Whitley: Is Tour parity blessing or curse?

The PGA Tour has a problem and a blessing rolled into one growing issue. The latest proof is leading the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Morgan Hoffmann is a handsome, interesting and likable 25-year-old whose 65 Friday for an overall 13-under 131 has him three shots ahead of defending champ Matt Every, Henrik Stenson and Harris English.

You just have to remember it's "Morgan Hoffmann," not Dustin Hoffman or Morgan Freeman or Philip Seymour Hoffman or one of the other names I've heard him called the past two days.

Some moron (cough, cough) even spelled it "Hoffman" throughout a story in Friday's paper. If he holds on to win, let's hope the trophy engraver isn't as ignorant.

If he takes home Arnie's hardware, Hoffmann -- who will also be the 19th different winner in the past 19 PGA Tour events. Now that's what you call parity. You can also call it healthy competition.

Or you can call it a problem.

We all love underdogs, especially this time of year. Millions of people who don't know Calipari from calamari are suddenly obsessed with the NCAA basketball tournament.

The objects of this year's affection are teams like UAB and Georgia State, No. 14 seeds that sent a couple of No. 3s home in the first round. With golf, the March Madness never ends.

It's nice to have an occasional Florida Gulf Coast, but you don't want 68 of them to tee it up. It's sluggers like Kentucky that really stir the soul.

Millions love them. Millions hate them. It doesn't really matter as long as they care.

Tiger Woods was Kentucky, Duke and North Carolina wrapped into one. Now he's barely Coastal Carolina.

We waited years for Woods and Phil Mickelson to turn into an Arnie-vs.-Jack type of rivalry. It never really happened, but they were both dominant enough to give the Tour a compelling storyline.

Now golf fans turn their parity-riddled eyes to Rory McIlroy. He's shown plenty of game but not enough consistency.

That leaves Alex Cejka, Brooks Koepka, Robert Streb, Sangmoon Bae, James Hahn, Wofford, Wyoming and UNF. The first few are among the 18 gentlemen who've won the past 18 tournaments.

The Tour hasn't gone this long without a multiple winner since 1994, though the trend is not exactly new. Since 2011, only Jim Furyk (2011), Jimmy Walker (2014), McIlroy (2012, 2014) and Woods (2012, 2013) have won more than two tournaments in a season.

"We're in one of those low stretches where we have a lot of different guys winning each week, which is great for golf," said Billy Horschel, the last player to win two straight tournaments. "At the same time, you want to see guys, top players. You want to see guys continue to play well week-in and week-out."

If it sounds as if he's torn about parity, he is.

It's great when anybody or any team can win. The NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball have flourished using parity as a business model.

The difference is teams are name brands that have been around forever. Golfers must generate Q ratings from scratch. That's getting harder to do because there are so many good ones out there.

Blame Tiger, of course.

The Millennials watched him barge onto the Tour and dominate. They try to emulate his confidence and drive.

"I mean, I'm behind my schedule," Hoffmann said. "I would have liked to have won a few times by now. This is my third year out there. It's frustrating."

He is 25. Palmer was three weeks short of his 26th birthday when he won his first pro tournament.

Arnie soon had an Army and golf boomed. Now it has a new leader every week.

"This is the way it is," Horschel said. "It's tough out there."

You can't assume anything. Not even how to spell a guy's name.

This article was written by David Whitley from The Orlando Sentinel and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.