R&A food for thought

Apart from giving the Sun an amusing headline this Monday morning (OOS THE DADDY, if you were wondering), yesterday’s Open Championship win by Louis Oosthuizen made one punter a lot poorer, however it was an Open which failed to ignite. Read more.

It could well be humblest of any champion ever. Even more humble than a 2001 Ray Lewis, but anyone who was watching, if they hadn’t already fallen into a deep sleep, must have felt rather cheated and bored by the occasion.

The tournament was on the BBC meaning that everyone, unless you’re in the process of being caught by one of those TV-license evader vans, had to pay money to see it. So why aren’t more people calling into Points of View and moaning about this? The home of golf should be persuaded to change their ways. Next time you have a committee meeting have a couple more glasses of that Famous Grouse and see what happens, or you may find your product being dismissed by the BBC and taken on by that channel whose name is a swearword (!TV).

What could they have done this weekend to make it more exciting instead of installing large invisible wind-machines on every hole? First off, if the leader’s got a lead as long as his surname then knock a couple of shots off for slow play. No-one’s going to argue with you because you’re the Royal and Ancient, and therefore own golf. Also should it not have been in Louis Oosthuizen’s best interests to drop a few shots to make it a bit more interesting? It was only a chasing pack containing, amongst others, Lee Westwood, who’s quite clearly on some kind of wager to always finish second, and you could have given Nelson even more of a treat on his birthday by making it a bit more competitive.

Also it can’t have escaped everyone’s collective attention at the love-in between Oosthuizen and his final-day

partner Paul Casey. They did take the term ‘pairing’ rather too literally, meaning the competitive instinct gave way to a sort of camp giggle-fest between the two, bizarrely instigated by Casey who was trying to gain more than his fair share of shots on the eventual Champion. Casey and Oosthuizen even wore matching trousers, how sweet (cue vomit).

That was if you had any vomit left from earlier on in the weekend after a glance over at John Daly’s conundrum of clothing. I mean it was nice to see someone taking on, and resoundingly thumping, Ian Poulter in the ridiculous clothing stakes, and it may even mean at the next major we see the Englishman up-the-stakes. Pity it doesn’t win you a major though Ian.

Then here’s to hoping next year’s has a little added spice. If not, at least let Tiger parade around the course with a whole bevy of beauties carrying a club each. Might help him to get his game back. Even if it doesn’t, it will provide some entertainment at least!