[Yoda]

In this weeks Sports Illustrated, the Top 10 "Gurus" are listed as determined by a poll of Golf Magazine's Top 100 Teachers.

1. Percy Boomer
2. Ben Hogan
3. John Jacobs
4. Bob Toski
5. Ernest Jones
6. Homer Kelley
7. Alex Morrison
8. Paul Runyan
9. Henry Cotton
10. David Leadbetter

I am astounded.

Not at Homer Kelley deserving to make the list -- he did -- but that he actually made it. That stubborn fact means that Golf Magazine's Top 100 Teachers deem his contribution to the game among the most influential in golf's history.

Clearly, The Golfing Machine is not mainstream. And it remains unheralded on both Lesson Tee and TOUR. Therefore, we can only conclude that, despite the virtual 'lock-out' of anything smacking of TGM in the popular magazines -- not to mention the PGA -- that there nevertheless must be a lot of 'closet Machiner's' out there! I do note that two of the three men comprising the panel ranking the top ten finalists -- Messrs. Hebron and Suttie -- are TGM Authorized Instructors.

I am equally puzzled at the blatant passover of the 'usual suspects' of the modern era, e.g., Harmon, McLean and Flick. What's with that?

Could The Golfing Machine be closer to the mainstream than any of us would previously have imagined? The dictionary defines Ground Swell as "An unexpected, sudden gathering of force, as of public opinion." Could this unexpected ranking be the undeniable evidence that such a TGM ground swell exists -- at least among the Top Teachers of the game? And that The Golfing Machine will soon be accorded its rightful place at the forefront of Golf Instruction?

The ulitimate impact of this Sports Illustrated All-Time Golf Guru Ranking cannot be known at this time. At the very least, it is Conventional Instruction's wake-up call. In 1981, with tongue very much in cheek, Homer Kelley said that to win acceptance, any new idea must go through three phases:

#1. "I don't believe it."

#2. "It's against the Bible."

#3. "I knew it all the time."

Looks to me like Phase #3 is well under way.