Is golf in a rut?
The Olympics have left everything in their shadow since the Queen uttered: “Good evening Mr Bond”, not least other sports.
England’s cricketers have been spared scrutiny as they look set to lose their world Number 1 status to South Africa. And the world’s top golfers are gathering almost unnoticed in South Carolina for the last major of the season, the US PGA.
It’s sold as “glory’s last shot”, but the US PGA always struggles to match the status of the three majors that precede it – the US Masters, the US Open and the British Open.
These three have their own distinctive characteristics. The Masters is always at Augusta; the US Open is always over the hardest courses; the British Open is always on a links by the sea.
Pity the PGA
And the US PGA? Well it’s always in August when no-one’s really paying attention. And never more so than this year, when the efforts of Team GB have rightly dislodged interest in Britain’s outstanding crop of golfers.
It may not just be the Olympics though. Britain has had the best golfers in the world for some years now. But, apart from the prodigy Rory Mcilroy, England’s top swingers Lee Westwood and Luke Donald (see photo, above are now more famous for messing up in majors than ever winning one.
Perhaps the golfing public have got bored of waiting. Maybe this lack of public awareness will help their long quest. The tournament takes place at Kiawah Island, scene of the infamous Ryder Cup of 1991, later dubbed as the “War on the Shore”.
Desperate to regain the Cup, the Americans dressed in desert fatigues to mimic the troops doing battle against Saddam Hussein in the first Gulf War.
Ryder Cup
The Europeans weren’t angels either. Seve Ballesteros accused his opponent of the heinous crime of swapping a ball – a charge which could have led to a significant penalty.
And the Ryder Cup looms large 21 years on. This tournament is really the last chance for several players to win enough money to qualify for the two teams that will fight it out in September. That in itself will add to the motivation of winning a major.
Even if we were desperately anticipating the contest, it would do little in helping judge the winner. The last 10 majors have been won by 10 different players. So back someone who’s never won before and your chances of a return are good. And worry not about the Olympic overshadowing golf again.
Come 2016 golf is joining them, if not beating, by becoming an Olympic sport.