Into the rhythm

Did you miss the howler or were you just too polite to say?

The thrilling conclusion to the Masters thirteen days ago was exactly the tonic that men’s professional golf needed. For months frustrated fans have been been presented with the rather unedifying spectacle of players, and a few very well remunerated administrators, seemingly unable to find a formula which enables the world’s best golfers to play regularly against each other in the same events.

Happily, for the time being at least, that’s been eclipsed by the manner of Rory McIlroy’s victory. It will be the stuff of legend for decades and reflects well on both his character and skill, producing amazing shots just when they were most needed. Bearing in mind the context, his shot to the fifteenth green in the final round will rank as one of the best ever played.

It takes nothing away from Rory’s triumph to point out that it also benefited from an element of luck, as indeed is often the case in a tight contest. Great admiration, and also deep sympathy, is due to Justin Rose for his brave challenge. It won’t only be English fans whose hearts went out to him as he lost a playoff at Augusta National for the second time.

A whole new phase in Rory’s career now opens up. After the agony of years of waiting to achieve his deeply cherished goal he’s now removed the only remaining monkey from his back and a potentially glittering future awaits. Several swashbuckling, Arnold Palmer style wins may soon follow. Next month the PGA Championship returns to Quail Hollow, a happy hunting ground for him having won four tour events there. How many more majors are within his grasp?

Actually, Rory doesn’t yet dominate in the way Tiger did twenty years ago. There are plenty of credible contenders for majors hovering close, including potential first time winners like Ludvig Aaberg, as well as Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau who finished joint third and fifth respectively at the Masters. Rory didn’t make the cut in 2016 at Oakmont or in 2019 at Royal Portrush, the courses where two of this year’s remaining majors will be played. History suggests that age may present a challenge.

A rarely mentioned statistic is that all but two multiple major winners recorded the vast majority of their wins at a young age. Gene Sarazen, the first player to capture all four majors, won his tally of seven before the age of 34. Walter Hagen was in his forties when the the Masters was first played and never finished better than eleventh at Augusta. Long before that he’d tucked away eleven wins in the Open, US Open and PGA by the time he was 36, the birthday which Rory will celebrate next month.

Tiger won fourteen majors by the age of 32 and only added one more after that. Fourteen of Jack Nicklaus’s eighteen majors, a record which now looks unlikely ever to be beaten, were achieved by the age of 36. The last of Arnold Palmer’s seven came when he was 35. Gary Player won six of his nine majors before he was 36 and Tom Watson’s eight were all in the bag when he was 33.

The two outliers in this galaxy of the great are Ben Hogan and Sam Snead, both of whom were born in 1912 and whose early opportunities were therefore curtailed by World War II. In Hogan’s case he was brought up in a poor, one parent household, having suffered the unimaginable trauma as a young boy of being in the room when his father committed suicide.

Defying history is a challenge Rory will relish and if anyone is going to do it he is far and away the most likely. Nevertheless even the modest goal of overtaking Nick Faldo as the European with the most major victories in the modern era requires Rory to win two more after turning 36. Only Hogan, Nicklaus, Player and Sam Snead have done that - so far. Whatever the future holds, interest in golf has been boosted by this year’s Masters and we can all rejoice about that.

This weekend the golf world should also salute Jay Sigel, who died last Saturday. He was summed up by his friend Kevin Hammer, USGA President elect, as “the best amateur since Bobby Jones”. His record speaks for itself - low amateur at the Open, US Open and three times at the Masters, and a member of nine victorious Walker Cup teams, including two as captain. At 50 he turned professional and enjoyed success on the Seniors and Champions Tours with career earnings in excess of $9 million.

Coming back down to earth on this side of the pond, 2025 is settling down nicely into a comfortingly familiar rhythm. A late Easter meant the Masters was over before the annual member/member foursomes knockout at Royal St George’s took place. Luckily my playing partner tuned up at Augusta, albeit as a guest, not a competitor. This may explain our progress to the fourth round (full disclosure - a bye in round one meant we only had to play one match on Good Friday) and along the way one or two good shots were hit.

Next Saturday I’m off to St Andrews for the R&A Spring Meeting in which my friend Tom from LA is playing for the first time. His charming wife Lisa is flying with him. Soon after Tom joined RSG a few years ago he brought her along to the Club’s annual Mixed Dinner down in Sandwich. This is a very civilised event with high quality food and wine. Whether it’s the hottest date in town for a non-golfing lady is another matter.

Anyway, one visit was clearly sufficient for Lisa to case the joint as she’s not been back since. I took this to be a strong sign of her approval. Inspecting St Andrews may be a sterner test and I look forward to her verdict. The weather isn’t exactly the same as Southern California and a lively, noisy university town, is very different from the peaceful old world intimacy of Sandwich. On the plus side though, there’ll be plenty of daylight for romantic evening strolls along the East Sands.

The Spring Meeting is a chance to catch up with friends for the first time since winter, whether over lunch or dinner in the Clubhouse or marshalling on the course. Although a sense of tristesse often descends when waiting on the platform at Leuchars for the train back to London the bank of happy memories has always been replenished. The prospect of treats at great courses in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and across the pond later this summer helps one to bear the return journey with fortitude.

For anyone who loves books the gift of a new one is always welcome. This doesn’t pass unnoticed by friends and I’m sometimes embarrassed by the generosity of their gifts. The Evangelist of Golf is the apt title of a recent beautifully produced book by George Bahto about Charles Blair Macdonald and the many courses with which he was involved in various capacities.

I’m indebted to David Home, under whose chairmanship North Berwick has made such huge strides in the last three years, for giving me a copy of this and getting it signed by Tom Doak who wrote the Foreword.

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Two weeks ago, the very first sentence of The old and the new my post on April 12 referred to G.K.Chesterton’s epic Ballad of the White Horse wrongly as the Ballad of the White House.

When a howler like this appears readers are not usually slow to point it out. Maybe you’re suddenly being more polite than usual. Alternatively, given what’s going on in the world right now, and if you’re not very familiar with Chesterton you could reasonably have thought that White House was the correct title. Anyway apologies.

ENDS