Thought for the Day
He who laughs last thinks slowest
With the Grace of God
At what was once regarded as the tender age of 23, Branden Grace has started his professional golf career with the results: Tied 14th, won, won – which surpasses even the explosive entry of Tiger Woods into the paid ranks. And while I am genuinely delighted for the lad, who must feel as if he has solved Fermatt’s Theorum at the first time of asking (the theorum, incidentally, states that: No three positive integers a, b, and c can satisfy the equation an + bn = cn for any integer value of n greater than two, and was unsolved for 358 years. Mathematics Ed), I hope he doesn’t get too carried with this flush of success. The history of the pro game is littered with the corpses of hot young tyros who initially laid waste to everything before them but whose light burned very brightly but for a hugely disappointing amount of time. And while I loathe the idea of becoming what my mother described as a Job’s comforter – the sort of person who tries to cheer up his friend in hospital, who has had a leg amputated, by pointing out that the man in the next bed wants to buy his slipper – I do hope that Branden has enough insight to recognise that a fabulous start doesn’t always lead to a wondrous finish.
People like Nick Dougherty, Marc Warren, Steve Webster, Chad Campbell, Kirk Triplett, Steve Flesch and Ty Tryone were all hailed as great prospects when they tasted early success but they now languish so far down the world rankings that even the thought of breaking into the top-100, as Branden Grace has just done, must seem an unobtainable fantasy, on a par with bedding Thandie Newton, Penelope Cruz and Jennifer Aniston on the same night, or even at the same time.
I offer such apparently pessimistic thoughts to young Mr Grace, as I like to think of him, for two reasons. First, his two victories have come in his native South Africa, which is a slightly different proposition to winning when a large percentage of the world’s best players are lined up against you. Second, those initial successes can come awfully easily, while subsequent victories, once you come down from cloud nine, can be elusive, to say the least. I truly hope that this apparently likeable and clearly talented young man goes on to ever greater achievements but, while it is important to savour his victories, he also needs to be mindful that he is just at the start of a long and arduous road.
Three cheers for the big man
Paul Lawrie is one of the good guys. And while we are lucky in golf with the quality of its protagonists (compare the behaviour of any pro golfer to someone like Mario Balotelli, to pick just one Premiership footballer at random), some manage to elevate the profession of pro golf even higher still. Paul Lawrie is one such man. He remains firmly grounded in the Aberdeen location in which he grew up and learned to play the game so well, and while many golfers are committed to ploughing much of their energy back into the game that has given them so much, Lawrie does it with an enthusiasm and vigour that few of his peerrs can match.
Eleven years ago he founded the Paul Lawrie Foundation and now comes the news that this Foundation is to be the new sponsor of the Scottish Boys Championship. One of the beneficiaries of Lawrie’s mentorship over the years is David Law, who won that championship in 2009, has subsequently turned pro and said: ‘Personally, Paul has helped me out a lot, not just financially but it’s also the time he has got for me. Whenever I’m struggling with my game, he’s at the other end of the phone for me, even if he is abroad. For sponsorship and other things like that, he has been terrific.’
Lawrie has never been the easiest interview, not because he is in any way ill-mannered but because his natural shyness and acute sense of privacy means that he finds it difficult to talk about himself. And yet despite this he is always approachable, courteous and forthcoming. He has also had to endure seemingly never-ending remarks to the effect that he didn’t win the 1999 Open Championship but Jean Van de Velde lost it, which ignores the fact that, over one of the most brutal Open layouts ever seen, he shot a matchless 67 on the last day and then demonstrated his talent in a superb four-hole playoff, in which he birdied the last two holes at Carnoustie, among the most difficult of any in the world, having been sat in the clubhouse for over two hours. Paul has won six times on the European Tour, which elevates him well above the standard of journeyman, or of a fluke major winner, and at the beginning of this season has started to find some real form, especially with the putter. If there is any justice in the world he will win several more times and enhance his status as one of the best golfers Scotland has produced.
Tip from Paul
I was lucky enough to attend a clinic that Paul hosted a few years ago at Gleneagles and one of the things he said has stayed with me ever since, and I think is excellent advice for we amateurs. He said that the transition from backswing to downswing should never feel like you’re hitting the ball but simply be as smooth a transition as possible, with the feeling that you’re gradually accelerating. And when your game gets stuck with a succession of bad shots, forget all about technique and just think about rhythm.
Quote of the week
The next time you see a good player stalking backward and forwards on the green, do not be led away by the idea that he is especially painstaking, but rather pity him for a nervous individual who is putting off the evil moment as long as he possibly can
Ted Ray