Andrew Cotter
Why is Andy Murray lauded while golfers with similar CVS seem to be ignored?
Quite often I am asked ‘Which is your favourite sport? To which the answer has to be that of a parent asked which is their favourite child, replying ‘Oh... how can I possibly choose? I love them all equally’. Or, as my mother would say, ‘Well, not Andrew. He can be quite annoying and is rather plain, don’t you think?’ But it is true that I do commentate on a number of sports. For example, thoughts on this latest column are having to timeshare my small, studio apartment brain with commentary notes for the opening weekend of rugby’s 6 Nations. I am as well-versed on the details of the Irish frontrow as I am on Tiger’s rust-covered comeback.
From The 6 Nations I’ll go on via indoor athletics to The Boat Race and then The Masters. And I’m delighted that I’m allowed to do so. Apart from the fact that it helps to pay for the sixteen tons of dog food required in our household every month, it does offer a wider perspective. Those who focus all their attention on one sport are quite often blinkered – believing that theirs is the one true religion and all others must be nonsense. But often I wonder where golf sits in the sporting hierarchy. Of course there is football, the overweight and over-indulged King of all it surveys, but behind it a number of others jostle for attention and the sport that is most often compared to golf in terms of size and popularity is tennis. It does get its fair share of the limelight, not least with Andy Murray always generating a good deal of interest. His achievements recently are well documented. And clearly recognised – named BBC Sports Personality for a third time and then, the small matter of a knighthood. I have always thought the honours system was rather absurd anyway, but in rewarding sporting achievers it becomes even more odd. But it does show that, in this respect, golf is lower down the pecking order.
There is no doubt that Murray’s feats are monumental. Set amid the scarcity of British tennis success in recent decades, to win three major titles and become world No.1 is quite something. But you can understand why some would question why Rory Mcilroy, in the eyes of honours system at least, is seen as less of an achiever. If you believe that it is easier to win Majors and reach the top of the rankings in golf than in tennis, then we must respectfully disagree.
And what of others? The bunting was out when Dan Evans recently moved into the top 50 in the world. At the time of writing there are 10 British male golfers in the world’s top-50. Murray’s Herculean task in becoming world No.1 made headlines front and back page. Yet in recent times both Luke Donald and Lee Westwood have been rated the best golfers in the world. They did so without winning Majors, but they did it.
Other British golfing achievements? Justin Rose US Open and Olympic Champion. Danny Willett won The Masters and came bottom of the voting in Sports Personality of The Year. True, Willett’s season after triumph at Augusta was not outstanding, but did I forget to mention that HE... WON... THE MASTERS...?
Of course, perhaps even worse occurred in Sweden where Henrik Stenson, after one of the greatest Majorwinning performances of all time, lost out in their national sports awards to a horse. Yes these, and rather more serious ballots around the world of late, show that people should probably not be allowed to vote on anything. But while we mull over the pros and cons of a totalitarian state, we should also think about why the public interest in golf lies behind a sport like tennis.
One factor mentioned by some is that golf has historically excluded half the population. Whether or not you think this is true, it is certainly the case that far more women watch tennis than golf. Then there is the Wimbledon effect. The fortnight each summer is the engine driving tennis in this country. Even non sports fans would know of Wimbledon, but the same certainly could not be said for The Open. Great swathes of the population have been transfixed for decades by an event which is as much part of the social calendar as the sporting one. 17 million watched Andy Murray in his first final against Roger Federer in 2012 – numbers that golf can only dream of. But then, how do you measure the health and success of a sport? Is it number of people watching, or numbers of people playing? Because in that respect, golf certainly wins. Most recent figures show that around five times more people in The UK actually pick up a golf club than wield a racquet. So if that means that occasionally a golfer will be passed over in honours and awards – even to a horse – then I’ll take it. And in case you were wondering, the answer to which is my favourite sport? Well, I don’t think I even need to say it. Some of the others can be quite annoying and are rather plain. Don’t you think?
‘Why, in the eyes of the honours system, is Mcilroy seen as less of an achiever than Murray?’