Amateur Glory

Filed in archive Golf News on September 10, 2007

Courtesy: BBC

It is difficult to think of a lead about Tiger Woods that doesn't repeat the over-used adjectives and hyperbole that has been written to describe this man's game.

Woods makes many a writer throw his hands in the air and give up trying to be original.

So, suffice it to say, Tiger Woods could not have played better golf yesterday in round four of the BMW Championship if he had been a machine.

Frankly, there were times when I thought he was. There's an old adage in motor racing that says you drive slowly enough to win.

That was Tiger yesterday, matching birdie for birdie when he had to, taking no high-risk chances when he didn't have to.

But the beauty of round four was how he made those behind him (and ahead of him, at several points) play their absolute best golf, as well: Steve Stricker and Aaron Baddeley deserve the kudos, too.

Superb individual efforts that exemplified what a magnificent game golf is.

But several thousand miles away, at Royal County Down outside Belfast, four American amateurs demonstrated something rare in american golf: they played as one and captured the Walker Cup, the amateur version of the Ryder Cup.

Facing a talent-rich and determined team from Great Britain and Ireland, the Americans, led by newly crowned U.S. Amateur champion, Colt Knost (see photo above), defeated their U.K. hosts by a single point, 12 and a half to 11 and a half.

It's perplexing (just ask former U.S. Ryder Cup captains) why America's best professional golfers can't unite in a single cause for long enough to defeat a European Ryder Cup team.

For every person you ask, you'll receive a different reason. There are, in fact, many reasons. The game is such an individual activity on the PGA Tour, something that is encouraged week after week, year after year that each player stands apart from his colleagues.

Europe - and, of course, I include the United Kingdom here - have a far longer history of amateur team play in the sport. They seem to embrace the concept of "all for one and one for all" far more effectively.

Yet, the Americans have owned the Walker Cup over its 85 year history.

Is it possible that amateur golfers are not as afraid to lean on their team mates if they should slip up as individuals?

And is it not possible that America's professional golfers are petrified to make a mistake in front of their team mates and peers? It's tough to build a strong team when the foundation might be fear of embarrassment or loss of face.

Therefore, it's a shame in a way that Colt Knost says he's set to turn pro as early as next week.

The cycle starts all over again.