Thought for the Day
So what’s the speed of dark?
The King is dead; long live the King
And so, after seemingly limitless discussion, debate and anticipation, Tiger Woods is finally dethroned as best golfer in the world and our own Lee Westwood is now, officially, The Man.
Phil Mickelson, of course, had several opportunities to install himself as Head Honcho over the last 12 months, and Martin Kaymer could have climbed to the top of the heap at the weekend but it is Westwood who now has a large target painted on his back, and is the guy for whom all the others will be gunning. I think he’ll cope.
He joins an elite, exclusive list, becoming only the 13th man since the rankings started in April 1986 to be able to say, with some justification: ‘I’m better than the rest’. The only potential downside for Lee is that he is currently the only person to achieve that number one spot without having a major championship under his belt (the other dozen, incidentally that precede him being Woods, Greg Norman, Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros, Ian Woosnam, Nick Price, Vijay Singh, Fred Couples, David Duval, Ernie Els, Bernhard Langer and Tom Lehman).
Woods, inevitably, has enjoyed the longest reign at the top (623 weeks in total, the longest stretch of which, just ended, was 281 weeks – that’s almost five-and-a-half years). It’s a shame that such a period of dominance should end not with a bang but a whimper but it’s also a measure of the man’s ability that he has done nothing of note for over a year but such was his earlier supremacy that it has taken until now for him to be usurped.
And this is not a sideways comment on the new number two in the world but Westwood disproves the old adage that nice guys don’t come first. Throughout an appalling slump, when he slipped from number four in the world in 2000 to number 259 just a year later, despite being in despair about his game, to the point of almost giving it up entirely, he was always approachable, polite and, most of the time, affable. He would be the first to admit that he’s not an academic but he’s smart, funny and almost always good company. Let’s hope that major win is the next notch on his driver.
Who’d a thunk it?
Before leaving the world rankings completely, may those of us on this side of the pond take a certain quiet pride in the fact that six of the top-10 (Westwood, Martin Kaymer, Paul Casey, Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell) are from Europe? While watching Sky’s coverage of the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic Malaysia (won by Ben Crane) it was very noticeable, to me at least, that during the first three days in particular the American commentators went out of their way to point out how many of the leading players were from the USA. They did this a little less often once Brian Davis (England) forced his way into runner-up spot, closely followed by Martin Laird (Scotland), Luke Donald (England), Robert Allenby (Australia) and Ernie Els (South Africa).
Are the Americans hurting because their previous dominance of the game is now ended – we can only hope so.
The joys of a pro’s life
Of course we would all want to be touring pro golfers, mega rich, doing something we love and travelling the world but the job does bring with it a few burrs under the saddle, prominent among which, I would suggest, is the daft photo opportunity. Every golfer has to accept their share, and Rory McIlroy is no exception. He was in the Middle East last week for the Egyptian Open presented by SODIC and the event organisers were clearly delighted to have the hottest young golfer in the world at their venue. Cue Rory teeing it up in front of the pyramids in a totally artificial photo opportunity. Oh well, it’s a nice pic.
Natural wonder
Machrihanish Dunes, at the southern tip of the Mull of Kintyre on Scotland’s west coast is, to say the least, a little remote and inaccessible. But if you ever get the chance to play golf there, mug your granny and take it with both hands because the place really is somewhere special. Designed by David McLay Kidd, who created the Castle Course at St Andrews, among others, it is links golf at its best. Virtually no earth moving was done in order to create this gem, the architect simply followed the natural contours of the dunes in which the course is set, so expect plenty of blind shots (to both tee and green), lots of humps, bumps, hollows and undulations, and a true sense of the almost spiritual pleasure you can get from golf at its wildest and most natural.
Quote of the Week
Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated; it satisfies the soul and frustrates the intellect. It is at the same time rewarding and maddening – and it is without a doubt the greatest game mankind has ever invented.
Arnold Palmer