The Perfect Remedy For Golf's Current Moral Battlefield
Fitzpatrick’s win at the 122nd US Open couldn’t have been scripted any better: great tournament; great winner; great headlines.
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"Just when golf needed something to clear the air after the stench of the first LIV tournament, it got it: thank God for Matt Fitzpatrick and the Macmillan 72-hour challenge."
Robert Hardie
"Just when golf needed something to clear the air after the stench of the first LIV tournament, it got it: thank God for Matt Fitzpatrick and the Macmillan 72-hour challenge."
Robert Hardie
The way he won it, with consistent, controlled golf and then an unbelievable high-cut eight iron from a fairway bunker teased around a stand of trees to 20 feet to set up a two-putt par, said everything about how glorious golf can be and the sort of player that deserves to win major titles.
Thousands of miles away from Brookline over the past couple of weeks another glory of golf is being played out: it’s ability to help in the fight against cancer. Macmillan Cancer Support’s 72-holes-in-a-day challenge is fast becoming a fixture at clubs everywhere. It will get way fewer headlines that Fitzpatrick but what it says about golf is every bit as powerful as the way he plays the game.
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The cloud of LIV still hangs over golf as more defections from the PGA and DP World tours are drip fed by the Saudi-backed organisers to keep a feeling of momentum, but for most golfers it will become white noise soon. The focus in professional golf will be the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews in July, but for 99.9% of golfers their focus is always their own golf – and the sun is shining so they’re getting out there.
What events like the Macmillan Challenge do is show what a force for good golf can be, and how golfers love to tie what they probably love doing the most – playing golf – with fundraising. Charity golf days are nothing new and almost every Club captain raises money during his or her year, but the Macmillan Challenge is something ordinary golfers can do.
I’ve done it twice before but the last time was in 2019, and at 58 this is likely to be my last time: I couldn’t bend down to pick the ball out of the hole on the last 18 holes last time and my body is three years older now.
Hopefully, though, there will be other (younger!) golfers within Stewart Golf who will take my place in the future: they just need to remember to pack the Vaseline and Sudocrem!
Please consider showing your support to Macmillan and those fighting their battle with cancer. You can donate to Macmillan through the Stewart Golf Team page using the button below.