Sarah Stirk
We’re currently in that funny time in the golfing calendar where the new season hasn’t quite got going yet, but there have been a few slightly different tournaments which have kept things interesting of late. I remember writing my column this time last year about what a joy the PNC Championship was to watch, and I have to say it was even more entertaining this time around. The quality of the field just gets stronger and stronger and it’s become a real fixture on the pre-christmas calendar.
The Tiger and Charlie pairing may have dominated the headlines again, but there was something rather joyous about the whole event and hopefully the wider sporting world picked up on it. It really brings home the pleasure this game can bring when you hear about 87-year-old Gary Player giving tips to 11-yearold Will Mcgee, Annika Sorenstam’s son. No other sport allows such a cross-section of ages to participate and compete against each other and that is something we should all treasure.
Nelly Korda also starred this year alongside her dad, and this was on the back of her appearance at the QBE Shootout earlier in December, where Lexi Thompson also played. She certainly showed what she’s capable of and several of the guys commented on what an amazing all-round game she has.
Golf is almost uniquely positioned to make these inclusive events work and the good news is the QBE Shootout will be a co-sanctioned event this year. It will be the first mixed team event to feature on the PGA Tour since 1999, when John Daly and Laura Davies won the final staging of the Jcpenney Classic, and it’s about time. The Jcpenney was a fixture for nearly 40 years, but since its demise there has been nothing to take its place in the States. There have been some really good events in Europe like the Scandinavian Mixed, but they haven’t quite got the fields and coverage they deserve up to now. The more high-profile tournaments we can have to showcase the women’s game, the more people will see what an entertaining prospect it is. Hopefully some really big names from the PGA Tour will take part in the QBE next year and it gives a well-deserved boost to the LPGA Tour.
Away from some of the negative headlines at the top of the men’s game, golf is doing so much right at the moment and we need to shout about it. The coverage of the women’s game has never been greater and people are starting to realise just how good these girls are. I really feel golf can be at the forefront of equality across all sports and the more mixed events the better. Golf is so well positioned to drive this change and I believe even greater strides will be made in the next 12 months and beyond.
Going back to the PNC, I just want to finish by saying how lovely it was to see Tiger and his son interact so freely in front of the cameras. I’m always reminded of interviewing him at the Players when I first started out in 2009 and just how blinkered he was and how hard it was to get him to engage. Obviously a huge amount has happened since then, but he seems transformed as a character. Given how famously private Tiger is, it was a huge surprise to see his son in front of the media. There are those already speculating about whether Charlie will try to make it on tour, but he’s still only 13 so none of this can be taken too seriously.
It’s just a bit of fun for him and amazingly Tiger seems very relaxed about the exposure he’s getting. If he eventually does choose to go down that path then the hype will be extraordinary, so perhaps Tiger is testing the water at the moment. There’s no one better than Tiger to advise his son on how to deal with everything that might come his way. He seems to be very talented, but whether he shares his father’s famous resolve and single-mindedness is a different matter. He’ll definitely need those qualities if he wants to pursue a career in professional golf.
“Away from the negative headlines, golf is doing so much right at the moment”