Thought for the Day
Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what the hell happened
The naked truth
Gary Player has received a lot of attention for posing nude for the ESPN Body Issue, and it has to be admitted, he has a remarkable physique for a 77-year-old (see below). His pictures even attracted more hits than those of 20-year-old Scottish Golfer Carly Booth. But whenever I hear Gary talk about health, fitness or his dietary regime I am reminded of the American golfer Dave Hill who said of the South African: ‘‘He runs and lifts weights and eats health foods. That’s all well and good but I get tired of hearing him brag about it. So what if he has the most perfect bowel movements on tour?’
Carly Booth, incidentally, explained her decision to bare all, rather oddly, with the words: ‘We want to make golf more popular and we want young girls to see us and think: “Oh, I love her – I love what she’s wearing.”’
Half way there
Ian Poulter has admitted that he has a problem with obsessional compulsive disorder (OCD). It means everything has to be organised in exactly the right way before he can relax, so his clubs have to be in his bag in the correct sequence, he will only use white tees and must have exactly 12 balls when he starts a round. If he flies by private jet he loads the baggage himself and always does his own ironing, in both instances because he believes he does it better than anyone else. The full list of his idiosyncracies is too long to repeat here but the most telling thing he said about himself was: ‘I’ve never wanted it to be officially diagnosed any more than I’ve ever wanted to see a good psychologist. I don’t need anyone to understand me because I understand myself.’
Yes Ian, the first step is to recognise that you have a problem. But the crucial second step is to then do something about it.
The History Boys
Matchplay events are always a nightmare to televise because they’re so unpredictable. So at the Volvo World Matchplay in Bulgaria a while ago, Sky TV did the sensible thing of asking a range of questions of several of the competitors during the practice days. This meant they had a number of pre-recorded items that could be dropped into the coverage between matches, or when one of the games finished on the 15th hole.
The question I still remember is: ‘Who was the greatest match player of all time?’ and the answers – from professional golfers, you understand, were depressing insofar that they showed an almost complete lack of knowledge (or apparent interest) of the history of the game.
Ian Poulter got four votes (including his own), Seve Ballesteros got three and only Bo Van Pelt seemed to have any sense of history, naming Bobby Jones. No-one mentioned arguably the greatest match player of all time, Walter Hagen, who won the US PGA Championship, when it was a matchplay event, five times, four of them in succession. So great were his matchplay credentials that he was invited to captain the US Ryder Cup team the first six times it was staged and his individual record was played 9, won 7, lost 1 and halved 1.
It is a pity that he seems to have been forgotten so completely by those who follow in his footsteps but are unlikely to emulate his achievements.
One of the best
People like me enjoy fanciful discussions along the lines of: What was the greatest ever year for majors? And these discussions are as enjoyable as they are pointless. But it has to be said, 2013 is nudging ever closer to the top of this hypothetical list. Adam Scott’s welcome bounceback from bitter disappointment to take the Masters in a playoff against the extraordinarily gracious Angel Cabrera kicked it off. That was followed by a tight, dramatic US Open in which Justin Rose played a stunning final hole to relegate Phil Mickelson to runner-up for the sixth time. But then Lefty came back with the best round of his life at Muirfield to lift a claret jug that even he doubted he would ever do.
Roll on the US PGA.
After-thoughts
A lot of observers have been commenting that Rory McIlroy is having a very inconsistent season, but they’re wrong. He has been consistently bad all year.
Only seven men in the history of the game have won their first major after the age of 40. Time and opportunities are running out for Lee Westwood.
Footnote
You may remember that last time out I mentioned a golf club in Arizona that has written into its constitution that once a year the members have a secret ballot, and whoever is declared the most objectionable member is ejected from the club. I relayed this story to the secretary of a very well-known (and posh) golf club in Britain and he said: ‘How can they keep it down to just one?’
Quote of the Week
Few learn golf in a lifetime
Grantland Rice