Bad sports, good sports: No walkers allowed on the 18th green

Posted on July 20th, 2009 by Alan Spoll

Twenty-six years after he last won a major, 59-year-old Tom Watson nearly won the British Open this week. In fact, he had a one stroke lead on the final hole, before he bogeyed the 18th and was forced into a playoff against Stewart Cink, who outlasted him in the playoff. Winning the tournament would have been an accomplishment of staggering proportions. Not only would Watson have been the oldest player to ever win a major, he would have bettered the record by eleven years.

On the one hand, if there is going to be an age record beaten by this much in any sport, you kind of figured it would be in golf, right? We are not going to see a 59-year-old breaking the record for passing touchdowns (insert Brett Favre joke here). We will not see someone about to enter their seventh decade of life hitting more home runs in a season than Roger Maris (yes, I still consider his the record). I guess you might see a bowling record fall to someone about to receive Social Security one of these days, but I don’t really count bowling records as significant to the world of sports (sorry bowlers). So yes, if this is going to happen anywhere, golf makes sense. That said, it really is an astonishing thing.

I would not have thought that anything could have been bigger golf news this weekend than the fact that Tiger Woods, who I really do believe is the greatest golfer of all time, did not even make the cut at the British. Tom Watson blew that story away this weekend. I take my Penn State cap off to him.

Good sports, continued:

2) Continuing our salute to the aged, Hershel McGriff, all 81 years of him, competed in a low-level NASCAR event, finishing 13th in a Camping World West Series race in Oregon. Amazing. I am half his age, and I barely got off the sofa this weekend.

3) A little ways back, I wrote about the amazing Myron Rolle, stud football player and future Rhodes Scholar. He gets more incredible every time I read about him. He is now starting a medical center in his parents’ native Bahamas. I want to be Myron Rolle.

Bad sports:

1) From the too whacked-out-to-be-made-up category, Chad Ochocinco has declared that he wants to send out Twitter updates during games. You read that correctly. Not surprisingly, the NFL is not in favor of this.

2) A woman in Besancon, France, was killed when she was hit by a police motorcycle while she was a spectator at the Tour De France. She was crossing the road when the accident occurred.

3) Edgar Gonzalez of the San Diego Padres was hit in the head by a pitch while batting on Saturday night. Sounds like he is going to be okay.

Bad Sports, Good Sports appears every Monday

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Alan Spoll

Alan Spoll is a software quality assurance director from the suburbs of Philadelphia where he lives with his wonderful wife and children. He has spent his entire life as a passionate fan of the Eagles, Phillies, Sixers, Flyers, and Penn State. Recent Phillies success aside, you will understand his natural negativity. Follow me on Twitter - @DocAlan02