U.S. Open
I follow golf intermittently, perhaps because it's a sport that I don't have time to play, can't afford to play, and generally suck at when I do play. But Columbus has been a hotbed for golf over the past month, and I've come to really enjoy watching it, even though the sport isn't action-intensive. Perhaps this is because economics has made me into a completely boring, analytical mess; alternatively, it might be because one of the most underrated sporting experiences I've seen in the past few years was U.S. Open qualifying.
I followed Davis Love III for a few holes and I was shocked at how great he is in person; his drives were between 340 and 370 yards on some holes, and he made a rather intimidating golf course (OSU's Scarlet) seem rather pedestrian on his way to something in the mid-60s, qualifying for the Open. It's interesting that he qualified without an earned exemption, because today he sits around the top of the leaderboard, looking to pick up another major. This is probably what makes the Opens and the PGA better than Augusta; anyone can win, and almost anyone can qualify to have a chance at winning.
The Open at Torrey Pines exemplifies golf's best qualities; you have a megastar lurking to win another major, but you have a ton of great stories right around the lead. I mentioned one earlier; Davis Love's resurgence to play some of the best golf of his career is a welcome sight for a sport so desperate to show that it has more dimensions to it than simply Tiger Woods and a bunch of other random winners. This is an important point; the PGA sees what has happened to the ATP (and, to some extent, the NBA) and is desperate to avoid those fates. And so it has to pull for Els, Love III, and Ogilvy to some extent, because once fans are convinced that the sport is uninteresting all hope is lost.
But the best story at Torrey Pines isn't Woods, or Love, or Ogilvy, or Els. It isn't Lee Westwood's inevitable run at the lead before his fade at the end; it isn't Jimenez or Mediate, two guys who are in the hall of the very good, but aren't considered greats without the majors.
No, it's Stuart Appleby, a guy who lost his first wife in one of the saddest stories you will ever read. Link.
Appleby happens to fall in the Mediate/Jimenez class of the "Hall of the Very Good." Nobody is ever surprised when one of these guys wins a major; after all, Mike Weir and Trevor Immelman have majors, as does David Toms. But it's generally unlikely to see this happen, in part because these guys have the propensity to shoot high numbers more frequently than the elite.
So when Sunday comes around, I hope Appleby is in the lead. Because his win would do more for golf than another Woods victory, or a repeat win by the other major winners around the lead.
I followed Davis Love III for a few holes and I was shocked at how great he is in person; his drives were between 340 and 370 yards on some holes, and he made a rather intimidating golf course (OSU's Scarlet) seem rather pedestrian on his way to something in the mid-60s, qualifying for the Open. It's interesting that he qualified without an earned exemption, because today he sits around the top of the leaderboard, looking to pick up another major. This is probably what makes the Opens and the PGA better than Augusta; anyone can win, and almost anyone can qualify to have a chance at winning.
The Open at Torrey Pines exemplifies golf's best qualities; you have a megastar lurking to win another major, but you have a ton of great stories right around the lead. I mentioned one earlier; Davis Love's resurgence to play some of the best golf of his career is a welcome sight for a sport so desperate to show that it has more dimensions to it than simply Tiger Woods and a bunch of other random winners. This is an important point; the PGA sees what has happened to the ATP (and, to some extent, the NBA) and is desperate to avoid those fates. And so it has to pull for Els, Love III, and Ogilvy to some extent, because once fans are convinced that the sport is uninteresting all hope is lost.
But the best story at Torrey Pines isn't Woods, or Love, or Ogilvy, or Els. It isn't Lee Westwood's inevitable run at the lead before his fade at the end; it isn't Jimenez or Mediate, two guys who are in the hall of the very good, but aren't considered greats without the majors.
No, it's Stuart Appleby, a guy who lost his first wife in one of the saddest stories you will ever read. Link.
Appleby happens to fall in the Mediate/Jimenez class of the "Hall of the Very Good." Nobody is ever surprised when one of these guys wins a major; after all, Mike Weir and Trevor Immelman have majors, as does David Toms. But it's generally unlikely to see this happen, in part because these guys have the propensity to shoot high numbers more frequently than the elite.
So when Sunday comes around, I hope Appleby is in the lead. Because his win would do more for golf than another Woods victory, or a repeat win by the other major winners around the lead.
posted by mike at 2:36 PM
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