July 18, 2010
Golf makes dull viewing
The Open golf championship is under way at the home of golf – St Andrews. And this being Britain, it does of course mean that the British even is the best in the world. Jingoistic commentators in every media pronounce this as though it is a matter of fact. But they seem to ignore the reality of what is going on in front of our eyes.
The fact is that the British Open, excuse me – THE Open, is a complete lottery, utterly dependent on the weather. If the sun shines and the wind doesn’t blow too much, then the best golfers will indeed do well. But because the competition is often held in grim seaside places in Scotland, more often than not the result is a lottery, won by somebody who is a complete non-entity.
At the time of writing this year’s competition seems to be a collector’s item for dreadfulness. One day sunny, the next windy, the next lashing with rain. Clearly the best golfer in the world in such conditions I the one who plays in the best conditions. And that means he is the luckiest golfer in the world – not the best.
Why does the British media have to devalue our competitions by claiming them to be the best in the world when they so clearly are anything but? I don’t know – but I do know a second rate competition when I see it.
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