Compleat Golfer’s playing editor, Louis Oosthuizen, reflects on a few off-the-course events in his October column for the magazine.
Firstly, I want to congratulate Kevin Anderson for doing so well to get to the final of the US Open. He’s a great guy, and after he reached the semi-finals I sent him a WhatsApp to congratulate him and wish him luck for the rest of the tournament.
Then Charl Schwartzel and myself went up to New York and watched him win his semi-final, which was a great moment. Kevin doesn’t live too far away from us in Florida, so we thought it would be good to go and cheer him on. With Hurricane Irma making its way across Florida, I decided to stay in New York and watched the final too.
As a golfer I know how hard it is to win Majors, and tennis isn’t much different. The fact that Kevin finished runner-up to Rafael Nadal, and made history by being the first South African to reach the US Open final in more than 50 years, and the first in any Grand Slam final since Kevin Curren in 1984, is a fine achievement.
Of course, I know how he would have felt afterwards. Finishing second is never the best experience, but when you reflect on it, you know that at least your game was good to allow you to come so close.
My experience relates to the fact that when I finished second at the PGA Championship it completed my ‘Grand Slam’ of runner-up positions. It really isn’t something I should be proud of. You start to wonder, ‘Where are the wins?’
Perhaps what received even more reaction than my runner-up spot behind Justin Thomas at Quail Hollow, was when I lip-synced Andrea Day’s ‘Rise Up’ on the plane home from that event.
I was very surprised how much attention it got. It was more a case of me trying to entertain the kids so they’d sit still in the plane. The song came up and we had a little speaker there. My wife had the phone out and she asked me, ‘Should I put this on Twitter?’ And I said, ‘Well, I never really do anything. So why not, go ahead.’
It was just one of those moments that happened. Nothing planned. As for the song title, it was a coincidence, although Nel-Marie thought it was appropriate for the time. But at least the kids sat still and listened to it. And no, I’m definitely not planning on doing that again. It was a one-off!
Returning to the subject of Florida, my thoughts go out to those affected by Hurricane Irma, which left millions without power on her path through the Keys and northwards. She also caused untold damage in the Caribbean and in Cuba, and it’s in times like these that we are reminded golf is just a game.
This magazine was going to print before the Presidents Cup started and you might well be reading this during or after the tournament, but needless to say, I was looking forward to teeing it up again and being able to play in a team competition.
