Dan Jenkins sits down for a most enjoyable Q&A with Stephanie Wei for the WSJ online.
I've always kind laughed off Dan's take on the modern tour player. But oddly, this is the first time this seemed to ring true about a lot of players, particularly Americans and especially a week after I was struck by Matt Kuchar's theory on winning.
Mr. Jenkins: It's a different mindset with the young guys coming up. It used to be in my day, you couldn't shoot better than 65 because God wouldn't permit it. Now they can shoot 59 because of the equipment. Every putt is true, greens are good. They all get rich for doing nothing. You think about a guy like Matt Kuchar, who has won [millions] this year and hasn't won a tournament. I think there's something wrong with that. I think money is killing the incentive. I could go on and on about this. I just come from a school where you have to win something to be accepted.
On his all time top-5. You'll be shocked to know Tiger did not make the list:
Mr. Jenkins: Hogan's the best shot-maker and Jack is the best winner. You've got to put [Bobby] Jones in there. Then, Byron Nelson because of his record. I'd say Hogan, Jack, Jones, Nelson and Sam Snead are the five greatest players. Tiger doesn't make the top five. You have to have Arnold [Palmer] in there somewhere because he probably did more for golf in this country than anybody. He popularized it, he took it to the people. Tiger took it all away.
And on the art of Tweeting:
Mr. Jenkins: I need an electrician. [Laughter.] I still don't know how to do it myself. I talk, they type. I think Twitter is fun. You know why? Because you can say a lot of stuff you couldn't in the story. In a story, you have to have a theme and an angle, you have to have a beginning, middle and an end. You have to have a defining moment and kick it to death. You gotta be able to recognize that, by the way. It probably takes experience.