LET’S be honest, there are some folk in this country whose idea of good personal hygiene is giving their neck and oxters a scrub with the toilet brush.
I sat on a bus birling into Glasgow the other day and thought to myself that if the coronavirus hangs around in the city for too long it will actually catch the coronavirus.
Judging by all the empty soap shelves, though, the entire population is now manically scrubbing away at their palms like a deranged Lady Macbeth after she’s sneezed into her cupped hands.
All of which brings us nicely into this week’s golfing meander. Now, where’s that sanitiser?
TO PLAY OR NOT TO PLAY, THAT IS THE QUESTION
Anyone for tennis? Well, no, thanks to COVID-19. The cancellation of this week’s Indian Wells tournament, the most prestigious event outside the grand slams and a sizeable showpiece that attracts upwards of 450,000 spectators during a two-week stop-off, may just have knock-on effects for some of golf’s biggest occasions.
In the Royal & Ancient game’s circles, the news has probably sparked more anxious jitters than Tiger Woods’ withdrawal from this week’s Players’ Championship.
In recent weeks, a number of LPGA Tour events in the Far East have been postponed while the European Tour announced a few days ago that its Kenyan Open was being put on hold but things continue to grow arms and legs amid this unprecedented situation.
Could The Masters be next? And what about the ANA Inspiration, the opening women’s major of the season, which is staged at the Rancho Mirage resort just a few miles from Indian Wells?
The Masters is only a month away – the ANA Inspiration is held the week before – and it’s probably safe to assume that COVID-19 won’t have blown itself out into a hanky and disappeared by then.
There have to be serious questions about golfing affairs now amid all the doomsday predictions, lockdowns, behind-closed-doors activities and concerns over mass gatherings all across the world.
Like all the main movers and shakers in global golf, the Augusta National top brass are “monitoring the situation”. Given the stringent measures The Masters puts on those patrons coming through the gates, the coronavirus would probably be stopped by a security guard because it didn’t have the relevant lanyard and refused entry anyway.
Joking aside, however, the sudden cancellation of the Indian Wells tennis event could mark a significant turning point in the corona kerfuffle as the virus continues its inexorable march.
Golfers come from a’ the airts and are flying here, there and everywhere. At the moment, most golfing shows go on. But for how long?
WAIT GOES ON BUT DRYSDALE REMAINS AN INSPIRATION
David Drysdale has been such a mainstay down the seasons you half expect to find him in the perennials aisle at a Dobbies Garden Centre.
His agonising play-off defeat at the Qatar Masters, in his 498th European Tour event, meant his long wait for a maiden success on the circuit goes on, however.
There would be no more popular winner than the affable Scot but, in this game, you don’t always get what you deserve. Drysdale will keep going, though.
The term “journeyman” can often be seen as damning someone with faint praise but there will be plenty of golfers who wouldn’t mind being labelled a journeyman if, like Drysdale, it meant 16 unbroken years on the European Tour and earnings of around £5m.
In this pursuit of hard knocks and bad bounces, Drysdale has experienced plenty. The regular trips to the qualifying school, the near misses, the great escapes and the agony of losing his tour card by barely £400 one year has helped to mould a golfer of great substance.
New talented players coming through the ranks generally aspire to be somebody like Rory McIlroy, even if using such a giddy benchmark of success is grounded in the land of make believe.
The young ‘uns could do a lot worse than look to 44-year-old Drysdale for inspiration. He may not be a superstar and he may never achieve the first tour win he desperately craves.
But there have been numerous golfers down the years who had far more pedigree and were more keenly championed than Drysdale ever was yet got nowhere near emulating the career he has built for himself.
His longevity in an unforgiving, cut-throat business of complex, varied demands continues to impress and his career is surely worthy of respect and acclaim.
HATTON PROVIDES PERFECT EURO RETORT
One presumes Paul Azinger will be suffering from severe abdominal bloat having been forced to guzzle down great fistfuls of humble pie over the weekend.
A few days after Azinger smugly questioned whether certain players of “that European Tour” had what it takes to win in the USA during his television punditry – and sparking a fairly heated reaction on this side of the pond in the process – Tyrell Hatton delivered a fine riposte with a terrific conquest in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
Hatton let his clubs do the talking and European golf had the last laugh
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