Six putts, 63-unders and farewell to the sixties ‘King’
The 2016 golf year will be long-remembered as a weird and wonderful one. It was the year that threatened to be the ‘Year of the Tiger’, as Tiger Woods made his much-awaited return to golf, and when golf made its long-awaited return to the Olympic Games. It was also the year when Love played his part in another Ryder Cup sensation orchestrating an American victory on home soil with none other than Tiger Woods as a one of his vice-captains. And it was the year in which we sadly said farewell to ‘The King of Golf’, the great Arnold Palmer.
The fireworks are already beginning to light-up the night sky outside, but before we join together for the annual clock-strikes-twelve-tradition of ‘Auld Lang Syne’, let’s reflect for a while on a few of the highlights as well as some of the more mysterious moments of the past golf year.
April – Six putts for Ernie!
It was four-time Major winner Ernie Els who set the ‘weird tone’ for this golf season. Let me take you back to the first round of the Masters in April. Slicker-than-ever-greens at Augusta were further exaggerated by gusty winds. The ‘Big Easy’ was in the hunt for his first green jacket.
A serious case of the yips saw the South African’s ball ping-pong in slow motion over and round the hole six times before finally disappearing into the bottom of the cup. Golf fans couldn’t believe their eyes! This was surely some trick of the camera? Perhaps even a special episode for the good old ‘Candid Camera’ TV series. In his usual relaxed manner, and with no effort at all, the ‘Big Easy’ six-putted the first hole at Augusta National to open the Masters with a 9. It was the worst score ever recorded at the first hole in the tournament’s history. Weirdly enough, a 10 was initially recorded on his scorecard, but that was later changed to a 9 with six, rather than seven, putts. The par 4, 445 yard hole is named ‘Tea Olive’, by the way. Els certainly needed something stronger than a cup of tea to recover from such a major putting disaster!
All credit to Ernie though, in the style of a true champion, he kept his cool and played on. He eventually missed the cut (+6) by just three shots after opening his second round with a double-bogey at the first hole.
“Two fours and it’s yours …”
– BBC commentator Peter Alliss predicting Danny Willett’s Masters victory at the 17th.
One player’s nightmare turned into another’s fairy tale at Augusta in 2016 when the relatively unknown Englishman, Danny Willett shot to fame by winning the Masters. He snatched the first Major Championship of the year from under the nose of defending champion Jordan Speith. The awesome young American had looked invincible, having led for the first 65 holes. Yet it was Danny Willett’s destiny.
Originally the Englishman had considered skipping the Masters this year as his wife was due to give birth to their baby on the final day of the championship. But lucky for the Willetts, their son Zacheriah arrived early enabling 28-year old Danny to fly to Augusta and win the tournament of his dreams.
He came in as the last player in the field which meant that his caddie, Jonathan Smart, was given the 89th caddie bib. And that’s a legendary lucky number in golf. When Jack Nicklaus won his 6th green jacket in 1986 at the age of 46, his son Jackie was his caddie. He also wore ‘89’.
It would appear to have been written in the stars for the Yorkshireman. He shot a bogey-free closing round of 5-under par 67 to win by three strokes on Sunday – the day his son was due to be born. And what is more, just ten minutes after the prize-giving, his wife, Nicole also celebrated the moment that she herself popped into the world, twenty-eight years ago.
Interestingly, Danny was just an 8-year old lad when the last Englishman won The Masters. He follows in the footsteps of Sir Nick Faldo who won his third green jacket at Augusta in 1996.
August – Rose crowned Olympic Champion
Swept away by the whole spirit of the 2016 Olympic Games, 36-year old British golfer Justin Rose strode proudly into the history books in Rio de Janeiro after winning the gold medal in a thrilling final round during the first Olympic golf championship since 1904.
Two eagles on Saturday saw Rose rocket-up the leaderboard and take the outright lead by one stroke going into the final round on Sunday. A small difference but a huge psychological advantage over friend and winning 2014 Ryder Cup team partner, Henrik Stenson. Two Major winners on a mission: to take home a medal, preferably gold. The 40-year old Swede fresh from his Open Championship victory at Royal Troon in July and the Englishman as the 2013 US Open Champion.
Rose, rather sensibly, chose not to be too hasty with his tap-in putt for birdie at the 18th and for Olympic glory. When his ball finally disappeared into the hole for a closing 67 and a score of 16-under par, two ahead of Stenson, he punched the air in ecstasy. After 112 years, Canadian George Lyon had finally been relieved of his title. Great Britain’s Justin Rose is the new Olympic Golf Champion.
September – In honour of ‘The King’
One of the greatest golfers of the last century, Arnold Palmer, passed away on 25th September just two weeks after his 87th birthday. The beloved golf legend and international icon known as ‘The King’ will long be remembered in golfing circles not only as the man who won seven Major Championships in the late 1950s and 60s, including four green jackets, but also as the person who was influential in bringing the game of golf to the dizzy heights of sponsorship and prizemoney that it enjoys today. His ‘go for broke’ style of play inspired a legion of fans around the world to follow the game creating what became affectionately known as ‘Arnie’s Army’ by the press.
Up until this year, Palmer remained an annual guest of honour at Augusta where he ceremonially opened the Masters tournament teeing-off with the ‘Big Three’, namely ‘The Golden Bear’ Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.
Apart from golf, Palmer also had a passion for flying private planes. Although he continued to hit golf balls up until his final days, he reluctantly had to give up flying in 2014.
Arnold Daniel Palmer came from a working-class background and was introduced to golf through his father who worked as a greenkeeper. Much has been written over the years about Arnie’s unusual golf swing which bore no resemblance to the graceful and classic country club swing of Ben Hogan at the time. “A home-cooked move that was effective but not beautiful” is how one admirer once described ‘The King’s swing’!
October – Woosie takes his place in World Golf Hall of Fame
It was twenty-five years ago that another Brit, Ian Woosnam, celebrated his victory in the Masters. The Welshman may have missed the cut by one stroke in April this year, but ‘Woosie’ had good reason to be a contented man in the Autumn when it was announced that he was to be finally honoured with induction into the 2017 World Golf Hall of Fame.
As the only Welshman ever to have won a Major, the 58-year old has made his mark during an impressive golf career which spans several decades. Indeed, he led the World Golf Rankings for 50 weeks in 1991/92 and represented Europe in eight consecutive Ryder Cup matches between 1983 and 1997. He was awarded an OBE by the Queen in 2006 in recognition of his services to golf. However, the 2006-winning Ryder Cup Captain, who now plays on the Senior Tour, had all but given up hope of joining the golfing greats in the World Golf Hall of Fame. As many in the golf world are saying – a serious “miscarriage of justice” has now been rectified. Congratulations, Woosie!
“Playing golf is like learning a foreign language”
– Henry Longhurst
The wee Welshman is not the only British golfer to be honoured in the World Golf Hall of Fame ‘Class of 2017’. Nearly 40 years after his death, golf writer and television commentator Henry Longhurst is to be induced into the Hall of Fame. A weekly columnist for the Sunday Times for more than 40 years, he was also considered to be the first golf TV personality providing coverage for the BBC in his unmistakable, succinct and colourful manner from the 1950s until he passed away in 1978.
December – Tiger is back!
Tiger fans had to bite their nails in frustration for most of the year. For it wasn’t until the beginning of December that Eldrick Tont Woods finally made his much-publicised return to the golf course. The clock was ticking. It had been 466 days since his last tournament. And now, just a few weeks before his 41st birthday, Tiger was hoping to get his golf back on track. That is, of course, if the three back operations he had had in the last two years would allow his fiery swing to let rip once more. The winner of fourteen Majors still has Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 Majors in his sights …
The former number one golfer, who once simply ruled the world for most of his career, had dipped to 898th in the world ranking. In the Bahamas in December, he competed in and hosted the 3.5 million dollar Hero World Challenge where he finished 15th in the elite field of just 18 golfers.
While Tiger may not yet be producing the quality of golf once expected of the 14-times Major Champion, the rest of the golf world have been working hard on their games. So much so that 23-under par is becoming a regular winning score on Tour. Sweden’s Alex Noren had a phenomenal season; England’s Tyrell Hatton and Ireland’s Padraig Harrington too. These guys are all setting a new standard on Tour for the likes of Tiger making his comeback and for the up-and-coming chasing pack.
Enjoy the fireworks tonight!
Wendy Hoad