A Game Played As Much Off The Course As On

Guest article from guest writer Rory Byrne follow Rory online via Twitter @playagainstpar

Last year finally saw the blossoming rivalries the golfing fraternity as a whole craved for years: The rise of a new king. The return of an old. The gathering of worthy pretenders.

As a result, golf had emerged from the banality of a game seen as many heretofore, as a pastime of the privileged dominated at the summit by the irrepressible Woods, to a sport of dynamism epitomised by the swashbuckling ball-striking punctuated by the cool swagger, of Rory McIlroy.

Now the average Joe, the guy with a passing interest, is sitting up and taking notice. And the game’s new cast is finally connecting with the fans.

If the game hadn’t been stirred to life before, the 2012 Ryder Cup shocked golf into a normal sinus rhythm and provoked genuine feelings of pride and belonging in a game often seen as selfish, individual and at times aloof. Viewers at home shouted and roared the European team home as each putt sank on that fateful Sunday in Chicago. That day encapsulated the way in which golf is reaching out to the public and the public in turn has embraced the game’s new found joie de vivre.

Now as the new season dawns all eyes are on the Middle-East for the first leg of the desert swing. Europe’s top players along with some notable (and expensive) invitees descend on the impossibly ‘desert green’ fairway of Abu Dhabi Golf Club in the UAE for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.

The monster 7,600 yard course, fertilised by mulched cash and watered with Perrier, will see half of Europe’s victorious Ryder Cup team and a pair of the vanquished American side vie for the €336,725 first prize. But there are more important personal goals for many of the golfers teeing it up on Thursday. World ranking points. Tour cards. Practice with the new gear...

This week the media will also devote some of its time to the new 2014 Ryder Cup Captain, Paul McGinley and undoubtedly to the persistently po-faced Colin Montgomery. McGinley is a popular choice, not least amongst his fellow professionals and indeed his appointment was in no little part due to a vociferous fraternity airing their views on Twitter. The power of social media.

2013 could prove to be a vintage year; a year which I’ve no doubt will see the relentless rise of McIlroy.