Weekend Wrap

How 'bout dem Seahawks!  That was as exciting a football game as I've seen in a while, though ski buddy Lee is a died-in-the-wool Pack fan.  That means that Mitch and I will need to either cheer him up or get him drunk.

Do As I Say... - When last we met, I was hopeful that Jimmy Walker had slept through the Kaymer collapse in the desert... If he did see it he obviously took it as a cautionary tale as opposed to an instructional manual, i.e. more Reefer Madness than How To Marry a Millionaire:

At least Jimmy Walker is leaving Hawaii with one trophy. 

Six days after losing a tournament on Maui he felt he should have won, Walker turned in a command performance Sunday on Oahu. He blew away the field with a 7-under 63 to win the Sony Open for the second straight year. 

His fourth career victory was the most impressive of all. On a course that lends itself to a free-for-all, Walker shot 62-63 on the weekend and never gave anyone much of a chance, winning by a tournament-record nine shots. The previous record was seven shots, last set in 2000 by Paul Azinger.

I only saw the NBC portion of the coverage, and through that point the whole field seemed stuck in neutral.  But Walker apparently kept firing at pins and dropping puts, as he posted a 5-under 30 coming home.  But you've a heart of stome if you don't enjoy photos such as this one:

Gotta be quite a feeling...

Not As I Do... - The curmudgeonly (James) Corrigan provides a detailed blow-by-blow on Kaymer's epic collapse and then utilizes it to pose a metaphysical question:

Was this golf’s biggest choke? Certainly Martin Kaymer’s remarkable capitulation from being 10 shots ahead with 13 holes to play to losing by two to an unknown Frenchman, will long be talked about in the same breath as Jean Van de Velde, Medinah and Greg Norman.

Except during that infamous trio of merciless submission, the odds on the pacesetters were never as short as 1-500. That is what Ladbrokes were quoting on Kaymer after five holes of this barely credible final round.

What made the German’s collapse seem all the more incredible was the fact that he is considered one of the sport’s most impervious of front-runners – having won the US Open by eight shots last year – and in seven previous appearances at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship had won on three occasions. This was Devon Loch in plus fours.

Curious about that last reference?  So was I....turns out the reference is from 1956 and here's the skinny from Wikipedia:

Having won two races already that year and finishing a good third-place at Cheltenham that season, Devon Loch was well-fancied for the Grand National, and his progress was helped when the favourite and a previous winner fell early on. 

At the race climax, with only ten horses still running, Devon Loch was on the final stretch, in front of the royal box just 40 yards from the winning post and with a five-length lead, when he suddenly, and inexplicably, jumped into the air and landed on his stomach, allowing E.S.B. to overtake and win. Although jockey Dick Francis tried to cajole the horse, it was unable to continue. Afterwards, the Queen Mother famously said: "Oh, that's racing."

It is still uncertain and debated to this day as to why Devon Loch jumped; some reports claimed he suffered a cramp in his hindquarters causing the collapse. Another report asserted that a shadow thrown by the adjacent water-jump fence (which horses only traverse on the first circuit of the Aintree course) may have baffled Devon Loch into thinking a jump was required and – confused as to whether he should jump or not – he half-jumped and collapsed. It seems possible that such confusion caused him to fail to continue. Jockey Dick Francis later stated that a loud cheer from the crowd, for an expected royal winner, distracting the horse is a more likely explanation.

Notwithstanding the eerie similarities, I wouldn't send Martin to the glue factory just yet.  But since I'm a full-service blogger, here's why they're still talking about it sixty years on:

As to James' overriding question, the answer is a resounding no simply because the stage was so dramatically less significant than the that on which Palmer and Norman failed.  I'd agree that those are the two most significant slow-motion, Chinese water torture meltdowns.

In a separate category, I'd nominate Mark Calcaveccia and Lorena Ochoa for the two worst pressure-induced swings by professional golfers.  The former was on the 17th tee at Kiawah's Ocean Course in the 1991 Ryder Cup and the latter was on the 18th tee of Cherry Hills in the 2005 U.S. Women's Open ultimately won by the delightfully-named Birdie Kim.  

I tend to give Van de Velde a pass because his meltdown was caused by perhaps the worst break I've seen a player receive.  he deliberately hit the ball safely into the stands right of the 18th green, an all too common strategy in the professional game, his shot unfortunately hit the narrow railing and bounced crazily back over the burn into an impossibly deep lie.  Plus, he did get up-and-down from the bunker to salvage a spot in the playoff.

We Have a Winner - Rex Hoggard with the details from Buenos Aries:

Matias Dominguez began the week No. 421 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and

293rd in the world of college golf, but on Sunday at Pilar Golf Club in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the Chilean earned something much more important then ranking points. 

The 22-year-old closed with a 1-under 71 to win the inaugural Latin American Amateur Championship and with it an invitation to this year’s Masters.

The USGA, R&A and Augusta National are to be congratulated for their rather substantial support of this event.  And, as previously announced, next year's edition will be played on famed Teeth of the Dog at Case de Campo in the Dominican Republic.

Draw Your Own Conclusions - I have no clue how to react to this account from Australia's News9:

A homeless woman who has spoken to police about the robbery of Australian golfer Robert Allenby has said he was just one block from a wine bar as he tried to pay off two men to get his belongings back. 

The Hawaiian woman told 9NEWS Allenby offered $500 to get his belongings back, but the men became aggressive and Allenby was put into a taxi by a passerby. 

It conflicts with the account given by Allenby earlier in the day, when he said he was stuffed in a car boot and dumped in a park 10km away.

Unless the woman happened to be a former Tour caddie, it's hard to see where she'd have an axe to grind.  And one can readily see where Allenby could be confused, but the two accounts seem hard to square...  Stay tuned for further details...

News of the Improbable - based upon the accumulated wisdom from seven trips there, this is a story that strains credulity:

Naming names:  Carnoustie is one of the offenders.

Whisky and golf, two industries that help define Scotland around the globe, have been exposed as major environmental offenders by a Government watchdog for siphoning off more water than they are allowed.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has condemned the performance of distilleries and golf courses across the country as "poor" because they have broken the rules by taking more water than permitted. Farmers and other businesses have also come under fire.

Sepa has further criticised more than 200 operators for failing to say how much water they used. They include more farmers, golf courses and distilleries as well as Edinburgh Zoo, Scone Palace in Perth and the US property tycoon Donald Trump.

Sepa regulates the removal of water from streams, rivers, lochs and the ground to prevent watercourses from drying up, protect wildlife, limit pollution and ensure the natural resource is fairly shared. It warns it will take legal enforcement action against businesses that persistently fail to comply.

If only.  I'm sorry but Scotland is the last place on Earth that will experience a water shortage.  

Next up, sending emergency coal supplies to Newcastle.  I suppose the only saving grace is that Dean's Shortbread was not named.  But my joking aside, there's much gnashing of teeth and rending of garments to be found, but I'm guessing this is the key bit:

"There is no excuse at all for the iconic whisky and golf ­industries not to be living up to the high ­environmental standards that they trade on worldwide. Scotland risks trouble with European laws if we do not get this right."

Ah yes, those would be your friends in Brussels.  I'm sure they have your best interests at heart...