Thought for the Day
If ignorance is bliss, why aren’t more people happy?
A close run thing
For a while there the Players Championship, which the Americans keep on trying, unsuccessfully, to talk up as the fifth major, looked like being a damp squib. With the greatest respect, the names at the top of the leaderboard did not feature in anyone’s list of best golfers in the world; in some cases they possibly weren’t the best golfers in their family. Names like Kevin Kisner, Ben Martin, Brian Harman, John Senden, Kevin Na, Chris Kirk and (apologies) Jamie Donaldson don’t quite set the pulse racing, especially as the PGA Tour constantly promotes its flagship event as having the strongest field in golf.
But then Rickie Fowler, who has talent to burn, as he demonstrated last season by recording a top-five finish in all four majors, finally converted a significant amount of his potential into achievement. Six-under par for the last six holes to force Sergio Garcia and Kevin Kisner into a three-man playoff was masterful but we are constantly told that attacking from behind is much easier than front-running. That Fowler was able to hold his nerve through a four hole playoff, during which he twice birdied the notorious 17th, something he also did in regulation play, bodes well for his future.
More than most
At the other end of the professional spectrum, last week New Zealander Michael Campbell announced his retirement from Tour golf, a decade after he won the US Open. His victory came on one of America’s greatest courses, Pinehurst number 2, and on the final day he was stalked by Tiger Woods and, when he crossed the finishing line, was the only man in the field to match par. Campbell was one of the most frustrating golfers to watch – extremely talented but, through a mixture of injury and mental fragility, likely to go through long, fallow patches when he seemed incapable of beating a fat man in a race for the bus.
But through the many troughs he remained remarkably approachable and courteous, no matter how many times he was asked about his poor play. He also suffered, I felt, from being hailed almost as a demi-god whenever he was at home in NZ and his recent divorce cannot have been easy. He has said that he might consider playing on the senior tour in four years time but for the moment is happy to no longer be an absent father to his two sons.
On those occasions when he cares to look back at his career it can be with great satisfaction – he won 15 times in all, and forever will be able to describe himself as a major champion, which puts him in a pretty elite group.
Unequal distribution of wealth
If you earn £30,000 pa, it will take you 413 years, 47 days, 1 hour and 24 minutes to earn what Justin Rose earns in a year. Quite depressing, isn’t it?
I can reveal this courtesy of a website that allows you to pitch your salary against that of any top-flight golfer, or work out how many pints of lager, or other desirables you can buy with your annual salary. If you want to make yourself unhappy, click here
Pop quiz
Do you know which tournaments constitute the women’s golf majors? Do you even know how many majors there are in the women’s game?
As it stands at the moment (but obviously is subject to change), there are five women’s majors, as follows:
ANA Inspiration
Women’s PGA Championship
US Women’s Open
Women’s British Open
The Evian Championship
Don’t be embarrassed if you didn’t know the answer because down the years there have been so many women’s majors that it’s hard to keep track. For example, the Women’s Western Open, Titleholder’s Championship, du Maurier Classic, the Nabisco Dinah Shore and Kraft Nabisco Championship have all been designated as majors at one time or other.
Women’s tours both in America and here struggle for TV coverage, publicity and sponsors but one reason could simply be that they seem to think major status can be added or withdrawn on a whim. It cannot. Majors evolve over time but once they’re established they shouldn’t be tinkered with.
After-thoughts on The Masters
In the aftermath of Jordan Spieth’s impressive Masters victory, Jack Nicklaus said: ‘Congratulations to an exceptionally talented young man. That was an incredible performance. Jordan is so beyond his years. I like everything about him. He’s polite. He’s humble, he handles himself so well off and on the golf course. And he’s obviously a wonderful player and now a Masters champion.’
Nicklaus is not alone and almost every golfer, journalist or official who has been quoted on Jordan has emphasised his personality as much as his golf. Could it be that Tiger’s surliness, 1,000 yard stare, club-throwing, swearing and general demeanour are finally being seen for what they are – graceless, charmless and sapping much of the fun out of watching pro golf?
Quote of the Week
I have one rule on Tiger: Admire the game, not the man… The man is rude and vulgar and has a ‘screw-you-I’m-Tiger-Woods’ policy that’s not the least bit becoming
Rick Reilly