Chic Anderson and Frank Ricard had their moments, but they were separated by 30 years. In 1973 Anderson famously called Secretariat’s then and now record 31-length victory in the Belmont Stakes. In 2003 Ricard famously left “Mitchapalooza” to go streaking through the quad in the epic film, “Old School”. I thought about both men, one real and one fictional as Nelly Korda and Scottie Scheffler were polishing off their latest wins. Streaking in sports is a far more appealing thing than Frank the Tank headed to KFC, not that him being picked up by his wife and her friends on that chilly night was not entertaining. But, “separation”, which both Korda and Scheffler are currently doing in golf always sells.
Blowouts are not marketable, but moments in time, whether a season like the 2007 Patriots or Usain Bolt in the Beijing, London or Rio Olympics that draw a captive audience. The outlier athlete has been and always will be an attraction. Add the optimization, specialization and analytics in today’s sports world and it’s become harder for athletes to truly create a divide between themselves and the opponent. Teams study every solitary tendency of the opposition, and each league and coach is trained to become professional copycats. Golfers, regardless of manufacturer, play virtually the same stuff, utilize the identical analytics, are trained and coached by a handful of the same instructors and play under very similar conditions with few exceptions for the morning and afternoon waves in tournaments. It was never boring to watch Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky swim away from the competition anywhere or seeing Michael Johnson make up the stagger in the 400 meters before reaching the turn in Atlanta in the 1996 Olympics or watching Tiger Woods winning by two touchdowns and a two-point conversion at Pebble Beach in 2000. My Dad attended every significant sporting event in North America and dragged me to most when I was a kid, and he was at Belmont Park in June of 1973. To his dying day he proclaimed that Secretariat getting to the top of the stretch already with a massive lead in the Belmont as the most inspirational thing he ever saw in sports. He was also not blessed to be hearing the call from Chic Anderson, which included the line, “He’s moving like a tremendous machine”.
Nelly Korda and Scottie Scheffler have done things before May 1st that have those of us who cover their work making references to Annika Sorenstam, Nancy Lopez and Tiger Woods. Those are not reaches, just mile markers that Korda and Scheffler are currently reaching. Nelly started the year with eight career wins and a major championship victory. Scottie began 2024 with six wins on the PGA Tour and a major on his resume. As we wait for their next starts, they are suddenly now at 13 and two and 10 and two. That escalated quickly. In 20
05 Annika and Tiger combined to win 16 times and they both won two majors. Those collective benchmarks do not seem unreasonable for Korda and Scheffler to touch considering how much runway they have in front of them in 2024. Golf is weird, however. Its why us weirdos are drawn to it. Even the garden variety chop thinks they are close to playing well or poorly at any moment but these two are not of the garden variety. They were both reared to do what they do with nature and nurture playing varying roles in their paths. The commonalities are chippy competitive natures, superior refined skill and minds inclined for uncommon achievement.
Empirical data will help us determine the traction each of them is giving their respective tours, but the anecdotal evidence is beginning to materialize. In the golfy circles I swim in outside of the media space I am receiving queries about tournaments that begin with Korda and Scheffler. Where do they stand, not on Sunday but on Thursdays. Their separation raises the stakes for each of their next starts whether it be the Founders Cup for Korda or the Wells Fargo Championship or PGA Championship for Scheffler. Subsequently, it also means that the ones who knock them off next will receive bolder type in the postscript and a weightier sense of accomplishment from the general public. Wearing the bullseye can also become fatiguing which adds to the intrigue. Teams and individual performers have historically spoken about trying to maintain the pursuit of something as opposed to succumbing to the psychology of trying to defend, protect, or hold onto something they don’t actually possess. We simply don’t experience this type of dominance very often let alone simultaneously. Streaking is box office, just ask Frank the Tank.
