Did PGA Identity Crisis Spawn ‘Glory’s Last Shot’?

WHEN DID THE PGA CHAMPIONSHIP become known as “Glory’s Last Shot”? Did someone in Palm Beach Gardens come up with that, or maybe an ad agency?

It’s a serious question. I’ve been watching all four majors for many years and I can’t recall when I started hearing the PGA slogan. Now I hear it all the time. Too much, really.

I took to Google to investigate, a cursory research effort, I’ll admit. I didn’t come up with much. Within the first two pages of search results there are references to “Glory’s Last Shot” dating back to at least 2006. That’s as far as I looked.

A 2008 Associated Press story titled “Disrespected PGA Remains ‘Glory’s Last Shot’” touches on the issue.

“Ever since scrapping match play as its format 50 years ago, the PGA Championship has suffered an identity crisis,” reads the opening sentence.

Ah, yes. If you were picking majors the way you choose teams on a school playground, the PGA would be standing self-consciously against the chain-link fence while the Masters, U.S. Open and The Open Championship were fought over. Those three don’t have nicknames or mottos. They don’t need them.

The Masters is associated with Augusta National and Bobby Jones. The U.S. Open is often thought of as the game’s toughest challenge. The Open Championship is the world’s oldest major and the only one played on a links course.

“And what does that make the PGA Championship?” asked the AP story.

“The other one,” Geoff Ogilvy answered with a grin.

Ogilvy was quick to add that it’s still some pretty good competition, which is a bit of an understatement. The PGA Championship often has the best field in golf. And the players certainly want their name on the Wanamaker Trophy, engraved alongside Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

Any major is a career-defining or career-enhancing victory, including the PGA Championship, which went from match play to stroke play in 1958. Dow Finsterwald won that year, his only major. Bob Rosburg won the next year, his only major. Jay Hebert and Jerry Barber won the following two PGAs, their only majors.

So, yes, it’s an important major, even if it does have an identity crisis and is propped up with a slogan. I liked the PGA Championship long before it was tagged with “Glory’s Last Shot,” a phrase that I expect to hear too often this week.

−The Armchair Golfer

Ghosts of Jean Van de Velde Spook Yani Tseng

THE TOURNAMENT WAS SEEMINGLY OVER. Yani Tseng stood on the 18th tee at Carnoustie Golf Links with a three-shot lead over Brittany Lang. In a matter of minutes Tseng could claim her second consecutive Women’s British Open and fifth major title at the age of 22 years, six months and eight days. No one had won five majors so soon, not even Tiger Woods.

That’s when she was visited by ghosts of the past, if just for a moment.

In 1999 French golfer Jean Van de Velde walked to the 72nd hole of The Open Championship with a comfortable three-stroke lead. Then he strolled into history, but not at all like he or the aghast onlookers expected. Van de Velde splashed into the Barry Burn with his approach shot. All he needed was a double-bogey six and his name would be etched on the Claret Jug. He made a seven and lost the four-hole playoff to Paul Lawrie.

Tseng thought of Van de Velde as she walked to the final hole on Sunday. Maybe that was a good thing. She still had to take care of business. It was no time to get sloppy.

“When you come on this golf course, you’re going think about him,” Tseng said. “But I did think about it a little bit.

“I had a three-shot lead so I’d better hit a good drive here to win the tournament. I thought, okay, let’s hit a good drive, finish here.”

And she did, leaving herself about 135 yards to the hole. Still, the ghosts beckoned.

“I hit a 9-iron, and I was thinking about Jean Van de Velde.”

But Tseng isn’t Van de Velde. The Taiwanese star flew that “juiced” 9-iron straight at the flagstick and sank the short birdie putt for a four-shot victory.

Tseng is the new dominant force, not just in women’s golf, but all of golf. With the LPGA Tour adding a major to put five on the annual calendar, Tseng is looking like a serious threat to catch Tiger Woods and even Jack Nicklaus. She is already on a record pace.

−The Armchair Golfer

Oosthuizen Joins Venerable South African Open Champions

IT MUST BE SINKING in for Louis Oosthuizen. Not only is his name engraved on the Claret Jug along with golf’s greatest players, Louis has added himself to the esteemed list of Open champions from the Republic of South Africa.

They include Bobby Locke, Gary Player, Ernie Els and now the low-key, machine-like Oosthuizen.

(Photo: The great Bobby Locke.)

Between 1949 and 1957, Locke won four Open titles. Some of the old-time pros have told me that Locke was the greatest putter they ever saw. After playing exhibition matches with Locke, Sam Snead told the South African he ought to come to America. Sam said his peers ended up mad at him because Locke took Sam’s advice and not long after took home a lot of money from the States.

A nine-time major winner, Player won three Open Championships over a 15-year span. Gary could keep the ball low and was a short-game magician, including one of the greatest bunker players of all time.

Els won his Claret Jug in 2002 at Muirfield and couldn’t be prouder of Oosthuizen. Louis got a jump start in golf through Els’ foundation. Today Ernie wrote about the newest South African champion in his weekly diary:

I take great pleasure in congratulating Louis Oosthuizen on his fantastic victory. Honestly, it could not have happened to a better person. I played a practice round with him last Sunday and, typically for him, he didn’t give himself a chance. He is a quiet and unassuming guy, but he has shown everyone what a great champion he is.

In closing, Ernie added:

I’m so pleased for Louis and, as I said before, it couldn’t have happened to a better person. As Open Champion his life will change, but he won’t. He’s simply a wonderful kid and what he’s done will inspire so many young kids back home in South Africa.

As Mike of Ruthless Golf has been saying since springtime, here come the South Africans.

−The Armchair Golfer

Shrek V Plods Along But Has Happy Ending

CONGRATULATIONS, LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN. You amazed me. If Tiger, or Phil, or Lee, or Ernie, or Rory, or (fill in the blank) shot 16 under on the Old Course and won The Open Championship by seven strokes, the world would be at his feet.

I have to ask: Did you really know it was The Open Championship? I heard you mention it several times, but I still can’t help but wonder. Few untested players drop in on golf’s oldest major and make it look like they won their fourth consecutive men’s club championship.

They call you “Shrek,” so I’m going to run with the Shrek angle because I still can’t make sense of what I saw. I just can’t. I mean you no disrespect, but it seemed like pure fantasy. 200-1 odds and all that stuff about your name. My apologies in advance.

You were an ogre. You ogre-handled the field. You made the Old Course your swamp. It looked like Prince Charming (Paul Casey) would try to steal the day but it just wasn’t going to happen. Shrek rules! Donkey (your caddie) never left your side and kept you in great spirits. You were smiling and laughing from the outset of the quest. I liked Tiger, Phil and JD cast as the Three Blind Mice because they couldn’t buy a putt.

It was a super plot. Only DreamWorks could come up with something like that. No one was expecting it, a total surprise. If I have a criticism, it’s that the show dragged in the middle. I started wondering when it would end. Here was the problem: You never looked like you were in danger. To be honest, it didn’t seem like Prince Charming (or anyone else) had a chance. It was way too easy. Someone should talk to the writers.

The animation was not up to its usual standards (except for the ball tracer on the Road Hole). Nor was it the funniest Shrek movie I’ve ever seen. Sorry. However, on the plus side, I liked the ending a lot. That closing scene where you kiss Princess Fiona (Nel-Mare) with the baby in her arms was terrific.

I give you a thumbs up, Louis “Shrek” Oosthuizen. I hope there’s a sequel for you.

−The Armchair Golfer

From Tom Kidd to Tiger Woods: The Open at St. Andrews

The following is an excerpt from THE OPEN: Golf’s Oldest Major, a pictorial history of the championship that includes overview texts. To enter a free drawing for a copy of the hardcover book, email your name and address to armchairgolfer@gmail.com.

By Donald Steel
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

© 2009 R&A Championships Ltd. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

MOST GOLFERS’ IDEA OF HEAVEN is an Open at St. Andrews. For the players, there is certainly nothing to compare with victory over the Old Course—Jack Nicklaus maintains that “if you want to be remembered, you have to win at St. Andrews.”

There have been suggestions that every Open Championship should be held there so it is no surprise that it has housed more than any other venue. It is no surprise either that, of the three original courses used for The Open, it is the sole survivor. Recently, it has played host ever fifth year.

No course is more public than the Old in the sense that so much is visible of the start and finish from adjacent streets and buildings. The 18th green gives the feeling of being part of the town and, at the climax of an Open, is overlooked by thousands who have paid and a good few hundred who haven’t. Necks are strained from many a window. In the playing sense, it is the course of double fairways, double greens, pot bunkers, and the Road Hole—the most infamous in the world, a combination that golf course architects regard as the blueprint of their art for all students to follow and revere. Not that everyone has stood in awe.

Harry Vardon claimed that the Old is “a good course, but its bunkers are badly placed,” which may explain why none of his six Open victories took place there. George Duncan, on the other hand, remarked, “What I like about the Old Course, is that you play a very good shot and find yourself in a very bad place.” Tiger Woods’s reaction in 2000 was to avoid the bunkers altogether in all four rounds, a forerunner to victory by eight strokes that equaled St. Andrews’ biggest winning margin by J.H. Taylor exactly a hundred years earlier.

Taylor and Woods share with Jack Nicklaus, James Braid and Bob Martin the honour of winning two Opens over the Old Course but two other memories stand out. St. Andrews marked the first and last appearances of Arnold Palmer and the victory in 1964 of Tony Lema, with Palmer’s caddie on loan—one of the most remarkable of all.

Open Championships played at St. Andrews:
1873 / 1876 / 1879 / 1882 / 1885 / 1888 / 1891 / 1895 / 1900 / 1905 / 1910 / 1921 / 1927 / 1933 / 1939 / 1946 / 1955 / 1957 / 1960 / 1964 / 1970 / 1978 / 1984 / 1990 / 1995 / 2000 / 2005 / 2010

2010 British Open TV Schedule and Tournament Notes

THE 2010 BRITISH OPEN, the 139th edition of golf’s oldest major, gets underway on Thursday at the St. Andrews Links (Old Course) in Fife, Scotland. Stewart Cink defends in an international field of 156 players.


Purse: $7 million
Winner’s share: $1.22 million (approx)
Defending champion: Stewart Cink


Inside the field
Player interviews
Player bios
Old Course scorecard and hole-by-hole profile
Open Championship news
Open Championship on Twitter
Q&A: Steve Williams on the Open prospects of Tiger Woods
Past champions
Open Championship history

2010 British Open Leaderboard

TV SCHEDULE

There will be lots of live TV coverage during the 2010 British Open.

United States

Thu, July 15
ESPN 4 AM-3 PM ET

Fri, July 16
ESPN 4 AM-3 PM ET

Sat, July 17
ESPN 7 AM-2:30 PM ET

Sun, July 18
ESPN 6 AM-1:30 PM ET

United Kingdom

BBC Two/HD: Thu 15 July, 0900-2000 BST - live first round action
BBC Two/HD: Fri 16 July, 0900-2000 BST - live second round action
BBC One/HD: Sat 17 July, 1000-1200 BST - live third round action
BBC One/HD: Sat 17 July, 1210-1715 BST - live third round action
BBC Two/HD: Sat 17 July, 1715-1930 BST - live third round action
BBC Two/HD: Sun 18 July, 1100-1245 BST - live final round action
BBC Two/HD: Sun 18 July, 1245-2000 BST - live final round action

Red Button coverage:
Thu 15 July: 0900-1900 - live coverage, leaderboard and holes 9-11
Fri 16 July: 0900-1900 - live coverage, leaderboard and holes 9-11
Sat 17 July: 1000-1930 - live coverage, leaderboard and holes 9-11
Sun 18 July: 1100-2000 - live coverage, leaderboard and holes 9-11

Canada

Thu, July 15
TSN 4 AM-1 AM ET

Fri, July 16
TSN 4 AM-1 AM ET

Sat, July 17
TSN 7 AM- 4 AM ET

Sun, July 18
TSN 6 AM-3 AM ET

Australia

(Australian TV times via Aussie Golfer.)

Thu, July 15
Fox Sports 6 PM-5 AM

Fri, July 16
Fox Sports 6 PM-5 AM

Sat, July 17
Fox Sports 10 PM-4:30 AM

Sun, July 18
Fox Sports 7 PM-4:30 AM

−The Armchair Golfer

(Images: Keith Allison/Flickr)

Free Drawing for ‘THE OPEN: Golf’s Oldest Major’

THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP IS returning to St. Andrews this year, which also happens to be the 150th anniversary of golf’s oldest major. I have a special treat for you: a free drawing for a 304-page photographic history of the ancient golf championship.

Titled THE OPEN: Golf’s Oldest Major and published by Rizzoli, the book features black and white and color photographs from Getty Images. The rather sparse text is by Donald Steel, with a foreword by Arnold Palmer and afterword by Peter Dawson, Chief Executive of The R&A. This hardcover measures 12.3 x 9.4 x 1.4 inches and weighs 4.8 pounds. It’s hefty and gorgeous, a prized coffee table or sports den book for any armchair golf historian. (I love my review copy. I am not giving it up. The publisher is making another copy available for the drawing.)

Here are a couple of excerpts from the publisher’s news release:

THE OPEN: Golf’s Oldest Major revisits the history of the fourteen legendary links courses along the spectacular British coastline on which The Open has been played, with a chapter dedicated to each course highlighting the famous moments of victory, defeat, partnership, competition, and tradition that have come to define them.

The book brings together the classic images of the sport’s icons—from early stars such as Walter Hagen and Bobby Jones, and masters like Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus, to the exceptional talents of today, Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington.

OK, I must add three names not mentioned in the above publisher copy: Harry Vardon, Peter Thomson and Tom Watson. Because those three remarkable champions won the Claret Jug 16 times. (Vardon, 6; Thomson, 5; and Watson, 5.)

WANT TO GET IN ON THIS?

How to enter this free drawing: Just email your name and mailing address to armchairgolfer@gmail.com. I’ll blind draw the winner in a couple of weeks during the championship. Good luck!

−The Armchair Golfer

Monty, King of Qualifiers

WHETHER ABOUT THE U.S. OPEN or The Open Championship, there have been several qualifying stories in the last day or so. Some are inspirational. Some are heartbreakers. Normal fare for Open qualifying.

One stands out for me, though. If I had a Yonex visor like Colin Montgomerie, I’d tip it to ol’ Monty. He played like a madman to get into the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews. As Colin said, at his age (46) it may be his last chance to tee it up on the Old Course for an Open.

Montgomerie had a 36-hole qualifier at Sunningdale on Monday. After an opening round of 69, the European Ryder Cup captain needed a low number in the afternoon round to secure one of 10 spots available to a field of 96 European Tour players who had not received automatic berths. The old boy put up an 8-under 62, tying the course record. “My best round of golf in a long time,” Monty said after birdieing five of the last seven holes.

It must feel good to get the magic back, even if just for one round. Not that I would know. It will be Monty’s 21st consecutive appearance in The Open Championship.

U.S. Open Qualifying

Some of the notables who did or didn’t make it into the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

In
Tom Lehman
Davis Love III
Ben Curtis
Brian Davis
Stuart Appleby
David Frost
Erik Compton
Ty Tryon

Out
Justin Rose
Rickie Fowler
Tom Kite
J.B. Holmes
Rocco Mediate
The Haas family
Lee Janzen
Corey Pavin

−The Armchair Golfer

(Image: Steve Bailey/Flickr)