Good Spectacles and Bad Spectacles
I can understand the hype behind our local female prodigy. I can appreciate that many people would really like her to do well, and to some degree, I share that sentiment.
Her prodigious talent is really a tremendous thing, and people all over the world would love to see her play -- and are fascinated by the spectacle of a late-mid teens golfer doing well against her female competition.
I think the current issue concerning her is that no one is satisfied with just appreciating that she is good -- in fact, awesome in terms of all who have come before and now play -- there are always other questions that will tear at what she is trying to accomplish
I feel somehow now that the cliff has been jumped over, and there's no turning back. There is only the need for her to win ... win something, particularly win on the women's tour.
Note, I didn't say win on the men's tour, be respectable in her outings in that tour, or even make the cut. Her appearances on the men's tour are to me, pure spectacle -- and as shown this past couple of days, can appear highly contrived and poorly conceived -- and make her subject to at best, speculation, and at worst, ridicule
I look back maybe a handful of years and think of the top pro women's golfer's fray into the PGA at the colonial -- that was like, okay, I've proven everything I can on the women's tour, let me see how I fare in a men's event. She didn't make the cut -- and that ended that experiment
I realize that the dreams of youth are writ large -- in other words, there is no dream too big, too fantastic, when you are young. I've heard her mention the US Open, the Masters ... and playing on the PGA rather than the LPGA tour. In this case, I think the media, marketers, and pro tours (male and female) are fascinated by her awesome talent -- and it certainly is awesome for someone so young.
I have this feeling now when watching national sports media coverage, pundits, etc. that this whole play with the men thing is becoming a big joke -- and that they feel similar to how many of us here feel -- wouldn't it be better if she just won something, rather than pursuing playing men's events with little to show for it
The other thing that I am concerned about is this thing we see all too often with youth prodigies in sports, they burn bright then fade away quickly. I suppose there are more examples in tennis than any other sport. I would find it highly tragic if she went the way of fallen youth stars in the past, simply burning out, or leading a negative lifestyle because she never had a childhood
After questions about whether she would turn pro, whether she would continue to play with the men, etc. have all been answered -- what is left appears to be, when will she win, which is somewhat obvious
And two, when will people begin the inevitable move towards tearing her down -- I think that this is the most important of the questions. They took the money, they took to the biggest stage of celebrity/stardom, now can they withstand the high level of scrutiny that comes with it -- ironically, scrutiny that can only be quieted by winning
And then what? Will making a men's cut feed the beast of expectations? Finishing in the top 10, 5, or winning a men's event? Becoming the best female pro ever?
I just have this sinking feeling that she will fall short of these inflated expectations, or perhaps putting it in perspective -- she may not be able to reach them right now, but who can when they are only sixteen?