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Ancestral Links by John Garrity: An Appreciation

February 23, 2013 by John Strawn

Ancestral Links, by John Garrity.  Published in 2009 by New American Library. An occasional series available at http://theaposition.com/johnstrawn/: The Best Golf Books The best golf writing maneuvers along a treacherous ridgeline separating the chasm of sentimentality from the gorge of self-indulgence.  There’s something about golf that gets the sap rising.  In Ancestral Links, John Garrity […]

How Rory McIlroy’s Practice Ground Helped Him Win the US Open.

July 25, 2011 by John Strawn

When Rory McIlroy was still an amateur, he visited Padraig Harrington’s house in suburban Dublin, where he eyed the Claret Jug.   “I’d really like to have one of those.”   He then glanced out the window towards Harrington’s practice grounds, maintained in the manner of a course on the Open rota.  “But if I can’t have […]

Chubby Chandler’s Gamble Pays Off for Darren Clarke

July 20, 2011 by John Strawn

When Darren Clarke won the Open Championship last week, he not only collected the $1.4 million first prize money from the R & A, he earned a bonus of two million Euros (about $2,833,000) from Dunlop, courtesy of a clever marketing deal created by his agent,  Andrew “Chubby” Chandler.  Lee Westwood, another Chandler client, had […]

Hooray for Rory–We Knew You Could Do It!

June 19, 2011 by John Strawn

Rory McIlroy’s Masters’ meltdown will now recede into merciful memory, annihilated by his exhilarating march to victory at the 2011 US Open.  Only Tiger Woods’ 2000 win at Pebble Beach can be compared to the record-setting four rounds McIlroy played this week at Congressional. As I wrote on Friday and Saturday, McIlroy’s composure after his […]

Rory McIlroy: Better than Three Spaniards and as Good as Three Swedes. An Incomparable Start to the US Open.

June 18, 2011 by John Strawn

Not only has the new USGA Executive Director, Mike Davis, transformed the US Open by his innovative approach to setting up the courses, he has introduced creativity into the pairings during the first two rounds.  This year at Congressional the USGA paired Swede with Swedes, Italian with Italians, Spaniard with Spaniards.   (They also paired three […]

Maybe Rory McIlroy Didn’t Win the 2011 Masters, But Once He Learns to Tame the Lizard, He Will Win the a Major.

April 13, 2011 by John Strawn

Watching Rory McIlroy transmogrify during the final round of the Masters, morphing from the best golfer in the world, which he had clearly been on the previous three days, into a shell-shocked zombie with a caddy, underscores how delicate the line is between excellence and ineptitude in tournament golf.   It was painful to watch Rory wandering […]

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