June 29, 2009 -- Even today I still hold vivid memories of playing pick-up basketball at our neighborhood elementary school. I was very fortunate that the school was located within an easy bike ride of my house and I'd head over to the school playground almost every afternoon in the fall and play roundball until it was time to go home for dinner. When I first ventured out to play with the "big boys" I had to endure the dreaded draft of players by the self-ordained Captain's. Unlike many of today's youth sports, it was sink or swim...either you were good enough to get picked to play or you weren't. Sometimes you could make it into a game by default if there weren't enough players present but that was very much the exception and not the rule.

He may not be the biggest name on Tour, but following Kenny Perry might be the best thing for your game. (Photo: Getty Images)

At our court, as with most playgrounds, there were a couple of dominant players. I certainly was not one of them, but I did realize their dominancy and respected it greatly when I had my limited "touches" of the ball. Although these guys were at most games they did occasionally miss a game or two. Many times they ventured to another school to challenge another set of kids and reinforce their superiority in a bigger arena. In their absence, the games that we played were the ones that I was especially fond of. The skill level was still very good and we actually moved the ball around and played as a team! It was during these games that I became a much better player and improved my skill sets tremendously.

So it goes with the PGA Tour. It's tough for the tournaments that surround major championships although this need not be the case. It's truly remarkable to me that with the unbelieveably strong level of play on "the tour" that many folks show little or no interest because a few "dominant" guys are missing from this week's event. Don't get me wrong, I feel very fortunate to be living at a time in history where I have not only enjoyed the golfing heroics of Palmer, Nicklaus, Player, and Watson but when you throw in Mickelson and Woods, as a golf enthusiast, I, along with so many others have been truly blessed.

I would like to offer a bit of advice to the more casual golf fan that generally foregoes watching a tournament when the likes of Phil or Tiger are not in the field...learn more about the other guys and hitch your wagon to a star. Pick a player that you don't know a whole lot about...look him up on the internet, see where he came from...where he attended college...his mini-tour record...his Nationwide Tour record, etc. In many cases you can find a guy from your area or one that attended the same schools that you did. I have some members at my club that hosted Tim Clark in their home when he was playing a Buy.Com event at our club...they now have more than a casual friendship with him and communicate somewhat regularly. Because of their friendship with Tim, I find myself looking for him on leaderboards each week. My son has a similar story...during the same tournament he was treated with great kindness by both J.J. Henry and Chad Campbell. Although many years have passed, to this day he pulls for both of them week in and week out.

The tour is teaming with talent and great personalities! In addition, as a collective whole, the monies that the PGA Tour produces for charity each week should be enough to garner our respect and devotion to a group of men that do so much more than just chase a ball around each week. I was unable to view the Traveler's first round this week because of prior commitments, but when I opened the paper on Friday morning and saw that Kenny Perry had fired a 61, I knew that at some point on Friday afternoon and into the weekend that I'd be watching to find out if he could remain that hot or if some players would overtake him. 61, not bad for a guy not possessing that "superstar" status.

Find yourself some guys to root for and enjoy the change...heck, you don't even have to worry about not being picked to play!

Richard Smith is the Head Professional at Stonehenge Golf & Country Club in Richmond, Virginia. Richard is a Certified PGA Professional in both Golf Operations and Instruction and the director of the Stonehenge Golf Academy.