Thoughts of the week

Only one talking point this week in the World of golf and that is of course the Masters. It promised so much and it certainly did deliver come the final day. On Sunday morning it was still open to about 20 players to win and that is why it’s such a fantastic tournament and one that I look forward to every year.

Adam Scott

Having spent last year in Australia I was delighted to see Scotty finally cross the finish line and bag his first major. He was absolutely ridiculed in the Aussie press after his collapse in the Open last year and he proved how good mentally he was, not only to stay in contention but produce the goods when it was needed down the stretch. I thought he’d done enough when he holed his birdie putt on the last but fair play to Angel Cabrera who hit a marvelous approach to force the playoff.

TV debate

No, not the argument that everyone was talking about over the weekend, I’m on about the tough decision (if you have the choice) of SKY or BBC? The coverage on SKY as always was detailed and they possess a couple of commentators that are the best in the business in Ewan Murray and Butch Harmon. However their decision to keep putting Colin Montgomerie in front of a microphone baffles me. His patronising nature and constant trait of bringing every talking point back to a moment in his career meant that my TV was certainly muted when he came on. It’s unfortunate that the BBC’s coverage is getting shorter and shorter every year. It’s what I look forward when come the Masters and Open Championship (I think that’s all they have left) come around as I’ve always watched it growing up. It’s a multi-million pound business now and with SKY dominating the airwaves plus the introduction on BT Sport later this year, I’ll take whatever I can still get on BBC whilst I have the chance.

To ban or not to ban

It seems like the debate about ‘long putters’ will ramble on and on. Scott’s win on Sunday night only ignited the argument that saw the R&A vote in favour to have them banned come 2016 only for the PGA Tour to oppose it claiming that millions of young golfers could be lost from the game if the ban is sanctioned. Both sides have a case. The fact that all four majors in the last few years have been won using such putters through Scott, Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson and Ernie Els could be enough, however Scott’s is more of a broom handle than a belly. Then there’s the case of 14 year-old Tianlang Guan who used the belly form and didn’t three putt all week. Is this an advantage or is the kid just ridiculously talented? To make the cut at the Masters at 14, my view is the latter

I think that if it is such an advantage then why haven’t more players in the past, before the debate began, picked up a belly putter if the changes were that drastic. I for one would love to give one a try if it would improve my game and yes it does need a touch up around the greens.

Seve

A lasting thought for the one and only Severiano Ballesteros. The enigmatic Spaniard and pioneer for European golf would have celebrated his 56^th birthday last week. Much missed and still much loved.