When Romeo and Juliet spoke those words they meant leaving each other hurt but that that hurt would be replaced by joy when they would meet again. It is one of those beautiful Shakespeare aphorisms that appears frequently in our culture and all too often in Golf.
That is the feeling that Tiger Woods and Willie Mack III, the only two African Americans in the field, must feel after missing the cut at the 124th U.S. Open on Friday. So, me, Tiger and Willie have all “left the building” I know that Tiger and Willie wanted to be in field playing this weekend and I wanted to write about their exploits but only the top 60 scores can stay and play the somewhat diabolical Number 2 at the Pinehurst Resort and Country Club.
The cut was plus five and unfortunately their scores were higher. Fans were pulling to Tiger not necessarily to win but to make the cut which would have been a victory in itself for the 3-time US Open champion. I was pulling for Willie, a Bethune Cookman alum and former APGA champion to finish top ten especially after he was among the leaders on Thursday ranking as high as tied for 5th place at one point. This young man has game, and it will come together.
But as my friend and author of the book, “Anatomy of the Perfect Golf Swing: The Surest Way to Better Golf,” Glennon E. Bazzle once said to me: ”Golf Don’t Care,” meaning it does not matter who you are or what you have done just how are you playing today, now, presently. The past means nothing.
Pinehurst Number 2 can be equally agonizing to play and to watch as the best players in the world can be reduced to mere mortals as they find nooks and crannies on the course that were not meant to have golf balls near them. Not to mention trying to land approach shots or putting on greens that have humpback whales and elephants buried beneath them.
As one fan put it, “I have never seen so many players putt from off the green.”
Just take a look at these sobering statistics. The scoring average of the first two rounds is 73.25 which I would love but par is 70. There have been 10 eagles, 302 birdies ,646 bogies and 86 double bogies or worse among the 158 players that started on Thursday. To be fair, there have been two holes in one. In fact, Francesco Molinari made an incredible hole-in-one on final hole to make the cut.
This 7,569-yard course can rear its ugly head when you least expect it. Not a fun place to be especially when you factor in the heat and humidity which can suck the energy right out of you. This is golf and survival all in one.
Tiger and Willie will continue to play the game they both love and respect, and I will write about it ….but at another location. That’s Golf.
