Ten Moments in golf decade
Ten Moments in golf decade
10) Rory McIlroy’s cheerful, freckled face is perhaps the golf countenance I’ll most remember as representing 2009, partly, I suppose, because, we all saw so much of it as his teenaged heroics brought his World Ranking down from 50th after his first European Tour victory at the Dubai Desert Classic in January to an incredible 9th after his third place finish at the season closing Dubai World Championship, but more so, I guess, because I saw his curly-topped visage as golf’s new face of the future. Right now he stands where Tiger Woods once stood. Let’s hope Northern Ireland’s Holywood star can emulate Tiger’s on-course brilliance, but stay away from the kind of things that right now threaten to cost the World No.1 so much.
2009’s Shots Stick in Memories
9) There were some great shots played around the world this year, but to me the most unforgettable of all of them was the magnificent approach South Korea’s YE Yang fired off at the 18th hole on the final day of the season’s final major, the US PGA Championship. He needed to make a birdie there to become the first Asian winner of a major in history and the first man ever to beat Tiger Woods in a major in which the world’s greatest golfer of the 21st Century had led heading into a last round. The fact that Yang was playing alongside the hugely intimidating figure of Woods himself made things even tougher, yet despite being under the greatest pressure imaginable, underdog Yang hit the shot of his life. The ball seemed to be radar guided as it arrowed in on the pin and plopped down four or five feet away for the easy birdie that gave him his famous victory and me a rare memory.
Gary Player has his critics, especially in his native South Africa where some see him as boastful - “I do 1,000 sit-ups a day” - and too quick to lecture people on how they should live their lives, but for a man in his eighties, he is still a wonderful ambassador for golf. And he proved this a few months ago at a public driving range in Cape Town where I noticed him practicing quietly by himself at one end of it. A couple of us went over to watch the swing of a man who has won more majors and senior majors combined than anyone else and it wasn’t long before thirty or forty people had gathered and the grand old man was conducting a fully-fledged but impromptu clinic. I’ll never forget. He answered every question thrown at him, all the while demonstrating the difference between the swing of Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Jack Nicklaus and produced some really funny quips like this gem: “At tournaments these days, the top guns all arrive in their own jets. Then come the smaller propeller driven planes. Those belong to their caddies!” Thanks for the memory, Gary!
7) For three or four years I was convinced I was seeing the tragic ruin of a brilliant new talent as Michelle Wie kept making a fool of herself playing against the men of the PGA Tour. It made her pretty rich very quickly, but it destroyed her confidence so badly, she, eventually, was unable to make the cut in any level of men’s or women’s golf. She went to ground as a Stanford University student for a while and when she re-emerged she was able to give me some of the year’s best memories with her performance at this year’s Solheim Cup matches. Here, instead of being looked upon as the spoiled and pampered brat of women’s golf, she actually found herself embraced by her peers and caught up in their team spirit. She went on to win three and halved one of her four Cup matches and was hailed as the star of the American triumph over Europe. From being a pariah, willowy Wie had suddenly become the great patriot - ‘with a wicked sense of humour’, according to her now supportive team-mates - and it will all prove to be, I fervently hope, a gigantic cross-roads moment that will change the course of her life.
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