GOLF.com in its weekly Tour Confidential roundtable posed a question about Rickie Fowler's public appeal in the wake of his win yesterday at The Players. GOLF.com Managing Editor Eamon Lynch said, "When it comes to engaging a younger audience in golf, Fowler is the only potential game changer on Tour, so his win is huge. For all of Tiger's fan support over the years, when did you ever see droves of kids show up dressed like him?" SI Senior Writer Gary Van Sickle said, "Rickie was already a marketing superstar to the public. This win validates his high profile, wipes out all those overrated perceptions and raises hope that he, too, could join the Rory-Jordan New Wave" (GOLF.com, 5/10). LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan talked about the young stars right now in golf and said it is "pretty cool for the future of the game when you think about Jordan (Spieth) and Rickie and Lydia (Ko)." Whan: "People ask us about what kind of shape golf is in for the future. All you’ve got to do is turn on the TV and you’re seeing the future play itself out on TV” ("Morning Drive," Golf Channel, 5/11).
THE WHEEL DEAL: In Indianapolis, Bob Kravitz wrote the Verizon IndyCar Series "needs a face" more than anything else. The series needs driver Graham Rahal, a young man "with immense but not yet fully realized talent, to emerge as the name, the face." He has "it all: The ability, the million-dollar smile, the media savvy, the glamorous relationship" with NHRA driver Courtney Force (WTHR.com, 5/9).
THE HILLS HAVE EYES: The GLOBE & MAIL's Tiffany Burns reported Premier Development League Calgary Foothills FC Technical Dir and coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. "has much grander ambitions for his team." Wheeldon: "I think the MLS could come here in the next 5 to 10 years." The Foothills’ strategy is to achieve popularity "in phased growth, moving from the PDL" to the USL, before "eventually applying for MLS status, with the hopes that increasing ticket sales will match exponentially larger franchise fees and operating costs, while attracting more sponsorship" (GLOBE & MAIL, 5/9).
