TROLLEY GOOD SHOW
Weaver on a roll at Troon as she carts her own clubs
IT was the sort of brutal day at the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Troon where good caddies come into their own and prove their weight in gold.
American Lindsey Weaver didn’t have a good caddie. She didn’t have a caddie at all. Nobody to keep the clubs dry when the vicious squalls came.
Nobody to chew the fat with regarding club selection in the gusts. Nobody to keep the spirits up as the great British weather did its worst. No matter.
Marching swiftly down each hole pulling her own trolley and content to be lost in her own world, the American reached the halfway stage two shots off the lead held by Swede Dani Holmqvist after rounds of 71 and 72. American Austin Ernst is just a shot behind, with New Zealander Lydia Ko on the same mark as Weaver. World No 4 Nelly Korda is three adrift after two 72s.
Perhaps not surprisingly, veteran Scot Catriona Matthew struggled to repeat her first round heroics, posting a game 76 in the cool evening temperatures as the home challenge slipped to the margins.
Another former winner, Georgia Hall, shot 76 to be eight strokes off the pace.
When was the last time an Open winner strolled down the 18th fairway pulling their own trolley?
Weaver couldn’t stop laughing as she recalled what happened in the first round, when her ten-year-old trolley, with dodgy brakes, assumed a life of its own.
‘I was in one bunker and it disappeared into another,’ said the 26-year-old from Ohio. ‘I’m still trying to get rid of all of the sand out of my golf bag.’
It’s been a long process learning to smile again. This time last year, she was in such despair about her game she sat down with her mum and talked about whether it was time to pursue a career in banking or finance instead.
‘Mentally and emotionally, I was just not there,’ she recalled. ‘My mum was like, please, go to Q-school and give it one more shot.’
She did and finished fifth to regain her privileges. During lockdown she went househunting in Dallas with her fiance Zach Wright, who plays on the Korn Ferry Tour, one rung below the PGA Tour. Last month, Weaver notched her first top 10.
‘I feel like it’s helped me to adopt the attitude of “whatever”,’ said Weaver. ‘That it’s all going to work out.’
Poor Amy Olson thought it had all worked out when she shot a stunning 67 in the first round following ‘the best ball striking round of my life’.
Less than 12 hours later, the American must have wondered whether she was playing the same game, as she fumbled her way to an 81.
At the grand age of 23, how good to see Ko playing well again. During her teenage years, she was arguably the finest golf prodigy of all but seven swing teachers in seven years tells its own story as to how she lost her way.
Thankfully, under the guidance of Sean Foley — the man who did so much for Justin Rose — she looks to have found her way back. Put it this way: if you want a textbook example of how to swing the club when playing links golf, watch the enormously impressive Kiwi this weekend.