A new generation of superstars?

Does anyone have an uncle?

In Bernard Darwin’s delightful autobiography The World That Fred Made published in 1955, of which I have a first edition, he wrote; “It is not a crime to play a bad shot and the player may yet be a good husband and father and a true Christian gentleman.” I am not certain that every one of my foursome partners would unreservedly endorse that last sentiment but we needn’t go into that here.

His next sentence goes right to the heart of the matter; “A mistake in judgment is more criminal” though he adds sympathetically “some allowance must be made for the stress and strain under which the player is suffering.”

It is true that a failure of execution may simply reflect the physical frailties to which even good golfers are occasionally prone, albeit very infrequently compared to ordinary mortals. Wanton lapses in course management, caused by not engaging the brain before choosing a club and thinking out what shot to play, are much less forgivable. Almost every top professional I’ve ever played with has expressed utter astonishment about how often highly successful business people, expert at processing masses of complex information to make rational decisions in their working lives, seem to leave all their analytical skills behind in the car park before they step on to a golf course.

Last Sunday neither mistakes in judgment nor even one less than perfect tee shot, stood in Nelly Korda’s way as she saw off the competition in the Chevron Championship at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas. I regret the move two years ago of the first women’s major of the year from its long term home at Mission Hills, which is an easy drive from the luxurious Vintage Club near Indian Wells where I’ve enjoyed the occasional short winter break. However, new sponsors can call the shots about where events are played even when they want to move them to a Jack Nicklaus designed course.

Korda’s fifth Tour win on the trot and, more importantly, her second major title, was a triumph. Bearing in mind Darwin’s reference to “stress and strain”, the way she achieved it made that triumph all the greater. On the final day she got up at four in the morning to complete her weather delayed third wound. A quick player, she then had to endure a last round of over six hours. On the eighteenth tee she waited minutes before driving, and again on the fairway before hitting her second across the water. None of this affected her composure, though a later comment about the pressure of the last day hinted at what she was feeling.

On the following morning Scottie Scheffler’s own run of victories continued. It’s two decades since the professional scene was last dominated by one man and one woman. In the first six years of this century Annika Sorenstam won eight major championships and Tiger Woods ten, thus averaging three a year between them. In the last thirteen months Korda and Scheffler have won a total of four. Right now, few punters would bet against them picking up a couple more before the end of 2024.

Before getting carried away with what may or may not be a new generation of superstars I propose a less frequently referenced benchmark by which to measure them. In 1953 Ben Hogan, at the age of forty and four years after suffering terrible injuries in the famous road accident, became the first player to win the Masters, the United States Open and the Open in the same calendar year, an achievement which remains unique to this day. His margins of victory were staggering - five strokes at Augusta, six at Oakmont and four at Carnoustie.

To be an aggregate of fifteen shots ahead of the best ball of all the runners up in the only three majors you entered in one season is a record which is unlikely ever to be beaten. It’s hardly surprising, therefore, that after watching Hogan win that 1953 Open Darwin observed “I distinctly got the feeling he could have done whatever was required of him to win.” The US Open this year returns to Oakmont, which has hosted it more often than any other course. If Scheffler can handle its slick and challenging greens, among the best I have played, he will arrive at Royal Troon in July with a chance to emulate Hogan.

It was apparent last week that US broadcasters regard women’s golf, and specifically women’s majors, as less important than men’s. Coverage of the Chevron was noticeably inferior to the Masters and from time to time priority was given to the men at RBC Heritage. This is very disappointing since almost every amateur I know reckons they benefit more from watching the rhythmical swings of top women players than those of their male counterparts. No less an authority than Bobby Jones once said the player whose swing he most admired a man at all but Joyce Wethered.

It’s not a new problem. Women have been too often overlooked in parts of the media. In 2007 Padraig Harrington was frequently but wrongly credited as the first European to win a major championship since 1999. Actually he was merely the first European man to do so. Some professionals have now thrown their lot in with LIV and as individual golfers that is undoubtedly their right. But given how the men who lived in what’s now called Saudi Arabia treated women for thousands of years I won’t be holding my breath waiting for LIV to provide a lead in redressing the imbalance in media coverage of women’s and men’s golf.

How to put this right will be the subject of a future post. Let me end this evening on a positive note. The first professional women’s competition ever played on the Old Course at St Andrews was the Ricoh Women’s British Open. It was won by Lorena Ochoa from Mexico, at that time the world’s top ranked lady golfer, who led from start to finish. She was supported by twenty five family members and friends, and by the prayers said by her uncle on the Swilken Bridge. I know because I was lunching in the R&A clubhouse on the first day of the championship.

At the time, almost twenty years ago, sporadic attempts were made to portray the event as the invasion of golf’s most famous citadel by hordes of feminists. On the ground there was nothing but harmony, enthusiasm and praise for and from both players and spectators alike. In August this championship, now called the AIG Women’s Open, will return to the Old Course.

Meanwhile before then I’m gearing up for the R&A Spring Medal early next month. Everything is in place and I feel as well prepared as the most assiduous professional. Except in one respect. I don’t have an uncle to pray for me. Any chance you can help?