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MIND / THE NEXT ONE’S GOOD
O ne of the marvels of golf is the imprecision of the rules and, as a result, the frequent need for judg- ment calls. No other pursuit except perhaps marriage reveals character and sportsmanship so wantonly as golf. Two events have thrown the game’s top players into this cauldron of public dis- course. Surprisingly, neither has any- How golfers interpret the rules can say a lot about character and sportsmanship By Jerry Tarde Are You a Jordan or a Rory?
thing to do with private equity or public investment funds. The first was the USGA’s decision to give Tiger Woods its highest honour, the Bob Jones Award for Sportsman- ship. Woods has a playing record and popularity proportionate with Jones at his peak, but the announcement met with mixed reviews. The Bob Jones doesn’t necessarily go to the game’s greatest players – plenty have not mea- sured up. Sam Snead, Billy Casper, Lee Trevino, Greg Norman, Seve Balleste- ros and Nick Faldo never got it. John- ny Miller didn’t get it until he was 76, and Gene Sarazen had to wait until his 90th birthday. Some Hall of Famers are judged to be a little rough around the edges by golf’s gentry. Phil Mickelson is the only person to have turned it down, and now he’ll never see a second chance. Sorry DJ, Brooksy, Patrick and
Bryson, but it’s hard to conceive of any LIV player getting it – except maybe, when all is forgiven, Jon Rahm. Some past winners might elicit sur- prise as their accomplishments had nothing to do with what happened on the golf course – like the entertainers Chi Chi Rodriguez, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. I like that 20 women have won the Bob Jones, and not a single token among them. I was there when the English amateur Maureen Garrett inexplicably showed up in full kabuki costume to claim her award in 1983. A few have been players recognised for singular acts of sportsmanship (Tom Kite calling a penalty for a moved ball no one else saw, or Fuzzy Zoeller waving a towel in mock surrender) and others got it for a lifetime spirit (Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, no explana- tion necessary). “You might as well
20 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
JULY/AUGUST 2024
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