Monday 28 May 2007

Heavy weather at Wentworth

The mystery of why the Americans don’t turn out for the PGA at Wentworth is finally solved. Forget the prize money or the effort of getting here. With the rain pouring down on Sunday and few players with a good word to say about the state of the greens, I think we can safely say the weather might have something to do with it.
The conditions made the outcome a bit of a lottery but it was still sad to see Justin Rose lose in the play off, and I agree with the Daily Telegraph that his shot to the green on the eighteenth (72nd) was the shot of the championship, though ironically, getting just inside Hansen on the green of the play-off hole was the worst place he could have been. With Hansen holing out, his job was almost impossible. (Picture of Justin at Augusta by member of flickr under Creative Commons License)
Still, with the yanks absent and Fisher, Broadhead and Rose all having a share of the lead, you’d think one of them might have done it. Peter Aliss obviously felt the same. ‘There comes a time,’ he intoned to his cronies, ‘when one of our young players will just have to go out and win something.’ I reckon this was a challenge to Luke Donald in particular, the golden boy whose swing and short game are much admired, but whose results seldom live up to expectations. David Howell has earned his stripes and Justin looks to be snapping at the heels of the big boys. Come on Luke, don't get left behind.
It’s unlike me to get worked up about English hopes as I’m a Scot by birth and if I’m allowed a brief digression I was more upset on Saturday by my old home team Dunfermline Athletic losing out to Celtic than I was about events at Wentworth. I’m old enough to remember when the Pars actually did win the cup. Don’t ask how long ago. The record books will tell you.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

It'll be interesting to see how the young British hopefuls fare at the Open...

AliB said...

Yeah, I think the 'old hopefuls' have had their day!


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