Good one. Good one. Good one.

KIRK TRIPLETT IS WORKING on something. Only he and his caddie know for sure. Actually, I’m going to say that his caddie doesn’t know. He’s working the towel. That’s what he does.

If you’ve ever watched Tour pros beat balls, you know that after the initial excitement wears off it’s pretty boring. Pick any guy out there and watch them hit for a while. You’ll see what I mean. Here’s what’s going through my mind as I watch them go through the bag—the wedges, the irons, the metals—and slowly dismantle that perfectly stacked pyramid of shiny white golf balls on the practice tee:

“Good one. Good one. Good one. Good one. Good one.” (Player pauses to stare at something or chuckle with caddie.) “Good one. Good one. Good one.”

They might be working on something. They might just be warming up. They might be showing off. I have no idea. All I’ve got is “Good one. Good one. Good one.”

I have a suspicion that I’m not the only one who is unable to detect the subtleties of range work. A couple of Tour pros, Charles Howell III and J.B. Holmes, recently spotted Tiger on the Isleworth practice tee. Holmes said, “It looks like he’s hitting it pretty good.” Howell said, “Seriously, he seemed like he was hitting it the same as he ever did.”

I totally understand that because, one, he’s Tiger Woods, but also because I come to the same conclusion every time I watch players swing the clubs on the range. Maybe I’ll switch things up and use J.B.’s line.

“It looks like he’s hitting it pretty good.” (Next guy.) “It looks like he’s hitting it pretty good.” (Next guy.) “It looks like he’s hitting it pretty good.” (Next guy …

−The Armchair Golfer

(Image: RGlasson/Flickr)