RORY IS BACK IN THE SWING
And what a treat after 65 long days without live golf
“Finally a good wedge shout out of them”
WHOEVER thought golf fans would get so excited over watching a charity Skins game, for heaven’s sake. It just shows what can happen if the heart is allowed to grow fond following a period of absence.
It is the one thing that usually never happens in the Royal and Ancient game, of course. The crammed schedules on the PGA and European Tours mean that as soon as one season finishes, a new one begins the following week, making it difficult to stifle a yawn.
What a contrast with last night. After 65 long days without live golf, the sport’s followers were positively panting with anticipation on social media.
Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson v Rickie Fowler and Matt Wolff! All four players carrying their own bags! A historic Florida venue we had never seen before! No fans! No grandstands!
My goodness, the excitement levels generated would not have been much greater if the calendar had proceeded without interruption, and we had been watching the final round of the season’s second major, the US PGA Championship from San Francisco.
As you might imagine, this was golf with a wholly different look. Accompanied only by the four players, the club pro introduced the match with more than $4million at stake, and all of it going to charities benefiting Covid-19 relief.
They began with a trifling $50,000 on offer over each of the first six holes. ‘How do you hit a wedge?’ McIlroy joked, as he stood over a 60-yard approach to the first. It has been a while. The hole was halved, meaning the $50,000 rolled over.
Sponsors TaylorMade had thrown in a $100,000 long driving contest for good measure at the second, where we saw the potential of the newcomer, Wolff. McIlroy smacked his Sunday best, only for 21-year-old Wolff to blow it by him by what appeared a considerable distance. The Northern Irishman, whose father Gerry is a member at Seminole, was clearly in the mood to make up for the lack of any heckling from fans and throw in some good-natured banter of his own. ‘Good putt,’ he said to Wolff, who left his 15-footer to win the second woefully short.
Over the first couple of holes, Johnson looked as if he had spent the lockdown in a separate house to his golf clubs. ‘Come on, another bad swing,’ he berated himself on the third. At least the rapid American was living up to the brilliant sign that greets all visitors on the first tee: ‘If you play good, play fast. If you play bad, play faster.’
To be fair, the other three were not exactly leaping out of the blocks, either.
‘Finally, a good wedge shot out of these superstars,’ said an impatient Paul Azinger, following a decent Fowler approach to the third.
Finally, a decent shot from Johnson, too, as he claimed the first birdie and with it three skins, worth £150,000.
As for early impressions of the Seminole venue, the aerial view with the Atlantic Ocean hugging one side of the course looked spectacular. Alas, at ground level, it looked like so many Florida venues: flat, wide-open fairways, loads of water. Boring. Augusta, it ain’t. Not only in the Sunshine State but Korea, too, there was more evidence the game is taking baby steps back to normality. The ladies Korean tour completed its first event back with a maiden victory for Park Hyun-Kyung, who shot a 67 for a one-stroke triumph. OPEN champion Shane Lowry is backing the PGA Tour to ‘do all the right things to make sure everyone’s safe’ ahead of the return on June 11 at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Texas.
It’s one of three June tournaments Lowry plans to play in, along with the RBC Heritage in South Carolina and the Travelers Championship in Connecticut.
‘Personally I’m ok about playing it (the Charles Schwab Challenge),’ said Lowry.
‘I’m going to go play. The PGA Tour, they’re a huge organisation, and they’ll do all the right things to make sure everyone’s safe, and nobody gets sick.
‘I’m not really one to comment on how people are dealing with it, or how the government or anyone in power is dealing with the whole thing.’