Why Luvo made me think of PGA champ

IT WAS Luvo Manyonga who actually got me thinking about American Justin Thomas, who won the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow on Sunday.

How so, you may ask? How can a long jumper be compared to a golfer?

Well, when Luvo became world champion in London with another of his giants leaps I paced out, in a passage at my home, the 8.5 metres in which he is regularly airborne.

By concidence, the passage is almost exactly 8.5m long and I marvelled – gasped actually – as to how any human being could fly that far.

Maybe do it yourself (pace out the 8.5m, don’t try the jump yourself !) and you’ll surely agree.

And I guess it’s the same for any sport. The world’s best soar with astonishing skill.

And while 24-year-old Justin Thomas may be a little guy – 5ft 10in (1,7m) and weighing around 150 pounds (about 68kg) he hit the longest drive on the PGA Tour last year, 413 yards in the WGC Bridgestone International.

That’s like a par-four on my home course where, looking at the hole this past week, I cannot imagine anyone getting on the green in one. Not even close.

All sorts of theories have been put forward as to how Thomas manages to fly the ball so darn far with such a small frame. We won’t go into that now but, like Manyonga, he is a man miracle – an example of just what amazing feats a welloiled human machine with a huge dose of self-belief can achieve.

On the 2016/2017 PGA Tour Thomas has already won four times and accumulated over $7-million (that’s in excess R90m). And in the first of the three victories prior to the PGA triumph he was a cumulative 72 under par. So, clearly, the guy can putt as well as bomb huge drives down the middle.

Quail Hollow is a mighty tough golf course, with deep Bermuda rough along its 7,600 yards and rock-hard greens that make balls slide around like marbles.

And the toughest stretch of holes is the so-called fearsome Green Mile. This is the 506-yard par-4 16th with a lake guarding the green, the 223-yard par-3 (this is long for a ‘short’ hole) with water fronting and guarding the green, and the tortuous 494-yard par-4 18th with fairway bunkers and a nasty creek, which attracts golf balls like a magnet, all along the left side.

Collectively, the three holes measure 1233 yards, short of a 1760-yard mile but still long and incredibly hard. The 75 players who had survived the cut had collectively committed 145 bogeys, 33 double bogeys, four triple bogeys and one quadruple bogey there heading into Sunday’s final round.

But Thomas, with his first Major title on the line, cruised through that Green Mile on Sunday afternoon to seal a memorable victory.

Louis Oosthuizen, of course, completed a ‘Grand Slam’ of sorts by finishing in a tie for second at Quail Hollow, two back of Thomas.

Louis has now been second at each of golf’s four Majors.

After play-off losses at the 2015 Open and the 2012 Masters, as well as second at the 2015 US Open, Oosthuizen again proved he enjoys the big stage (he did of course win the 2010 Open at St Andrews) but was unable to find a way to get over the line this time, despite a one-under 70. In the Green Mile he bogeyed 16 where Thomas birdied.

That was the difference in the end.

Still, well done Louis, great stuff Luvo, you wowed us Justin Thomas.

As I said, fine examples of what man can accomplish – if you get my drift.