Truly inspiring!
For any man that loves his sport, and has reached or surpassed his fortieth birthday, the victory for Miguel Angel Jimenez must surely have been a wonderfully uplifting experience!
Our hero, in the red corner, is a cigar smoking, wine drinking, pot bellied charmer from the Mediterranean, closer to his 50th birthday than his 40th landmark. His opponent is a man who by the end of the year may be considered the best in the world, a man on the verge of confirming his outstanding talent. He is focused, ripped with muscle, and looking every inch a major winner! He is Lee Westwood! After 72 holes and three sudden death holes, Lee could not shake off the amiable Spaniard.
Sure, Lee rode his luck, and was clearly not firing on all cylinders; perhaps his mind was a few weeks down the road. No matter, a competitor of Westwood’s calibre never lets a prestigious title slip away lightly.
Miguel Angel Jimenez has proven on many occasions (many since he turned forty) that he is an exceptionally gifted golfer, with an excellent temperament and attitude to the game.
The real joy of this victory though, was for the game of golf; what other sport can genuinely claim that it can be played at any any level by all shapes, sizes….and ages!?
It was suggested in some quarters at the end of an extraordinary Open Championship last year, that had Tom Watson won at his age, it would be a sad indictment of the state of the professional game. The Bug was brimming with indignation when reading this nonsense; what could be further from the truth? Tom’s, and Miguel’s, achievements, along with so many more, prove to us that golf is the ultimate test of mental and emotional strength, as well as physical prowess. It is perhaps those with the greatest experience, as long as they are seriously talented, that are best able to deal with the pressures of professional golf. As more ‘old’ boys win, then the more it will be become expected, and as we know, the mental side of the game is so, so crucial!
What is so encouraging to all of us amateurs, is that maybe we can still improve in our forties, fifties and even in our sixties! What a great game golf is!
