Golf is the greatest said Sir Gary Sobers
At first glance Golf appears to be slow, lazy and an old Man's game! Nothing could be further from the truth! Golf discovered in Scotland was reputed as a 'Rich Man's' sport with few able to afford to play- It was tradition that only the wealthy and 'Gentlemen of High rank' could afford Membership at Golf Clubs which were selective and limited in enrolment. Written records of Golf date back from the 15th Century in Scotland, where the traditional rule making body, The Royal and Ancient
Club of St Andrews was founded (1754). Early colonists probably introduced Golf to the United States in the 17th Century. The game slowly gained popularity, and the Professional Golf Association (PGA)
Championship began in 1916. American Golfers tended to dominate the world game, from Bobby Jones to Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. More than 12 million Americans played Golf by 1993 and was by then reckoned to be the most popular outdoor Sport in the US!
Bobby Jones (Robert Tyre Jones Jr (1902-1971) US Amateur Golfer, four time winner of the US Open(1923,1926,1929,1930) five time US Champion, Ben Hogan (William Benjamin Hogan) US Golfer, four time winner of the US Open(1948,1950,1951,1953) two time winner of the Masters(1951,1953) and two time PGA Champion(1946,1948) and flamboyant Golfer Arnold Daniel Palmer another US Golfer. Who helped to popularize the Sport in the US in the 1950's and 1960's,won the Masters in 1958,1960,1962,1964 the US Open in 1960 and the British Open in 1961 and 1962.
Internationally South African Gary Player was drawing crowds and made his mark around the same time. It was not long after that Jack Nicklaus (William) nicknamed 'The Golden Bear' because of his 'goldish' head of hair and 'Bear' like physique created a record of winning 20 Major Titles including 18 Professional Majors from 1962-1986. This insurmountable record stood for a while even with sensational golfers like Severiano 'Seve' Balestyeros a maestro from Spain stunned the world of Golf! However it was Tiger Woods born 30th December 1975 who turned the game of Golf on it's head becoming the youngest Masters Champion ever and the first person since 1953 to win three Majors in one year. The fifth and youngest golfer to complete a career grand slam. By 2001 Tiger Woods was already the greatest golfer in the world, a phenomenon as an Amateur and an even greater phenomenon since he turned Pro in 1995 and won everything, winning a total of 30 Major tournaments by 2001!! Tiger has reeled off more Major wins than Nicklaus, Palmer and Hogan put together and created records that may never be broken. The most stunning record and feat was that Tiger Woods was named 'Athlete of the Year' consecutively ahead of great athletes, sportsmen and women who starred in seemingly more robust, fast, active sports such as Marathon athletes, Iron-men, Tennis super stars, Ice-hockey players, Cyclists, Swimmers, Rugby-footballers, wrestlers and even Champion Boxers. The criteria for assessment as the 'Super Athlete' was the excellence and brilliance of body, mind and spirit for perfection, endurance and unsurpassable success.
The winning formula made 'Tiger' and the game of Golf the best and 'in-thing'. For the modern world! The fairy tale success story for young 'Tiger' was eventually stung in the tail by the scandal that rocked the world where Tiger was probably not prepared and trapped by his stardom and enormous talent on the proverbial 20th hole, though technically. He did survive the 19th!! - however with time Tiger seemingly is making a strong come back clawing his way back to form emphasizing the wonder and greatness of the game of Golf. Golf is much more than a game, it is a sport for Athleticism, it is a time and place to conduct the best business deal in the world, it is the only sport where the player has only himself to blame!as Sir Garfield Sobers said personally to a question from the writer of this column, way back in 1985,"The greatest game in the world without a doubt is Golf", when asked why Sir Gary quipped "I am an old guy now, can barely walk and still I can play at my own pace and enjoy the game for many more years to come”! That was a mouthful from arguably the world's greatest All-round Cricketer of all time! Sir Gary was unique and multi talented holding a 1 handicap as a left handed Golfer and an eight handicap playing right handed. In all probability if Sir Gary took to Golf in his youth may be he may have won more than a few Majors! But, Cricket was fortunate to have had such a great in the likes of Sobers one of the greatest West Indians to light up the centre - stage of Cricket! Reflecting on the past greats of Golf and the yester-year Cricketers like Sir Donald Bradman both Golf and Cricket were played by gentleman and called a gentleman's game.
However, the magic portion of $, Gold digging and match-fixing has poisoned the luxurious taste of sportsmanship, gamesmanship and gentlemanly combat, fueling the regular suspicion of throwing games in the most unlikely fashion as witnessed in the very recent past in the best of Cricket clashes! This phenomena is another strong argument and statement why Golf is the greatest Sport because match-fixing in a PGA Major is the furthest possibility due to personal responsibility, accountability, reputation and self esteem!the personal branding, FanClub, TV following and Ratings grow on the success as a player and maturity as a gentleman!!