Golf, The US Open 2011. A Champion in the Making.

If you are not a golfer then stop reading right now. If you are a golfer then read on at your own peril.

The game of golf has to be the most skilful sport that has been invented but it also has to be the most frustrating. If you are not a golfer and have never swung a golf club you just do not understand how hard the game of golf is.

I was introduced at a very young age by my dad and would tag along to the Portland Golf Club in Victoria Australia. I grew up on golf and I have played all sorts of sports and they all have levels of skill needed but golf the different scenarios thrown at you over the course of 18 holes is so wide and ranging.

Where am I going with this long winded blurb. Well I am going to talk about the current tournament being played in America, The 111th US Open at the Congressional Country Club in Maryland. See if you are not a golfer you are saying who cares.

I love to watch golf and play, now I do not play anywhere as much as I would like to but I do watch the tour events in Europe and also America every weekend. Some people say watching golf is like watching paint dry or grass grow, but these are people who have never played.

When you see a professional player, play a shot that is so hard and makes it look so easy, you appreciate their skill level. I still sit and marvel at some shots played by golfers like Phil Mickelson who probably has the most amazing short game I have seen. The long hitting of the young guys who constantly hit the ball 300mtrs plus off the tee but also keep it straight.

There are 4 major golf tournaments in the world, The Masters, The US Open, The US PGA and The Open (British). These are the grand slam events that every professional golfer just wants to win one of. Winning the four of them over a career is a monumental achievement and doing this is a calendar year is colossal.

This has never been achieved in modern golf, Tiger Woods won all four straight but it was over two calendar years. The legendary Bobby Jones the co-founder of The Masters in Augusta did the grand slam in 1930 winning the US Open, The British Open, The US Amateur and The British Amateur.

Only 4 other golfers have gone on to win all 4 majors over their career, apart from Bobby Jones and Tiger Woods. The legendary Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Gene Sarazen. What a list of golfing greats there. But it also shows how hard it is to do as there are so many excellent golfers that have not won a single major.

When I was a kid I used to pretend to be playing a major tournament, Brunty has 130 metres to the pin, he needs to get it over the water and stop it before the ridge and one putt to win The US Open, and of course I would flub it and knock it into the water or over the green into a bunker but these tournaments made you dream.

The past three nights I have sat up watching The US Open, known for how hard and tough The US Open courses usually are. A score of around even par or even over par can win you this major championship. Last year was even par, and in 2006 and 2007 +5 won the championship.

So Thursday night from 10pm Thai time until just before 7am Friday I watched the opening round of the US Open, then the same on Friday night and again last night. And I have sat pretty well glued to the TV watching fantastic golf.

One young golfer, Rory McIlroy is only 22 years old and golfing beyond his years. Early this year I sadly watched him implode at The Masters tournament earlier this year after taking a 4 shot lead into the final round and losing it and shooting an 80.

People who follow golf would know of Greg Norman or The Great White Shark, the great Aussie golfer that helped change and popularise Australian golf back through the 80’s and 90’s. Greg Norman lost a 6 shot lead to Nick Faldo in the 1996 Masters Tournament finishing 5 shots behing Faldo and so many asshole journalist and Joe Blows started calling Norman a choker. Not just for losing this tournament but others as well. To these people you are all armchair assholes and are not a skidmark in Norman’s jocks. (had to get that off my chest)

Anyway, the great Greg Norman rang Rory to have a chat after the young golfer had lost the tournament. That is the mark of a great man, I am sure he had some positive words for the young bloke.

Well Rory McIlroy has shattered so many US Open records over the last three days, he takes a massive 8 shot lead into the final round starting at 1am tonight here in Thailand and there is no way he is going to lose this tournament. There will be no implosion here. He looks much more comfortable and is making the other top professionals look like amateurs.

Rory is so talented and is another golfer that has an excellent chance of being a grand slam golfer over his career for sure. He has the game to win all of these tournaments on the different types of courses.

And an Australian, Jason Day who also did very well in his first Masters Tournament finishing 2nd with the lowest score of 12 under par has played himself into contention to fight out second at this years US Open. He shot 65 yesterday and sits in equal fourth and at 23 I will put my hat on the line and say he will have a major before he is 27, he has come so far in a short time.

Anyway, if you are a golfer, watch the US Open tonight and see this young 22 year win his first major of what should be many more. Marvel and enjoy his stroke play from tee to green and that of the other players.

Golf is the greatest game invented to me; it is such a good way to spoil a 4hr walk by hitting that little white pill in all directions and chasing it until it falls into a tiny hole on the green. Doesn't that sound like fun.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Brunty