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It was the third day of the Open Championship and Nakajima, tied for the lead with Tom Weiskopf, was happy to be on the green in two. But his putt rolled past the hole and off the green into the hazard. In the Masters several months earlier, he shot a 13 on the 13th hole at Augusta National, a score that remains the record for that particular hole. Palmer decided to play aggressively and try to beat the U.
Open scoring record held by Ben Hogan. The French golfer needed just a six on the par-4 final hole for victory. After a so-so drive he should have, in retrospect, laid up in front of the Barry Burn, then hit a short iron to the green which would have left him with three putts for the victory.
Van de Velde however thought he had a good lie in the rough and he went for the green. But his 2-iron second shot hit the grandstand next to the green, then bounced off the rocks on Barry Burn and into the creek. What happened next was one of the iconic images of professional golf — Jean Van de Velde taking off his shoes, rolling up his pants, sporting a Huck Finn-like grin and thinking about playing out of the water.
He reconsidered and took a penalty drop. He still could have pitched on to the green and one-putted for victory. But his fourth shot landed in the greenside bunker. He splashed out to about two meters six feet. In an eerily silent moment he hit arguably the gutsiest shot of his tournament — he made the putt to put him into a playoff with Justin Leonard and Paul Lawrie, the ultimate winner.
When Val de Velde went for the post-game press conference he noted the serious and downcast looks of the journalists. How much lake are you willing to try to carry? He took his penalty drop on the forward tee and for his third shot, hitting 3-wood, tried to cut off even more of the dogleg, a shot of about yards meters. Daly cleared the water on his seventh swing, but it plugged in the hazard, plop.
Distant Greens also travels into the soul of golf, the rituals, the belief that a tetrachaidecohedron dimple pattern can make a difference. His fourth shot dribbled into another bunker. And Van de Velde? To the Middle Kingdom, to examine claims that that it was the Chinese, and not the Scots, who invented golf. But everyone ignores those highlights and focuses on the end-game mistakes. Why can throwing junkshop 4-irons provide an insight into the soul? And what happened when Jesus, Moses and Mohammed played a round?
He took a drop, and his 6-iron towards the green landed in the rocks and ricocheted into a bunker. He blasted out and two-putted for an These grisly moments have taken their toll. Sam Snead, who lost the U. Open in to Byron Nelson, never won the tournament. But the fan was otherwise unharmed and was given a Masters green jacket for his pain.
Arnold Palmer, only 34 at the time, never won an eighth major title following that afternoon at Olympic when he blew a seven stroke lead over the last nine holes. Since his crash at the Masters Norman never won another a major. And Van de Velde? He never became a great, just a guy who had fifteen minutes of fame when he waded into the stream and thought about hitting out from an impossible lie.
Crash and burn anecdotes of the pros are endlessly intriguing, and I wonder why that is. We relish the mistakes instead of cheering the much more numerous good shots. Examine the memorable disasters of the professionals. They all take place at the end of tournaments, when the unfortunate golfer snatches defeat from the jaws of victory. But to get to a leading position at the end of a tournament means the golfer had to play exceptionally well in the previous three rounds.
He had to make some memorable long putts, he had to chip in once in a while, he had to hit the fairways and avoid the bunkers.
What can golfers do to ensure that their golf course in environmentally and socially responsible? And what happened when Jesus, Moses and Mohammed played a round?
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Why do people cheat? And why is golf more important, to some folks, than sex? What is the future of golf? Can golf and nature support each other? What can golfers do to ensure that their golf course in environmentally and socially responsible? And what happened when Jesus, Moses and Mohammed played a round?
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