Alexa enhance this 1,000 word letter from Charley Hoffman about pace of play and the importance of connecting with broadcast partners and fans growing the game
I don’t want to make a big deal out of this story as much as I want to point out that I think Charley Hoffman lives the ideal professional golfer existence. So we can talk about the letter and the fact that golf is slow and changing and all that stuff. But let’s also be clear that Charley Hoffman has the perfect pro athlete lifestyle.
But first the letter.
If he ends up face down in a shallow Arizona canal then it’s because he criticized Tiger Woods’ TGL, which is an objectively shitty product. No amount of fanboy fuckface inside the rope content will change my opinion that I don’t need fabricated bro-time amongst the world’s best golfers. The simulator graphics are shit and the concept is just overtly stupid. That’s not the point here but I wanted to get that off my chest. The TGL sucks.
Even so, it takes a lot of balls to publicly call out the Cool Kids Club of professional golf and stand behind it. In that case there’s really only a handful of guys that can do it effectively and Charley Hoffman is one of them. Some others that come to mind: Kuchar, Bill Haas, Sneds, and a handful of LIV players that I’m summarily dismissing.
Otherwise I think most of the tour would be absolutely fucking terrified of the potential consequences behind Hoffman’s sentiment. All the reason for me to say Good for Charley Hoffman.
Good for Charley Hoffman
As far as pace of play is concerned, I don’t really care at all. I’m watching on TV and that means I’m very likely doing something else like folding laundry or napping or cleaning or cutting the grass. Or something other than sitting fixated on the next shot save for 3 Sundays a year: Masters, US Open, Open Championship. Otherwise it’s more of a nice thing to have on in the background, and on that front we should be talking about commercials and broadcasting the entire field vs. a handful of notables. There’s so many problems with a golf broadcast and somewhere in the middle/towards the bottom of the list is how long Tom Kim is thinking about yardage. Just cut to somebody else if it’s that big of a deal for viewers.
Also – absolutely NO CLUE what he’s talking about with the Aon Swing 5 thing other than to say the sponsorships are simply unreasonable. Aon is an insurance brokerage and the fact their name is on the field like this is just so trashy and shitty and pukeworthy. Especially from an institution that leveraged global terrorism to turn public opinion against the beneficiaries of their own competition. It really makes me fucking sick to think about. Name that shit after Arnold Palmer or something you sellouts.
Anyways.
I’m getting long in the tooth which I think is appropriate given the length and direction of Charley Hoffman’s letter. All of which is to say I think Charley Hoffman has the ideal pro athlete life. Here’s why:
1. Money:
Almost $37,000,000 in tournament winnings which means about $60,000,000 in career earnings after sponsorships and appearances. Then not including personal investments and bitcoin and real estate, we could easily be looking at $100m+ net worth. Maybe even more but alas the point is made: Charley Hoffman has a lot of fucking money.
2. Manageable Notoriety: He’s been on tour for 20 years and won 4 times
- Bob Hope
- Valero Open
- Deutche Bank
- OHL Classic
He has all the respect from the golf community without any of the outside distraction that would come with more notoriety and public recognition. These are tournaments that get you paid and into majors and keep you on tour, but not the heavy hitters that weigh you down with legacy considerations. You get all the benefit without any of the hassle. Example: 2017 President’s Cup is an ideal career international appearance.
3. Consistency:
Over the last 17 years he’s averaged about 125th in World Golf Rankings – good enough to be a Tour Pro but not enough to crush yourself with expectations and pressure. So long as he’s healthy, you can pretty much guarantee a top-100 world ranking and a bunch of made cuts with big checks. That’s the Charley Hoffman special. Being good enough to show you a long birdie putt on Saturday/Sunday but rarely close enough to get a feature camera crew inside the ropes.
4. Miscellaneous
Finally some miscellaneous considerations:
- Sweet hair
- Loving family
- Kinda chubby/normal looking dude
- Relatably named Charley
- First/only(?) two time California High School State Champion
- 2017 President’s cup champion aka he’s undefeated in international play
- Made 8/9 US Open Cuts but only 4/13 PGA Championships which is a delightful illustration of his game = control over distance
I can keep going but really my point in all of this is to say that I like Charley Hoffman, I think he’s got a sweet life and I think it’s awesome that he called out the Cool Kids club while standing up for his belief in the PGA Tour. That’s good shit and exactly why I consider myself a big Charley Hoffman guy.
PS – I have harbored a weird admiration of Charley for a long time and now that I’ve kinda flushed it out, I realize that I have the same sentiment for below average Chicago Cubs players from the 90s. My closest player comp here is Scott Servais. Just a solid player you’re comfortable watching because you know he plays the game right. That’s how I feel about Charley Hoffman. Just took me a while to explain it correctly.