The British Open

That time of year in Blighty, the focus of the sports media turns from tennis to golf. The British Open, we are told by the UK based media, is the most important tournament on the calendar, the won they all want to win. Well they do all want to win, but The Masters is the more prestigious. No amount of bias can alter the facts the latter has the course to die for, and from a couch, it’s always more entertaining.

This doesn’t mean there isn’t much to admire about the British Open; well for a leisure activity. Sport it ain’t, as there’s no athleticism. Colin Montgomery was the best golfer in Europe for many a year, but was never near my fitness levels, even when they were at their lowest. Look at Phil Mickelson, who as I type seems to be heading for the claret jug. He’ll be able to rest it on his stomach.

The participants are highly skilled though, as I saw first-hand when I went to one of the practise days at Muirfield. These are good in my book, as crowds are nowhere near as large, and you can officially take in a camera, a 35mm job in my case.

There was no surprise Rory had a dire tournament. From what snippets I could hear from the practise area, the talk to start with was about the previous evening’s revelries. If the boy doesn’t watch out he’s going to waste that talent.

The practise areas are a good spot to start and an excellent opportunity to see the pros in action, and witness the ability they have honed over years of practise. From there I headed out onto the course, and saw a few big names, quite a few I didn’t have a clue who they were, all in a relaxed atmosphere. It was good to see Lee Westwood and Bubba Watson signing everything passed to them, though I also saw the latter expertly slice a shot so he could hit someone on the shoulder.

Like the activity itself, it was all done at a leisure pace, plenty of time to get expensive refreshments and not miss anything, take lots of photo’s and wonder how come they get paid so much.

All in all a good day out, and I’ll probably do the same the next time the Open goes to Muirfield.