Tuesday, June 26, 2007

U.S. Open, Tiger's Cub

It’s been an interesting couple of weeks since we last chatted. An Argentinean won the US Open. Tiger and Elin had a cub. Phil and Michelle are on the DL and that old cutup John Daly was almost cut up.
First, it’s amazing that every once in a while golf provides the setting for a great story and few can match the US Open win by Angel Cabrera. Most Americans can only imagine what it was like for him as a youth. He had to quit school after elementary school to earn money to help feed the family. Golf is fortunate that he chose caddying as his work.
Granted, Cabrera had a lot of help along the way. Eduardo Romero helped back him financially when everyone noticed that he had undeniable ability. Romero was his guide when he first joined the European Tour. When Cabrera finished his fourth round of the U.S. Open, the first call he received was from Romero.
One of the first things you notice about Cabrera, right after the 397-yard drives, is his genuine humility. When he said he was humbled by winning the U.S. Open, you have to believe him. Hopefully, he’ll never change. Hopefully, he’ll go on to emulate one of his countrymen, Roberto DiVicenzo one of the greatest gentlemen ever to play golf.
Okay, call me a skeptic, a cynic, or whatever and I hope Sam Alexis Woods has a long, healthy life. God knows it will be prosperous. It seems a little strange to me that she wasn’t due until next month. Let’s see, what does Tiger have going on during the next month? There’s next week’s Buick Championship in Michigan. Tiger has a personal services contract with…Buick. What’s next? Oh, that’s right; Tiger has his own PGA Tour event in Washington D.C. during the first week in July that will benefit the Tiger Woods Foundation. This you’ll remember was supposed to be the week of the International, but Tiger single-handedly killed the tournament by refusing to play in it and thus making it impossible to get a corporate sponsor.
Then, of course comes the Open Championship, as in British Open where Tiger is the defending champion. As you can see, there was just so much to do and so little time to do these things. If you might want to deduce an inducement here, well, that’s up to you.
Philly Mick and the Big Wiesy have got to be careful. Hefty hurt his wrist in a practice round at Oakmont, a week prior to the Open. Then he tried to play. To his credit, he survived 36 holes and missed being invited back for the 37th by a shot. Instead of just walking away, he had to make one last comment.
He accused the USGA of trying to end his and other careers by making the rough so thick. Usually, I’m in Phil’s corner on a lot of things, but not this one. The plain truth is he shouldn’t have tried to play at all. As a result, he—not the USGA, placed his career in jeopardy. He’s been advised not to touch a club for at least two weeks. I’d be surprised if he returns to form this year. Now I guess I understand a little bit why he’s not the most popular player with his colleagues.
Wie has been the subject of blanket criticism for her quitting on the 16th hole in the opening round of the Ginn Invitational. She blamed her aching wrist. The truth is, if she shot 88, she couldn’t play any LPGA events for the rest of the year. She was definitely headed there. So, she quit.
Evidently, it was a short-term thing because she was on the range that weekend at the site of the McDonald’s Championship that she was in the following week. The truth is, the girl can’t break par and hasn’t for 28 rounds. At least she withdrew from the PGA Tour John Deere Classic citing a lack of strength in her wrists. This is the first smart thing Team Wie has done maybe ever.
File Hefty and the Brat under wrist-reward.
Trust me on this John Daly is a great guy. However, as Fuzzy Zoeller once said, “Find me the craziest woman in the world and I’ll introduce you to John’s next wife.”
This time, it’s dangerous. He got away with just having his face scratched. The next time, he just might get killed. JD isn’t going to practice celibacy anytime soon, but just maybe, he might be a tad selective. Cruising the psycho wards of America hasn’t worked out very well.
In honor of the new U.S. Open champion crack open a cold cerveza and say
Angel, salud y amor y tiempo para disfrutarlo.

See you on the first tee,

Jack O’Leary

1 comment:

Miranda said...

I find it hard to believe every woman John Daly finds is a phycho. I think Daly contributes to his own problems just as much as any woman he happens to hook up with. Like he says in that promo for his not so exlcusive, upcoming interview with the Golf Channel "it takes two to make a marriage and two to ruin one." Let's not just blame the women. He's not much of a prize either.