One of the more searing memories of my young life was the monumental collapse by Frenchman Jean Van de Velde on the 18th hole at Carnoustie in 1999. With a three shot lead heading into the final hole, Van de Velde (the only French golfer of any worldwide significance then and now) broke out his 20-handicap act, banging around the 18th with seemingly little care for his swings, shot selection, or accuracy. The man made a12 footer for triple bogey to force a playoff, when he stood 20 minutes beforehand with one hand proverbially on the Claret Jug. The resulting playoff resulted in a win by Paul Lawrie, a relatively unknown Scot.
Fast forward to yesterday…Adam Scott’s heartrending collapse, bogeying the last four holes to lose The Open Championship to Ernie Else. And yet, the last hour and a half of The Open Championship from Royal Lytham & St. Anne’s reminded me of a few things, some specific to golf and one more general to sports:
It’s hard to win majors.
Just no better way to say this…Adam Scott played the best of anybody all week but wilted in the face of pressure. Except for his tee shot into a fairway bunker on 18, Scott placed himself in the fairways or darn close on 15, 16, and 17, but could not dial himself in to hit quality iron shots when he needed them. One par on that stretch likely seals the deal for him, and his best chance for par lipped out on 16, an ominous sign for his chances.
Those kinds of mistakes are truly mental. Given his play for the entire week, there’s no reason for Scott to hit a ball into the long grass on 15 or into the greenside bunker on 17. He made four bogeys in 68 holes before reaching the 15th tee. Pressure anyone? I’d say so.
And yes, the recent spate of first-time major winners proves that winning one of these is difficult, but winning multiple deserves some recognition as a sporting achievement. The PGA Tour is as equitable and competitive now as it ever has been. The ability for two 42-year olds to win The Open in back to back years proves anyone can win a tournament on any given day. Els didn’t even qualify for The Masters this year and had evaporated from the competitive map last year.
The European Tour has its own talent
Perhaps the best aspect of The Open besides its unique courses and requisite style of play is the large amount of European talent seen by American audiences. How many of you even knew Thorbjorn was a real name anywhere in the world before this week? But it extends beyond naming conventions to talent. The aforementioned Paul Lawrie rarely plays in the United States, similar to the Frenchman Van de Velde. Ten European Tour players finished in the top twenty-five this week, with someone like Nicholas Colsearts from Beligum sandwiching awful rounds with two brilliant 65s. Or Miguel Angel Jimenez, a perennial major leaderboard wallflower. Simon Dyson and Peter Hanson both have been towards the top of major leaderboards in the past year, with Hanson leading The Masters going into Sunday.
Golf has truly become a worldwide game but, even more importantly, many players from unconventional worldwide circuits can make runs at major PGA tournaments. The Open represents arguably the deepest worldwide field of any tournament, since qualification from both the PGA and European tours reduces how many bottom dwellers can play, unlike the US Open with its many club professionals and other qualifiers. It seems that with each passing year there’s some name on The Open leaderboard that most of golf has never seen or heard.
Tiger will never be “back”
His game clearly is improving this year. He’s won three times on Tour, the most of any player, and has done so in fine fashion. While he will never attain the previous dominance he once enjoyed, winning majors by the boatload and viscerally gashing championship golf courses, Tiger Woods has changed his game.
What I mean is his inability to play aggressively on the weekends. At each of the last two majors he has come in with a game plan, a precision-based strategy designed to pinpoint weakness in courses and exploit them. And, in each of the last two majors, he’s played very well on Thursday and Friday, entering both weekends in contention before fading fast. While his lack of execution could be faulted, Woods refused to hit driver yesterday, in sharp contrast to Els and Scott who bombed deep drives well into Sunday afternoon. Back in the day, Woods would keep his foot on the gas going down the stretch, and that did not include leaving 230+ yards after hitting an iron off the tee, which he did on 15 yesterday.
The man with the killer instinct is gone and, for my money, will be gone until he begins to play more aggressively. I bet Tiger wins at least two more majors, probably either The Masters or the PGA Championship, because his ability to drive the ball into the short grass and modest rough can carry any player in those two tournaments. But on the courses of either Open, with thick rough and/or fescue lining fairways, bad driving will cost any player a few strokes. So, the Tiger hype will continue, but his play yesterday does not bode well for a return to dominant status.
Sports remains unscripted
Ernie Els brings little to the table as far as emotional response. He’s quiet, easygoing, and kind of funny looking, a marked difference to his close friend Adam Scott who he vanquished yesterday.
But Els had a long road over the last ten years. In 2004, he finished in the top five of all four majors without winning, and only won three tournaments since his Open championship at Muirfield in 2002. Most importantly, his son Ben was diagnosed with autism in 2006, leading to a paradigm shift for the Big Easy’s efforts. He devoted more time and money to “Els for Autism,” his organization to research the causes, symptoms, and possible cures of autism. While doing that, his golf game suffered. Els added tournaments to his schedule in an ultimately futile effort to qualify for The Masters this past year, a situation that garnered some attention on the golfing stage. Entering this week, Els had played at one tournament in a month and received 45-1 odds of winning the richest championship in the world.
While money bets he won’t win a major again, Els continues to persevere and prove the golf world he can play very well at points and seems to be rediscovering his game. At one point, Els made an eagle putt to tie for second at the U.S. Open, before fading over the next three holes. While the script could not be believed on Sunday, his play has picked up noticeably in the last six months and, for once, seeing an old face hoisting a trophy gives a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction to us as golf fans.
Bit #1: Penn State damned to years in the dark
As I wrote this post the NCAA announced its penalties of Penn State in strange fashion. First, the NCAA did no investigative work of its own, using the Freeh Report as a de facto investigation, a unique occurrence given how long the governing body of college sports usually takes to hand down sanctions. Of even more import, however, was the decision by the executive committee to give Mark Emmert powers to punish Penn State through “nontraditional means.”
Again, I get their rationale, but the NCAA punishing criminal actions on behalf of the football program sets an eerie precedent. Should a player get arrested in a criminal act, the NCAA can now punish the program using this precedent even if nothing occurred on the field. I view that as a gross overstepping by a body whose members are largely public institutions. Roger Goodell can create such penalties in a private business, but the NCAA’s authority looks more dubious.
That said, the message should be received by this point. Penn State will play without 20 scholarships for four years while not being able to reach any postseason games. Considering the yearly pedestal the Big Ten sits on with championship voters, these penalties could easily cripple the program for years. I applaud Emmert for providing sanctions harsh enough to keep the program alive while forcing the athletic department to pay $60 million to endowments for survivors of sexual abuse. (I will say, however, that vacating wins looks overly punitive in this regard since nothing on the field was affected by this case. Those players won the games they played and while the record book says differently, millions of in person attendees can confirm it happened. Worst and least effective penalty the NCAA has).
I bet Penn State does not approach Top 25 status for 7 years.
Bit #2: Jeremy Lin vs. New York
I’ve received a few requests for something on Jeremy Lin and have been reluctant since fault lies equally on both sides. Lin admitted last year he was at 85% and allegedly refused to play in the playoffs, an astounding revelation until you realize his turnover ratio likely would have doomed the Knicks to Miami’s offense anyway.
But, the Knicks made it clear they would match any offer to retain Lin as recently as a month ago. The problem that’s arisen since, however, looks clearly to be originating with New York star (and ball hog) Carmel Anthony. He began comments from the Knicks locker room about Lin’s personality, unwillingness to play, and inability to relate well with lots of other players. While teams always have potential personality conflicts, Melo did not say a word about this when the Knicks rolled last season during Linsanity. He remains a truly gifted player but also looks to be an awful teammate, a guy who refuses to take a secondary role or even share a spotlight.
Overall, the Knicks did not conduct themselves properly in this case. Stories of Knicks representatives avoiding those from the Rockets at the Summer League (offer sheets must be physically delivered) and owner James Dolan’s vendetta against Lin added to the intrigue. Couple those with the soundbytes from his own teammates, and the Knicks look thoroughly vindictive towards Lin, even though the team was not good enough to progress much further in the playoffs last year. Throwing a teammate under the bus, especially a rags-to-riches story like Lin, looks, feels, and smells classless. The Knicks will likely have a mediocre season this year, as Anthony and Stoudemire will either not click or miss too many games combined to matter. Lin provided some noticeable excitement in the Garden last year, but that will disappear now that he’s exercised his right to look elsewhere for work.
Bit #3: Lions Finally Take Action
The Detroit Lions experienced a fusillade of arrests this offseason, from DUIs to assaults. It seemed at times like Jim Schwarz lost the ears of the guys in the room or perhaps had pushed a brand of toughness too aggressively for anyone to follow off the field.
Thankfully, on Monday, the Lions took action. After Aaron Berry, a third year cornerback was arrested for assault on Saturday night, his second arrest in a month, the Lions peremptorily released him, finally stressing consequences for inappropriate off-field behavior. While I feel somewhat sorry for Berry, his attitude clearly created this second arrest, a fact made doubly more incomprehensible considering the media attention lavished on the Lions this offseason for conduct unbecoming. These players should know sports by now…celebrities complain about their lives being overly scrutinized but given how many diehard sports fans, bloggers, and networks exist, sports players cannot mess up without someone reporting it to the public.
The Lions could easily be a playoff team this year depending on the outlook of the NFC North, but the immaturity of the field needed to be stopped. Sure, Berry does not represent a must-have player for this roster, but his quick departure sends the proper message to his former teammates: “step over this line and we will have no problem letting you go.”
Bit #4: Shea Weber Offer Sheet Perplexes
I’ve mentioned this kind of thing before, but the large 14-year offer sheet signed by defenseman Shea Weber with the Philadelphia Flyers truly puts in perspective why an NHL lockout might be needed for the owners, especially those of Philly.
Ilya Bryzgalov, Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, and Chris Pronger all received similar long-term, massively expensive deals from Flyer GM Paul Holmgren, only to see their production slip and injuries ravage their talent. For Weber, the hard-shooting defenseman from the Nashville Predators, the new deal keeps him under contract until he’s 100 years old in hockey terms, a massive investment by the Flyers who should eventually stop giving out similar contracts.
But the problem remains for NHL franchises…the market for players is such that 14-year deals are now as common as more modest five year investments. Zach Parise and Ryan Suter both received large deals from the Minnesota Wild last month, and it sounds like every player now wants to be under contract until they reach 45. While I rarely acknowledge the NBA’s structure as being better than hockey’s, the limit on the length of contracts in the NBA absolutely makes sense for both players and owners. Players can achieve longer term stability while not becoming salary cap burdens (unless you’re Rashard Lewis) while owners and GMs are not crippled by 10+ year contracts. Hopefully the lockout will address this.
Oh, and for the record, the Preds should match the offer sheet. Weber will be the best defenseman in the league now that Nicklas Lidstrom has retired. Pairing him with stud goalie Pekka Rinne and Nashville can build out from their goal, a huge luxury in today’s NHL.
Bit #5: July 21, 1989 – Tyson KO in 1:33
Haven’t done a sports history Bit in a while, but this one requires mention simply because the YouTube video says all you need to know about Mike Tyson in his prime (start at the 2:15 mark). While he might be nuts now, Tyson was the hardest boxer to beat when he was on his game for a solid five years or so. Watch any highlight clip of him from the late 80s or early 90s and Tyson looks like an animal with a seemingly limitless motor. He could beat anyone and often did so in stunning fashion. Carl Williams certainly felt that as well back then.
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