Thought for the Day
Too many people buy things they don’t need with money they don’t have to impress people they don’t know
Wow
As much as we may want to think otherwise, great majors are rarer than hen’s teeth. They have moments of drama but rarely do we get to savour the tasty dish served up at Royal Troon by Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson. Two superb players going at it head-to-head with no quarter asked nor given, and playing at such a level that the rest of the field are left panting in their wake, fighting each other for the minor placings.
Going into the final round with just one stroke separating them, the more common scenario would be that one golfer would maintain his form of the previous three days and gradually take control, while the other hung on as best he could, fully aware that he was no longer playing to win but more to salvage some pride. With his history of near misses, particularly in The Open, smart money would have predicted that Stenson would be the man to wilt, especially when his slender one-stroke advantage was wiped out on the first hole.
But the Swede not only refused to buckle, he put in the sort of performance that will not only stay in the memory but forever more be ranked among the greatest rounds, and 72 holes, in majors history. In the course of that magical Sunday, Henrik shot an astonishing 8-under par 63, while Phil was just two strokes worse at 6-under. The only other golfer in the field to get anywhere near them was Rory McIlroy at 4-under and he was never in serious contention and was consequently under no pressure.
What we have just witnessed has rightly been compared to the famous Duel in the Sun of 1977, when Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus stood toe-to-toe, matching each other’s scores each day until on the Sunday Tom went one lower than Jack. Troon ’16 did not quite match that for drama because Stenson had it sewn up with a couple of holes to spare so ‘77 remains, in my view, the greatest Open, and quite possibly greatest major ever seen. But by heaven Henrik and Phil came close.
Henrik Stenson is everything you might hope a champion sportsman to be – friendly, approachable, laidback, generous with his time and possessing the kind of dry, sardonic humour that plays very well in Britain, where we prefer modest under-statement to garrulous hyperbole. He’s a fine man and an even better champion.
Get out of my way
One interactive vignette of the television coverage caught my eye and raised a smile. During the third round Phil Mickelson played an approach shot and as he was walking to the green, turned and spoke to the cameraman who was clearly just a few feet away. Sky Sports were obviously showing the moment on tape because they had the time to mute the sound so that we couldn’t hear what he had to say. But that evening during the BBC highlights programme they left the volume turned up, so we could hear Phil berate the offending cameraman with the words: ‘I know you’re just doing your job but when you crowd my space you’re preventing me from doing mine.’ Clearly the Beeb was not going to allow the moment to go unnoticed when one of the world’s great golfers gave their rivals a bit of an earful.
At it again
You may remember the name of Martha Burk, who organised a risible demonstration in 2002 to protest Augusta National’s sexist membership policy, criticising the home of the Masters for having no women members. She’s at it again, this time with the USGA in her sights because it is taking the 2017 US Women’s Open to the Trump National Golf Course in New Jersey.
She wrote in the Huffington Post: ‘Seems the USGA, no stranger to hypocrisy, refuses to move next year’s US Women’s Open from the Trump-owned Bedminster club, even though the USGA issued a public statement condemning Trump’s racist views after his “Mexican rapist” rant when he announced his candidacy [for president]. Much as I would hope Ms Burk would try and change hearts and minds with soft-shoe diplomacy, rather than the head-on combat she seems to prefer, she’s got a point.
When The Trumpster made his entirely unacceptable comments just about every governing body and major Tour quickly issued statements to distance themselves from his offensive remarks. Yet they seem happy to continue involving him in golf on an international stage.
Quote of the Week
You can make a lot of money in this game. Just ask my ex-wives. Both of them are so rich that neither of their husband’s work
Lee Trevino