Van de Velde will never live IT down, even in retirement
Now, in pseudo-retirement, maybe Jean Van de Velde can get some bloody peace.
Maybe now he won’t have to answer any more questions about, um, well, you know.
Ah, who the heck are we kidding? Sorry, Jean, you’ve wearing that tight-fitting choke collar for life. It’s far too much fun for the rest of us.
Van de Velde announced his retirement, sort of, last week and contrary to one some may think, he didn’t wade into the Barry Burn to make the announcement.
“My career I can compare to a good bottle of wine,” said Van de Velde, who will continue to play in the occasional tournament. “You take a glass and enjoy it; you take a second glass and really enjoy it; a third, then the bottle is getting empty.”
Huh?
Oh, and why must the French always make references to wine when they are talking about anything but?
During that 1999 British Open, Van de Velde was the best player in the world after 71 holes. On the 72nd, he was perhaps the worst. Needing a double-bogey six to take the Claret Jug, all Van de Velde needed was to keep his tee shot on 18 inside Carnoustie, which he did. Barely. But instead of taking the wedge to fairway-pitch to green-three-putt-if-need-be route, Van de Velde tried play hero with a 2-iron. Hello grandstand-fescue-Barry Burn-drop-bunker-putt-lose in playoff.
Go big or go home, right? How about both?
He maintains he didn’t lose the Open on 18, but rather in the playoff. I guess in a literal sense he is correct, global conventional thinking be damned.
Van de Velde played in the Canadian Tour’s Montreal Open in 2006 and 2007 and, obviously, was one of the favourites of the Montreal media. Each day, he would be brought to the media centre to talk about his day’s work.
“Jean, good round today, great shot on 12,” the scribes would say in French. “But please, tell us what you were thinking at Carnoustie?”
At this year’s Ryder Cup, Van de Velde took on Davis Love III in Sunday singles. At the water-free par3 second, Van de Velde was getting set to hit when some idiot yelled out “Watch out for the creek!”
Not missing a beat, the Frenchmen stepped back, smiled and said “It’s only a 6-iron, not a 2-iron.”
Hey, nine years too late, but at least he’s learned his lesson.
Sergio Garcia maturity level catching up to his game at last
Sounds to me like Sergio Garcia may finally be growing up.
There was Garcia, having to collect his thoughts Sunday when accepting the spoils for his first European win in a few years, paying homage to stricken countryman Seve Ballesteros. Of course it was a no-brainer, with Sergio’s triumph coming not only in his own country, but on his home course, to pay tribute to the legendary Spaniard.
But Sergio rarely takes time to collect his own thoughts, mainly because he is far too often thinking of only himself. But there he was Sunday, subdued and misty-eyed, dedicating the win to Ballesteros. And for once, you knew it wasn’t an act, wasn’t scripted.
This time, it was genuine.
Too often, Garcia has been the master of his own negative press. When he choked and gagged down the stretch in every major he seemed poised to win, it was always a bad bounce here, a bad break there. It was never about his own shoddy play, or the ice-in-the-veins play of others (see Harrington, Padraig).
But slowly, we have seen Garcia growing up before our eyes, and long before Sunday. There he was at the PGA Championship, having fun with Charlie Wi when Wi almost canned a near-impossible putt on the final hole, laughing and giving Wi a friendly pat on the noggin. It was a scene we certainly hadn’t seen all that often when it came to the cocky one, especially since he was about to choke away another major.
Garcia became a fan favourite in the summer of ’99 when he skipped and frolicked up the 16th fairway at Medinah after closing his eyes and hitting on a prayer from behind a tree at the PGA Championship. His boyish charm and matinee idol looks draw tee-hees and, no doubt, phone numbers from millions of awestruck young ladies.
But the act had been growing thin, and more often than not Garcia came across as a pampered, snivelling brat who just happened to have a hell of a short game. When Anthony Kim handed Garcia a smackdown at the Ryder Cup, a continent rejoiced, as much for arrogance being put in its place as for a point secured for the U.S. team.
My, how times have changed. Or so it seems.
We saw a different Sergio this past Sunday. And, coincidence or not, Garcia was named the third –best player on the planet Monday.
The game has finally caught up with the hype.
So, too, has the maturity level.
Erik Compton comeback shouldn’t surprise anyone
Two hearts and five years ago, I was sitting with Erik Compton in a clubhouse in Guadalajara, Mexico, moments after his initial Canadian Tour victory.
The kid, as it turned out, was a writer’s dream. Compton wrote the story. All you did was type.
“I have never felt I had to prove anything to anyone,” Compton told me back in the summer of 2003. “If people are going to look at me, I hope I can show them never to give up in anything. That’s how I play, and that’s how I live my life. Just hang in there and never give up.”
Time hasn’t altered anything when it comes to Erik Compton’s outlook on life.
In case you missed it, the 28-year-old Floridian once again bucked the odds Friday, roaring from behind with a final-round 68 in tough conditions to finish right on the number needed to advance to the second stage of PGA Tour Qualifying.
Oh, and before we forget, he did it five months after undergoing his second heart transplant.
When I first met Compton at the Canadian Tour’s winter qualifier down in Orlando in 2003, you saw that resilience up close. Needing to find a place to play, Compton, the former college sensation at Georgia, chased his Canadian Tour card with, if you’ll pardon the pun, a heavy heart at Champions Gate.
His older brother, Christian, had suffered a broken neck while skiing in Norway that week. On the verge of securing his card, Compton considered pulling out of Q-School, but his family assured him his older sibling would make it. He stayed in Orlando.
There are two things that matter to Erik Compton. Family and helping others believe. Golf, as much as he loves the game, is a distant third, which is why he was ready to hop on a plane and give up the card that was all but locked up.
Maybe it is the odds that seem so stacked against him, but Compton refuses to stay down. Quitting isn’t an option.
Compton is making believers out of everyone again. On his third heart and unable to make the walk around a golf course, Compton requested and was granted the use of a cart for Q-School and his quest has become the most talked-about story in golf this autumn.
Compton and his wife, Barbara, are awaiting the birth of their first child. Life is pretty good. Oh, and he might yet find his way to the PGA Tour. Ask Compton. He’ll tell you which one is more important.
On Friday morning, Compton woke up and flipped on The Golf Channel before heading out to Crandon Golf Club on Key Biscayne for his final round. Needing to make up seven shots with only 18 holes to do it, the broadcasters seemed to be writing Compton off, saying his Q-School trip, no matter how inspirational, was going to be a short one. Seven shots? Not a chance….
“People always want to count me out,” said Compton Friday.
Lesson learned. Again.
Annika Sorenstam farewell tour not what LPGA had in mind
As far as farewell tours go, this isn’t exactly what neither Annika Sorenstam nor the LPGA Tour had in mind.
As her tears-and-tissue swan song nears the finish line, with just half a dozen tournaments to go before the most dominant lady to ever step to the tee rides off into the sunset, so much more was expected from this long goodbye.
Sure, Annika’s best days were no doubt behind her, and the torch has long since been passed to the likes of Lorena Ochoa, Paula Creamer and Yani Tseng , but this was Annika, she of three wins this season, we’re talking about.
Since winning the Michelob ULTRA Open in May, Sorenstam has just a pair of top tens. Two. That’s it.
But after this ends, Sorenstam will move on to a new life, and should the urge hit, can always return to the game. Odds are probably 50/50 at some point that is precisely what she will do.
The LPGA, of course, will continue on, just minus the longtime face of women’s golf. There may be better players on the circuit right now, but there is only one Annika. You see it every week of this final tour, standing ovations and galleries normally reserved for the final pairing on Sunday afternoon. They, too, wanted so much more, but this is what they must settle for.
And for an organization that has fumbled and bumbled their way through another season, it was really the lone feelgood story of 2008. Stealing most of Annika’s thunder – and not in any way positive – was Commissioner Carolyn Bivens, who for reasons still unknown, tried to adopt the implementation of an English-only speaking rule for its players, which wasn’t exactly well-received. By anyone.
The media blasted Bivens. Players shook their head in disgust and at least one prominent sponsor called the LPGA’s bluff.
This for an outfit that has lost four title sponsors this year. Count ‘em, four. Last week, ADT was the latest to decide they had better ways to spend their money.
Soon, Annika will leave the ranks of women’s golf and the LPGA will forge ahead, almost certainly with a shortage of tournaments and a continuation of questionable business decisions.
Only next time they won’t have Sorenstam to help clean up the mess.
PGA Tour Qualifying toughest test in golf
Today, the quest begins.
Not to confuse missed putts and missed cuts with the things that really matter in life, but the gun has gone off in the PGA Tour’s annual qualifying marathon. Lives will change, at least by golf standards, in the next few months. Some for the better, most not even close.
There are really no winners, save for those who reach the final stage and are assured of at least Nationwide Tour status for 2009. Stay inside the top 25 over the 108 holes of the final phase, and you’ll take your cuts with the world’s best on the PGA Tour.
Oh, and the Tour itself comes out a winner, lining its coffers with millions thanks to the hopefuls that shell out thousands for a crack at stardom – some who are good enough to make it in The Show, others who just think they are.
Make it through stage one, and you’ll get to do it again in a few weeks, just for the right to advance to the third and final phase.
During my seven years employed with the Canadian Tour, I rubbed shoulders with enough players to realize that this is indeed the most heart-pounding test in golf. I’ve seen more than a few that have moved on to win on the PGA Tour and become instant millionaires; others just can’t seem to get over that second-stage hump. To a man, each will tell you there is nothing quite like the rigors of Q-School.
Miss a six-foot knee-knocker for birdie in a tournament, your cheque will have a couple less digits or, at worst, you’ll get another chance to even the score next week. Miss it here, it could be the difference between playing for $6,000,000 purses or grinding it out for another year in golf’s minor leagues.
We see it every year. In Canada, there is hope that maybe, just maybe, the next Mike Weir, the next Dave Barr, the next George Knudsen, is trying to make it to the big time. You may not have heard of him yet but, should the stars align and the putts fall, he may be a household name in the very near future.
First, he has to get there. And that is the toughest part of all.
Economic slide may lead to sponsors pulling bucks in professional golf
There was a time not all that long ago when potential sponsors were elbowing each other for a choice spot near the front of the line to hop aboard the PGA Tour gravy train.
Life is probably about to get a lot more complicated for Tim Finchem.
For the family poised to lose their house or their life savings thanks to this economic meltdown, there won’t be many tears shed for Finchem and company, for obvious reasons.
But, as far as the sporting world goes, professional golf is sure to feel the noose tightening more than most.
The 2009 schedule probably won’t be affected as most contracts are signed, but long-term it is a different beast altogether. Should the current trend continue, there will be more than a few contracts pushed back across the table, unsigned, come renewal time.
At last count, there were 15 prominent sponsors, give or take, from the financial industry on the 2008 PGA Tour. Wachovia is belly-up and who knows if Wells Fargo will pick up the future tab. Finchem estimates that 15 sponsorship deals are up next year, including Deutsche Bank. If you are involved in the financial sector – or, for that matter, any business - how comfortably are you writing a cheque for millions to the PGA Tour?
The LPGA is even in worse shape. Last week, Carolyn Bivens had to tell her members that heavyweight sponsor ADT Security is pulling the plug. SemGroup footed the bill for an event in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but they went bankrupt a few months back. Gone is the Fields Open. Safeway will now sponsor one tournament instead of two. And if the LPGA Tour is going to conduct a tournament is Phoenix, they’ll probably have to pick up the tab with their own money.
All in all, the LPGA has lost four title sponsors this year.
Thanks to some bad business decisions, the economic slide is only fast-tracking sponsorship issues on the LPGA Tour. But the PGA Tour used to have a license to print money.
That could be changing.
It used to be there weren’t enough weeks in the year to accommodate the number of sponsors banging down the PGA Tour door.
Eventually, it could be the other way around.
Winged Foot lawsuit shows famed course is “life threatening”
If you’re looking to break 80 at the world-renowned Winged Foot, I’m going to let you in on a little secret.
Psst. Go play it. Right now.
Why, you ask? Because, as we sit here, you’ll only have to play 17 holes on the famed East Course.
From the department of “Geez, what the heck can I complain about today” comes news that a homeowner, whose digs just happen to sit on the par-3 sixth, is actually suing Winged Foot for, uh, get this – a “life-threatening condition.”
Really. I couldn’t make this stuff up.
Because the odd duffer lets go an errant shot on the nifty little par-3, Winged Foot has actually had the hole shut down by a State Supreme Court judge. Until further notice.
Seems the homeowner, a pizzeria owner who, evidently, is doing pretty good business, didn’t factor in this little hazard when he had the home built. Either that or he didn’t look out his back window.
Psst. Hey, buddy. Another little secret. YOU BOUGHT A HOUSE ON A GOLF COURSE. Did you think that lush grass was for lawn bowling?
So, the kids can’t go out and play. In related news, the kids’ plastic bubbles for them to live the rest of their lives in should arrive sometime next week.
Oh, and the family dog ate a golf ball last year and had emergency surgery that cost more than $3,000. Somewhere in there is a joke…
OK, so Winged Foot chopped down “several trees” in between the sixth green and the guy’s house, and since then, if you believe his lawyer, it’s been target practice. Five broken windows this year alone. If you didn’t have a little foresight that this could happen living on a golf course, not much else needs to be said.
Should you choose to buy a house next to the airport, every once in a while the joint is going to shake and you’re going to lose a little sleep. And should a plane drop in your yard, keep the dog away.
It’s pretty tough to fathom how this couldn’t be worked out between Winged Foot and the homeowner, something the judge is bound to mention in court. Put up a net. Build a wall, on Winged Foot’s tab of course. Move out.
But, hey, there isn’t a quick buck to be made there, is there?
It’s too bad. One of the most prestigious courses on the planet being held hostage by a guy that has too much time on his hands.
Come to think of it, my kid tossed a baseball through my front window last summer. See you in court, Rawlings. Cha-ching.
Seve Ballesteros never gave up and he won’t start now
It should be of little surprise that when Seve Ballesteros was confronted with the most devastating news of his life, he made a reference to others.
“I’ve always felt solidarity with those people who have to cope with illnesses, including ones that are far worse than mine,” Ballesteros said last week, moments after announcing to the world that a brain tumor had been discovered.
“We must confront any situation, however difficult it may be, with courage, faith, serenity, confidence and a lot of mental strength.”
So poignant, so true. So Seve.
Ballesteros underwent 12-hour brain surgery Tuesday in Spain, just days after doctors discovered the tumor, and reports suggest the 51-year-old is doing as well as can be expected.
It seems so easy to use a golf analogy in this space right now. For a five-time major winner who essentially lit the fuse that ignited two decades of European dominance at the Ryder Cup, perhaps it would be fitting. For a player who captured one of his three British Open titles by making birdie from a parking lot, somewhere there is an anecdote.
But this is far from a game, no matter how large a footprint Ballesteros has made on the sport. In news reports and editorials the world over, you read how this is Seve’s toughest test yet, as it would be for anyone. Nothing comes close. And for a man that lost his partner in a car crash in 2007, Ballesteros must once again contend with something life-altering – and yes, that is a best-case scenario.
The impact Ballesteros has etched on the sport, not only in Europe but all over the world, cannot be overstated. Charisma, personality and personality. That is Seve. I’m not quite ready to use the past tense. Not yet.
The get-well wishes from his peers, from fans, show the Seve is indeed one of a kind. A world holds its breath. Galleries don’t get much larger than that.
Most of Europe would love nothing more than to see their champion, their “Car Park Champion”, captain the European Ryder Cup side in Wales a couple years down the road. Fate suggests that is likely a longshot right now. Nor does it matter.
Not right now.
Seve’s golf resume is testament that when everything was on the line, he found a way to come through. He always had a chance.
As fans, we can only hope that trend holds true one last time.
Giving thanks for Natalie, mulligans, mute buttons and more
It’s that time of year yet again- well, at least here north of the 49th - when we give thanks and spend the long weekend with family and friends, stuffing ourselves with turkey and stuffing and maybe, just maybe, having one too many.
It’s also the time of year where we try to avoid the in-laws despite being a room away and discuss in hushed tones how in the heck Uncle Theo managed to pack 50 pounds onto his frame since last Christmas.
Ah, and of course, it is the unofficial end of golf season, although the diehards will keep getting out until there is three feet of snow on the first tee.
So, in the spirit of the sport, let’s take a look at what golfers and fans have to be thankful for during this special time of year. Let us be thankful:
For Anna Rawson and Natalie Gulbis. Just because.
For white tees, mulligans and cart paths, in no particular order.
For mute buttons and Johnny Miller. Together.
For the beer cart girl, who knows when it is time to cut your buddy off from the tall boys. The cart in the pond might be a hint.
For Carolyn Bivens, proving that you can screw up royally on a routine basis and still manage to keep your job.
For knee surgeons. Signed, all PGA Tour players not named Tiger.
For a job that requires me to play golf.
For inspirational stories like Erik Compton’s, who has undergone two heart transplants in his life but still manages to chase his PGA Tour dream.
For Boo Weekley.
For five-foot gimmes.
For the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Proof that you can put a bunch of suits who think they’re smart in the same room and still make them look clueless.
For luck, so you can sound like you read the putt perfectly when you knocked in that 60 footer last month. For bogey.
For fate, when you have four 20-something beauties backed up on the tee with you and you stripe your tee shot 280 yards down the middle. And for them being too far back to see you putt for triple-bogey on the same hole.
For getting hot at the right time of year to salvage a season. Oh, and add $10 million to the kitty. Love, Vijay.
For the day you break 100 for the first time. Using nine mulligans.
For Phil’s 11 at Pebble Beach. There is hope for us yet.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
RBC Canadian Open date could benefit from U.S. economic woes
It is not beyond the realm of possibility that the RBC Canadian Open ends up benefitting from the current train wreck that is the U.S. economic meltdown.
At least in a one-man’s-loss-is-another-man’s-gain sort of way.
Let it be said, before my inbox in flooded with a volley of emails, that I am not suggesting a henchman mentality when it comes to a crisis that puts golf, and a lot of other things, in perspective.
South of the 49th, these are dire times indeed at the outset of a federal election, with bailouts and rescue plans overshadowing the simple reality that an alarming number of our American friends are unable to meet their mortgage payments as they watch their life savings hang by the proverbial thread. The financial sector is taking a severe hit and the stock markets are plunging south, and there are fears it isn’t going to get better anytime soon.
It’s as serious as life can get, and Canadians are feeling the effects of the staggering economic dilemma as well.
Golf doesn’t, and shouldn’t, matter. Even Canada’s own Mike Weir cautions the current plight in the U.S. could have severe ramifications for the PGA Tour.
And while Scott Simmons, Bill Paul and the gang over at the RCGA aren’t going to say it in public, there could be a silver lining in an awfully ominous cloud when it comes to the RBC Canadian Open. There is still a business to run, and when it comes to business, these days the Canadian Open happens to have one of the most stable title sponsors on tour in the RBC. And that stability could end up being an advantageous negotiating ploy should push come to shove.
The PGA Tour likes the sure things, just to keep life simple. And RBC occupies a pretty lofty step on the sure-thing ladder.
Right now, the RBC Canadian Open is stuck with a date that they don’t want, right on the heels of the British Open. It’s a good news-bad news scenario – having a tournament on the PGA Tour schedule on a date no one wants. Sort of like scoring Charlize Theron’s phone number when your buddies take you out the night before your wedding.
While sitting down with my boss, Peter Mumford, and a couple of colleagues over lunch yesterday, talk ranged from the presidential debate to our NFL picks for the weekend. Inevitably, chatter turned to the Canadian Open, as it often does, and if the fingers can be loosened on the PGA Tour’s iron-fisted grasp of the Canadian Open date.
Sure, the Canadian Open is seemingly locked into their current date for the next few years, but that could change with a few strokes of Tim Finchem’s pen. And if this economic crisis down south continues to spiral out of control and sponsors begin pulling out, unwillingly or by their own choice, there could be more than a few empty spaces on the PGA Tour schedule.
Under that scenario, if RBC and the RCGA want a more attractive date, all it is going to take is a phone call with a purpose.
If it ever gets to that point, RBC is going to have a booming voice in the boardroom. Translation: if they want a better slot, it will be theirs for the taking.
Things are looking up for the RBC Canadian Open. Simmons and Paul seem hell-bent on returning Canada’s national championship to its glory years. Thanks to a stable title sponsor with extremely deep pockets, they now have an ace in the hole at the bargaining table.
As mentioned earlier, Finchem likes the sure things.
These days, there aren’t that many of them.
Fairways Web Editor Marty Henwood spent more than six years as the Media Relations Director with the Canadian Tour and has been involved in sports journalism for more than a decade, including stints in newspaper, radio, new media and media relations. He will offer his unique take on the world of golf, with nothing and no one off limits.