There is no place like St. Andrews, and it feeds the soul to see the old game played on The Old Course.
The Open website carries live video and radio if your local TV doesn't broadcast.
OS could not stay awake for the opening proceedings, (3 a.m. in this time zone), but his heart was mightily cheered this morning to see that young Rory McIlroy had tied the Open record for an opening round with 63, and is three strokes clear of the field at this point. He's only twenty-one, and it is a joy to watch him play. At the other end of the age spectrum (much closer to where OS exists), to see Tom Watson par the 18th for a round of one over is also cause for cheers, and the gallery certainly gave him a lot of well-deserved love.
It's a great game, with dignity and fair play woven into the very fabric of the rules and practice. OS has a colleague with an enthusiastic grade-school daughter who has embraced the game with her whole heart. Her dad just beams when he talks about his duties as her caddy, and her growth as a young lady. He's a crack pro musician, and she studies music as well. One of his proudest moments came when she connected the dots between the two disciplines.
If OS could be King For A Day, he would arrange for every child to sing in a good choir, learn a musical instrument well, and learn to love and play golf.
Who needs LeBron, when you can have sports heroes like Rory, Phil Mickleson, Vijay Singh, and Ernie Els? The bad actors, like John Daly, get to disintegrate publicly, in both game and life, occasionally showing the old magic, as he did this morning.
Mr. Woods now lives on the bubble, and both his golf and life are under scrutiny, to see if he will choose to recover. If he blows up on the course this week, it will be a long long road back. Good wishes go his way, with the hope that his really great years lie ahead.
No comments:
Post a Comment