Golf | Peter Stone Golf

Time for a miracle or maybe a Kim Jong il

The whispers that have surrounded The Presidents Cup for years now – well, to be exact, since 1998 – will grow to a crescendo if the United States is again victorious against the Internationals in the 2015 edition of the cup that starts in South Korea tomorrow.

Yes, the question will be asked: Does the cup have any relevance in the world of golf?

And, just what is its future? Does The PGA Tour – and its Commissioner Almighty Tim Finchem – continue to flog a dead horse or accept the sad fact that The Presidents Cup will never achieve the mighty success of the biennial Ryder Cup clash between the US and the Europeans.

Prodigy

It was at The Grove course in Hertfordshire just outside London in the final round WGC American Express Championship in 2006 when I saw Tiger Woods up close and personal from the privileged position inside the ropes for the first time since he came to Australia a decade earlier as quite agreeable 21-year-old with a massive future ahead of him for our open championship at The Australian Golf Club.

What I saw that day in England as he went head-to-head with Adam Scott in the final grouping – with Woods winning the tournament by eight shots – appalled me. His cursing with foul language that would have made a sheep shearer blush, his spitting and his club throwing were not the stuff of a world No 1 golfer, and idol and role model to so many kids.

Entering the Confessional

Those who’ve read my scribbling on golf through the years would know I am passionate about the game, its history and its integrity but it is time to enter the confessional.

As a school house sports captain at Bendigo High in 1961, I had nothing but scorn for those who chose to play golf on our weekly sports afternoon rather than engage in more vigorous and athletic pursuits like Australian Rules football, cricket, tennis, swimming, athletics, anything really but not golf.

Golf, I thought, was a game for folk after they’d played “real” sport, an activity easily pursued when their bodies could take no more of the aches and pains of more physical sports. Then, after golf, there was always lawn bowls.