This weekend’s GolfSixes tournament is a worthy venture for the European Tour which is at least attempting to broaden the game’s reach with a fresh approachScottish football fans can occasionally be heard to bemoan the loss of the Tennents’ Sixes, an event staged between 1984 and 1993 when, as the name suggests, six-a-side was the order of the day. It was quick, competitive, fun, the attendances were good and terrestrial television stepped forward to provide plentiful coverage. This was at a time, moreover, when football in general wasn’t renowned for breathtaking innovation.This weekend, golf’s latest attempt to retain relevance in an ever-changing landscape where many fear the sport is being left behind will resonate over two days at the Centurion...
Spaniard previously cast as a sore loser finally won a major after he made peace with defeat – and his victory shed light on the inherent futility of gamesmanshipIt’s one of the quirks of the English language that, if you didn’t know any better, you could imagine that the words sportsmanship and gamesmanship were synonyms. But, of course, they mean almost the complete opposite. Gamesmanship is the art of winning by underhand or devious means. It places victory above any code of gracious behaviour.Whereas sportsmanship entails an attitude that transcends winning and losing and instead places an emphasis on mutual respect and appreciation. In the pursuit of glory it refuses to compromise with the principles of fair play and a...
After 73 failed attempts to win a major the Spaniard finally came good at Augusta National having seemingly thrown his challenge away once againOn reflection it was wrong to say we had been waiting for this since 1999. It was not a thing in 1999 at all. When the precocious 19-year-old charmer Sergio García announced himself by manufacturing a six iron to the green from behind a tree at that year’s US PGA Championship, sprinting up the fairway after it, then running Tiger Woods close in a near-miracle at Medinah, it was simply assumed he would go on insouciantly to gather up armfuls of major titles – just like Tiger. But it did not work out like that.Since then Todd...
US challenge petered out before the turn and the Spaniard eventually saw off Justin Rose, his Ryder Cup team-mate, at the first extra hole in what also became a celebration of their great sportsmanshipFor a few brief moments on Sunday afternoon the 2017 Masters was alive with possibility. At the far end of the 1st hole, Tea Olive, Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler, the two finest young players in the US today, were standing in front of the green, scheming over the chip shots they were about to play. Way back behind them Justin Rose and Sergio García, another couple of close friends, were making their way up the fairway from the 1st tee, to the spot where their drives...
With his exemption for the tournament having run out, the South African’s final round on Sunday could prove to be last in the season’s first majorEarly Sunday morning, seven hours before the leaders reached the back nine and the tournament really started, Ernie Els started what will likely be his last round at the Masters. For the last five years Els has qualified automatically because he won the Open in 2012. The exemption is about to run out and, given that Els is 47, is currently ranked No410 in the world and has missed the cut in nine of his last 10 tournaments, he may struggle to find a way back. Time was when Els would have had a late...