Links golf courses are not popular in China, where Augusta National is regarded as the beau ideal. This is ironic, because Bobby Jones and Alister Mackenzie both esteemed links course above all others, and the Old Course at St Andrews most of all. Mackenzie insisted that the “Spirit of St Andrews” pervaded Augusta National, although […]
US Open Championship
Tiger’s Swoon at Pebble Beach
Three years ago, the prospect of Tiger Woods melting down during a final round when he was in the hunt for a title would have been unthinkable. He was the dominator, peerless in the lead. Now, in the aftermath of his well-chronicled fall from grace, Woods can’t seem to hold himself together in the final […]
Chubby Chandler’s Gamble Pays Off for Darren Clarke
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 […]
Rory McIlroy: Better than Three Spaniards and as Good as Three Swedes. An Incomparable Start to the US Open.
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 […]