Golf Asia - February 2018

GOLF ASIA 37

“Because of where my head was at, sometimes,

I did think, ‘Am I ever going to win one?’ I’ve

had so many good chances, So, it did cross

my mind...”

At the Masters, Dustin Johnson’s push

for global domination slows when he

slips on the stairs, injures his back and

has to withdraw. He joins Tiger Woods,

who pulls out on the Friday before

Masters week, stating he’s “not

tournament ready”. Jordan Spieth

plays but posts his lowest ever Masters

finish, T11 – which is no disaster unless

your previous three were a 2nd, a ‘W’

and another 2nd. Lexi Thompson loses

the ANA Inspirational after being hit with

a four-stroke penalty for misplacing her

ball and signing for the wrong score –

but only after a TV viewer emails in to

blow the whistle on her. “Is

this a joke? ” she asks when

informed of the penalty. She

rallies to make the playoff,

with three birdies over the

last six holes,

but still loses out. Miguel

Angel Jimenez wins his

fourth PGA Tour Champions

title, at no point using a banned putting

stroke. Rory McIlroy marries

American girlfriend Erica Stoll at a

low-key wedding at Ashford Castle in

Northern Ireland, with Stevie

Wonder providing the music.

And an 84-year-old woman

running for a council spot in

Glasgow announces that she

would bring back the guillotine

and abolish golf courses if

voted in. She isn’t voted in.^5

The number

of runner-up

finishes Luke

Donald is up

to in the RBC

Heritage.

Since 2009

he’s finished

2nd, 3rd,

2nd, 37th,

3rd, 2nd,

15th, 2nd

and, 2nd.

“Honestly, I just threw up a little in my mouth, and I was

like, well, shoot, I guess this is what nervous feels like”

Wesley Bryan very nervously wins the RBC Heritage

At the 74th time of asking in a major championship, after four second-place finishes and 22 top 10s, on what

would have been Seve’s 60th birthday and despite a final-round wobble and the best efforts of his playing

partner Justin Rose, Sergio Garcia finally, unexpectedly, gloriously lands his first major. Having missed the

chance to win outright with a five-foot putt on 18, it goes to a sudden death play-off, where a birdie to Rose’s

bogey on the first extra hole gives a familiar tale a fresh twist. Helped into his green jacket and

reminded that he’ll never again be asked how it feels to be the Best Player Never To Have

Won A Major, Sergio smiles. “Now I’ll have to answer, I don’t know if I’ll be the best player

to have only won one major,” he says. “But I can live with that.”

OH, SERGIO!

WINNERS
& LOSERS

A P R