Did you read that thing the other day about Stone Age folk feasting on rodents? Possibly not. You were probably too busy shoving your dormouse casserole into the oven to give it a second glance.
While certain media outlets treated the story with an excitable, sniggering sense of disgust – they capped up the word RODENTS in the headline to try to emphasise the retch-inducing yuckiness of it all – I preferred to greet this historical, non-revelation with shrugging nonchalance. I mean, who are we to judge the diet of 5000 years ago given the amount of questionable swill that gets launched down the collective thrapple of our so-called civilised society? And as for the way things are served up in certain eateries? Slates, oak boards? Give it a few months and the latest culinary craze will probably see us scavenging around the restaurant floor on all fours looking for a marinated woodlouse. Our old Stone Age ancestors would be choking on their vole skewers at the absurdity of it all.
There’s always something to give us food for thought and in the world of golf it happens on a weekly basis. In this great generation game for all the ages, it’s never too early to get into the winning habit and it’s never too late to get back into it. Padraig Harrington, at a sprightly 45, claimed his first victory on the European Tour since 2008 with a thrilling win in the Portugal Masters which also saw Anders Hansen, the 46-year-old Dane who is now semi-retired, battle his way to a share of third.
At the other end of the age spectrum, Justin Thomas, who has been tipped for superstar status – no pressure there then – successfully defended his CIMB Classic title at the age of 23 on the PGA Tour while, on the women’s front, the 20-year-old Australian, Minjee Lee, racked up her third LPGA Tour win in the past 17 months. In this pursuit, that most hackneyed of hackneyed phrases, ‘if you’re good enough, you’re old enough’ continues to ring true. And if even you’re that bit aulder you can still be more than good enough too.
At this time of the season, when players are losing tour cards, earning promotion to a higher level or simply making their first tentative steps in the professional scene, there can be a lot of pondering and reflecting. Some will be consumed with thoughts of what-ifs, maybes and might-have-beens, others will be stirred by the prospect of why not, perhaps and wait-and-see.
There are many ways to succeed in golf, and many more ways to fail. Talent is one thing, but without drive, discipline and the mental toughness of a Navy Seal it can be a sair fecht. Away from the glitz and glamour of the golfing big leagues, there was an encouraging Scottish story of sturdy resolve over the last few days when Michele Thomson, the former Curtis Cup player, completed a hard-earned return to the Ladies European Tour by finishing fourth on the order of merit of the circuit’s second-tier Access Series.
A former Scottish Ladies Amateur champion, Aberdonian Thomson, who played in that Curtis Cup of 2008 alongside future Ladies European Tour winners like Carly Booth and Florentyna Parker, made the leap into the pro game as a 19-year-old but, like many making the plunge, a season in the cut-and-thrust of the tour proved to be a sobering experience. “Maybe it was a step too soon but then again maybe life as a tour pro is just not for me,” she said at the time as she took a step back from the professional stage after just one season. Thomson swapped the fairways for the beat as she became a police officer for a couple of years. It’s a good job she didn’t patrol The Herald sports desk’s spring meeting. There are still shots being fired there that have been outlawed since the O.K Corral.
Her passion for golf may have been doused by those earlier touring experiences, but the fire hadn’t been snuffed out completely. Thomson re-ignited her career by going down the PGA training route and, with that solid qualification behind her, she embarked on something of a second coming. There is unfinished business to complete. In 2017, she will be back on the same Ladies European Tour that had left her disillusioned almost a decade ago.
Older, wiser and, no doubt, possessing a new sense of perspective from her eye-opening stint in the police force, Thomson’s tale is one of reality checks and real life. She’s clearly ready to give the tour a real go now.
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