As good as it gets!

The opening day’s play at the Ryder Cup has left me drained with emotions as if I had just played 36 holes of tournament golf! Players worldwide empathise with one’s preferred team to a far greater extent than following one’s favourite golfer in a major. This is golf elevated to Olympic heights. It evokes the Three Musketeers with their battle cry, “One for all and all for one!”

There is an amazing swing of the pendulum as the message of ascendancy travels across the golf course. A gallery applauding a European achievement is distinguishable from the American sound. So the Highland glens are home to a global event which will be remembered for as long as the game of golf is played. And this was only the first of three days! Has my pre-Ryder Cup training schedule been sufficient to last the pace? Is the fridge stocked with the necessary refreshment to cater for twelve hours of non-stop action?

Today saw the celebration of twenty six years since my wife and I met. As a very touching gift to commemorate this achievement Madame is leaving me for the weekend to visit her family in the French provinces! This generous gesture leaves me in total control of the TV remote control until her return after close of play on Sunday evening…what a lady, what a gift!

My abiding memory of today’s play was the phenomenal turnaround delivered by McIlroy and Garcia with three birdies over the last three holes. Hopefully a plaque will be created to immortalise the location from whence Sergio played his remarkable blow to the 18th green.

There are at present only three such plaques on British golf courses:

Left of the 17th hole at Royal Lytham which commemorates the sandy hollow from which the legendary Bobby Jones found the green and so astonished his playing partner that he was able to reverse the match and win the Open in 1926



In 1961 I was a very young steward accompanying Arnold Palmer to a one shot victory over Welshman Dai Rees at the Open Championship round Royal Birkdale. His 6 iron out of a gorse bush was awe-inspiring and fully justified the second plaque in British golf



Seve Ballesteros has a plaque dedicated to him on the tenth tee at the Belfry. It commemorates his swashbuckling blow in a high profile match against Nick Faldo in 1978



So will we see such an honour granted to Sergio in the rough on the right of the eighteenth hole at the Gleneagles Centenary course?



He’ll drink to that!





With sincere acknowledgements for the accompanying artwork to Yves Perron, the outstanding French artist , see:
http://www.yvesperronaquarelles.com