Jack’s Blog

As anyone who reads this blog knows by now that the winner of this year’s British Open is Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa.  He won it the way most every golfer wins their first (major) tourney.  He combined the most important quality of all, talent, with consistent play, determination, wise decision-making, an ability to keep his nerves under control and focus to lead nearly wire-to-wire. 

When I heard him asked the question in an interview following Friday’s round, “Who was your role model?” I turned to the person next to me and confidently said, “Gary Player,” just as Louis gave his answer.  “Ernie Els.”  Am I that old? 

A white guy and a black caddie from South Africa - on Nelson Mandela’s 92nd birthday (which, if we didn’t know prior to the day’s play, we found out immediately after it was over and Louis wished the leader a happy birthday) - not only take the Claret Jug, but do so by steamrolling the competition, winning by 7 - yeah, seven - strokes.  Were the stars aligned just right or will we hear more from this gracious champion?

Because of the manner in which he conducted himself over the past four days, I know I’m hoping for the latter, and there is no doubt that hundreds of other fans share that feeling.  So what’s the key for a guy who missed the cut in 7 of his previous 8 majors?  Take the advice of Anthony Robbins:

“In essence, if we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions.  It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently.” 

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Ask any of the major network executives whether they would rather have a British Open final pairing of Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson or Louis Oosthuizen vs. Paul Casey and, . . . you probably don’t need for me to tell you what their choice would be.  Can’t blame them.  Popularity drives TV ratings and the American duo beat their counterparts in that category in every part of the world - including South Africa and England.

Yet, although the average fan is certainly more apt to tune in to a Tiger-Phil match-up (which is why TV ratings are higher - duh), he identifies more with the lesser known golfer.  Somehow, we think their plight resembles ours.  Although they’re still professionals and play a completely different game of golf than we do, we still think they’re experiencing the nervous feelings we would if we were in their cleats.  And maybe they are.  Unlike us, however, they possess the skills and knowledge that, if they can contain their emotions and remain “in the moment” as Louis (unlike Tiger and Phil, he’s known by his first name because nobody can pronounce his last name) put it in a post-round interview yesterday, they realize they actually can hold up the Claret Jug at the end of today’s play.

After witnessing Tiger and Phil hit amazing shots from impossible lies, we view them and their game as godlike, the same as we do when we watch what Peyton Manning can do with a football, Kobe Bryant with a basketball, Tim Lincecum with a baseball or Roger Federer with a tennis ball.  It’s somewhat like the SI swimsuit edition - beautiful places we’d like to go, but knowing we’ll never get there. 

So, in essence, rooting for either Louis or Casey (we can pronounce that one) is really like pulling for ourselves - just like when we were kids and fantasized that we made the game-winner - whatever the game was.  There’s also a segment (I’d like to think small) who watches in anticipation of a Dustin Johnson  or Jean Van de Velde moment - a monumental collapse on national television.

In the words of one of the greatest underdogs ever (on a golf course anyway), Bill Gates:

“If there’s one cultural quality we have, it’s that we always see ourselves as an underdog.”