USA Today (April 12)
With the postponement of the Masters, Tiger Woods was “rewarded with another seven months to reign as the king of the green jackets.” But recovery time could be an even bigger benefit. “This long, uncertain break as the nation has shut down due to the pandemic has to be helping the oft-injured Tiger gear up for what very well could be the most bizarre golf season we have ever seen.”
Tags: Bizarre, Golf, Green jacket, Injured, Masters, Pandemic, Postponement, Recovery, Tiger, Tiger Woods
Caribbean Business (October 1)
Although he “spent years hammering his predecessor, Barack Obama, both for playing golf and leaving Washington too often,” President Trump “appeared unconcerned with the optics of spending his Sunday afternoon watching The Presidents Cup at the Liberty National Golf Club as the crisis continued” in Puerto Rico. As victims of the hurricane clamor for help, President Trump is also expected to “present a trophy to the tournament’s winning team.”
Tags: Crisis, Golf, Golf Club, Hurricane, Obama, Optics, Predecessor, Puerto Rico, Trump, Unconcerned, Victims, Washington
Financial Times (July 28)
“More than 420,000 auto jobs in Germany could be imperilled by a 2030 ban on combustion engine cars” that’s currently under debate. “The beguilingly deceptive electric car… might look like any other car from the outside but inside, it is more like a computer on wheels.” For example, UBS analysts discovered a Chevy Bolt “had just 24 moving parts compared with 149 in a VW Golf, mainly because electric motors are so much simpler than combustion engines.” Moreover, it was much cheaper to produce than expected, leading to their conclusion that “with further cost falls likely, electric cars would probably disrupt the industry faster than widely understood.
Tags: Auto jobs, Ban, Bolt, Combustion engine, Disruption, Electric cars, Germany, Golf, Imperilled, Moving parts, UBS
Bloomberg (September 10)
“Golf is a microcosm for the problems that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is facing in reviving Japan’s economy — low prices, unwilling consumers, a lack of female participation and an aging populace. The sport generated 1.37 trillion yen ($11.5 billion) in sales for Japan’s courses, driving ranges and equipment retailers in 2013, less than half the revenue of the peak years.”
Tags: Abe, Aging populace, Consumers, Economy, Female participation, Golf, Japan, Microcosm, Prices, Revenue
The Economist (June 14)
In China, golf is “a barometer of change.” Banned under Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping allowed a few golf courses for foreign investors. Then, with rising affluence, “more locals wanted to try the sport. Suddenly more golf courses were being built in China than anywhere else, despite the fact that their construction was technically illegal.”
Tags: Affluence, Barometer, Change, China, Construction, Deng Xiaoping, Golf, Golf courses, Illegal, Investors, Mao Zedong, Sport
