AUTUMN 2008

What drama and excitement we’ve had in the last two men’s major Championships – The Open and The U.S.P.G.A.Championship, and The Ricoh British Women’s Open.
Initially, the media and public thought that The Open at Royal Birkdale would be remembered as the Open that Tiger Woods didn’t play in. As The Open evolved though, Tiger’s absence ceased to be an issue.

With squally showers and gales throughout the four days of The Championship, controlling their golf balls seemed impossible for most of the competitors. Those who managed it some of the time and who posted a good scores raced through the field. Padraigh Harrington’s final round display, especially on his final nine holes was masterful, and no one watching will ever forget his sublime 5 wood that he hit to within three feet to set up a Championship sealing eagle on the seventeenth hole. I know of no one in golf who doesn’t like the affable, hard working Irishman. Padraigh’s second major victory and second successive British Open Championship win was richly deservd after so much hard work.

Credit too, to Ian Poulter for finishing second. A performance that surely cemented his place in Nick Faldo’s Ryder Cup Team. Ian, or “Poults” as he is known, is one of those personalities that tends to elicit a love or hate reaction from the fans. Whichever category you come into, there is no doubting that he is a big game player, and definitely someone who can withstand pressure. Congratulations to Chris Wood, who matched Justin Rose’s achievement of finishing 5th in a major Championship whilst an amateur. Halfway through the final round it looked as if Chris could actually win The Open, but nevertheless, his high finish was remerkable when you look at all those professionals who struggled in the extraordinarily difficult conditions. Chris who hails from Bristol has since turned Professional, so we wish him well in his new career.

The men’s fourth and final major of the year – The U.S.P.G.A. Championship proved to be just as exciting as The Open, perhaps even more so, with Padraigh Harrington and Sergio Garcia playing together in the final round and literally fighting it out for The Championship. Padraigh confessed to struggling with his game throughout the week, but surely that is the measure of a great Champion – the ability to play below your best and still score well. Padraigh did just that, but saving his very best shots and putts for his final nine holes when it counted. After a poor opening nine holes,
Sergio played well for the rest of the Championship, and although he putted reasonably well, when it came to the crunch on the back nine, he once again missed a couple of putts, which was the difference between him winning his first major and finishing second. Finish second he did, with Padraigh winning his third major, and second consecutive major within three weeks.

How exciting and uplifting that Europe have Padraigh in their team. With tiger absent and Trevor Immelman having won The Masters at the start of the year, the U.S.A. are devoid of any current major champions.

Nick Faldo’s two wild card picks of Paul Casey and Ian Poulter were somewhat controvertial. The majority of the golfing pundits expected one of those players to be picked, along with the very much in form Darren Clarke. In a few weeks when that controversy has died down and The Ryder Cup is played, I believe that the match will be the tightest in recent years. Home advantage and a wiley captain in Paul azinger, will, I think lift an otherwise average American team. One thing’s for sure, and that is that I won’t be getting much work done for the three days of the match!

The final women’s major of the year – The Ricoh British Women’s Open Championship, played at Sunningdale seemed like an advert for the Asian women players. The standard of golf generally was of a very high standard, with Ji-Yai Shin the twenty year old from South Korea giving a masterclass in how to play a faultless final round. Having said that, Shin was very nearly caught by another twenty year old – Yani Tseng from Taiwan, who earlier this year won The McDonald’s LPGA Championship, and who is currently on track to win the LPGA Rookie of The Year. The leading European was Finland’s Minea Blomqvist, who finished in a tie for seventeenth.

The LPGA’s new policy that all of its players must speak good enough English to converse with their Pro-am partners, conduct a press conference and give a winning speech if necessary, otherwise they face suspension, does seem to be directly aimed at the asian players, but in particularly the South Koreans. Time will tell if the new policy is enforceable.

So, like anyone reading this, I am eagerly anticipating The Ryder Cup, and hoping that the British Autumn is kinder to us than the British Summer has been!

Happy golfing!

Mickey