Sunday, July 20, 2008

Let's hear it for the 'old' guys

After 3 rounds Greg Norman is leading the field in the British Open at Royal Birkdale. At 53 years of age and without having played a lot of golf in recent years Norman has astonished the golfing world.  Good on him - regardless of what happens in the final round it is an amazing achievement. His marriage to Chris Evert undoubtedly improved his game. Cheers too for Rocco Mediate who came within a whisker of beating Tiger Woods at the recent US open - he shared the lead with Norman in the British Open for a while. The likeable, 45 year old Mediate has demanded a rematch with Tiger! 

I never thought I'd come to backing sports people at least partly because of their age.  I agree it is a bit tragic.  But the conditions at Royal Birkdale - high winds and rain - were about as bad as I have seen at a major tournament.  The old guys had the golf skills and the general savy to do well.  They deserve applause.

Update: Norman crashed in the final round with a 77 while his worthy opponents shone with great rounds of 69. The Shark went down and ran a distant third.  He was leading after 9 holes so - Harrington and Poulter must have put in fantastic performances then.  The criticisms of Norman losing his nerve etc have already started. What a sad lot of critics they are.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Grammatically, I do not think Norman should be criticised for "loosing" his nerve.

More seriously, I think it was a terrific effort by Norman. Before the media start carping on his final round, they might like to reflect on the continued under-performance of the Australian "young guns", like Adam Scott and Aaron Badderly, who have been promising so much and so far delivering nothing. Norman at 53 left all of them in his wake.

hc said...

Spelling corrected.

I think so - terrific effort by Norman.

I saw that on one ranking Adam Scott was ranked #3 in the wprld. He often disappoints.

Anonymous said...

Also on 'elderly' sports performers, Dara Torres, who just set an American record in the 100m freestyle at age 41. OK, not 53, but swimming's not golf either.

Anonymous said...

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