
earned $2 million?
$2 million and a win 68%
$4 million, no win 32%
[LOOSE LIPS]
"As long as it's the U.S. Open."
"Four million. That'll pay the $2 million in taxes."
20. With purses now averaging close to $5 million, do caddies
still deserve 10% of a winner's check?
Yes......89% No......11%
[LOOSE LIPS]
"Some."
"I wouldn't want to pay it, but I would."
"Should be higher."
21. Do you fly in private aircraft?
Yes 32%
No 30%
Sometimes 38%
[LOOSE LIPS]
"Only when someone else is paying."
22. Will Colin Montgomerie win a major?
No 77%
Yes 15%
Maybe 8%
[LOOSE LIPS]
"I couldn't care less."
23. Will Phil Mickelson?
Yes......86% No......14%
FOUR COLOR ILLUSTRATION: ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOHN CUNEO
COLOR PHOTO: JAY LAPRETE/AP (PARNEVIK) Most Overrated JESPER PARNEVIK
COLOR PHOTO: HUY NGUYEN (BYRUM) Best-Looking WifeDANA BYRUM
COLOR PHOTO: ROBERT BECK (WOODS) If Your Life Depended On a 15-Footer... TIGER WOODS
COLOR PHOTO: GARY HERSHORN/REUTERS (ROBERTS) Biggest Whiner LOREN ROBERTS
COLOR PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: MARK J. TERRILL/AP (MICKELSONHEAD)JEFF HAYNES/AFP (GREEN JACKET) Will Phil Mickelson Win a Major?