| TALES FROM THE BOX
A of
Month
Meltdowns Julian Tutt looks at the cases of Charl Schwartzel and Martin Kaymer, who both managed to squander healthy final-round advantages on the European Tour last month.
S
Daniel Wong (Tutt); AFP
Scarcely believable: Martin Kaymer (opposite top) let slip a 10-stroke lead in Abu Dhabi and could barely comprehend what was happening; Charl Schwartzel, who was chasing his first South African Open title, frittered a healthy lead on the Sunday before losing in a play-off (bottom) 32
HK GOLFER・FEB 2015
tanding on a rather scantily clad snowy peak in the French Alps, the dramas of Glendower and Abu Dhabi seem a million miles away from where I am on holiday. Daydreams of many happy days spent on the aforementioned snowy peak are rudely interrupted though by the arrival of Mark James. The former Ryder Cup captain has an apartment here, having discovered skiing as a 40-year-old. Like many Johnny-come-latelies, he has become an avid, low single figure skier, who would far rather be dicing with death on an icy piste than squirming over a tricky 4ft putt. James keeps a wary eye though on what’s happening at his former workplace and was mildly interested to know my thoughts on how a one-time Masters champion and the reigning US Open winner could both surrender huge leads in successive weeks. He was the master at the helm in 1999, when Europe took a fourpoint advantage into the Ryder Cup singles at Brookline, only to see Ben Crenshaw’s men claim a rare victory, so he knows all about surrendering healthy leads. Team golf is a little different though. At the South African Open, held over t he magnif icent Glendower layout near Johannesburg, home favourite Charl Schwartzel was bidding for his first national Open title. On a course of narrow fairways lined with brutally tough Kikuyu rough, he appeared in complete control as he led by five shots going into the final round. After a Christmas break on his remote farm he had been at Glendower all week, desperately trying to rid himself of an accumulation of contradictory swing thoughts and return to the simple feel of his youth. He’d called in his father, George (a high quality
player himself) to help accomplish that. On the Monday, Denis Hutchinson (a great putter who had learnt most of what he knows from the legendary Bobby Locke) and I found him grinding away on the practice putting green. He was complaining that he felt he had to stand open to avoid coming across the line. It quickly became obvious that in fact he was standing shut, and what felt like open to him was actually square. With that adjustment made and a few more technical tips from Denis, he looked like his old brilliant self. It was a classic example of how even the best can go astray with something as simple as posture and alignment. But so much of golf is about confidence. It can be easily dashed, and far less easily regained. For three days Schwartzel’s self-belief appeared to be returning. Suddenly on Sunday an old swing flaw returned. He started dropping the club too much on the inside and blocking the ball extravagant distances right. On the difficult 16th hole (where Henni Otto had blown the championship last year) Schwartzel made the same mistake, sending his ball over the green to a back flag and taking four to get down. On the par-3 17th, he again blocked it right into trees and only his brilliant short game allowed him to get away with bogey. So, a par was required up the last to play off with England’s Andy Sullivan, who not long before had been contemplating what to do with the second-placed money he was sure he would be getting. At the first extra hole, Sullivan made a quite brilliant birdie from the left hand trees and the title was his, having come from seven shots back. A maiden victory for Sullivan and desolation for Schwartzel. To the South African’s great credit he bounced back brilliantly the following week HKGOLFER.COM
in Abu Dhabi, but the spotlight there was on the three-time champion Martin Kaymer, who quickly forgot about his Christmas break learning how to snowplough and roared into the lead with an opening 64. This was Kaymer’s track. He is a proven front runner. He’s the reigning Players and US Open Champion, having won the latter by eight shots, wire to wire. Despite the presence of Rory McIlroy and many other luminaries, the German continued to dominate, taking a six-shot lead into the final round. Game over. Job done. The bookies had him as the ludicrously overwhelming favourite. After three birdies in the first four holes he was 24-under-par (equalling his own championship record) and leading by 10 shots. It was the dream start and now only one man could beat him: himself. The first sign of trouble came at the difficult par-4 sixth, where having found rough off the tee and laid up, he made the cardinal error of going long to a back flag. He very nearly chipped in, but it was a shot gone. There’s a longish walk across a low bridge to the seventh tee. There on a plinth was the Falcon Trophy for a “sexy” camera shot. All he had to do was stay in the present, keep playing the way he was, not make any silly tactical errors and that trophy was his for a fourth time. Did that trophy sighting cause him to get ahead of himself? We’ll probably never know, but from thereon in things started to change. At the ninth, he had to take a penalty drop out of rocks in the desert and made a weak double bogey. No need to panic just yet, there was still credit in the bank, but McIlroy and little-known Frenchman Gary Stal were both on birdie runs. Meanwhile the birdies had dried up for Kaymer as he came to the short par-4 13th. Kaymer tried to cut the corner of the dogleg with a driver and found a bush in the desert. His penalty drop in the soft sand sunk down. He couldn’t reach the green. Unbelievably he then completely chunked a chip, practically curling the turf over the ball. Uh oh. Another chip and two putts for a triple bogey and he’s back at seventeen under and no longer leading. On the 17th he was all ready to putt when he looked up at Bernd Wiesberger (who’s ball was a bit closer to the hole), re-marked his ball, and stepped away as if he wasn’t even sure it was his turn to putt. He then went through the set-up process again, but it was obvious his head was totally scrambled and his race run. Walking to the 18th, his caddie Craig Connolly rather forlornly said: “I hadn’t seen this coming!” Who had? It was one of t he most i mprobable, d ra mat ic a nd inexplicable meltdown’s in any sport that I have ever witnessed. HKGOLFER.COM
After three birdies in the first four holes Kaymer was 24-under-par and leading by 10 shots. It was the dream start and now only one man could beat him: himself. Martin Kaymer is a delightful man, and we must hope that no lasting damage is done. The brain is the most powerful weapon in a sportsman’s armoury. Used well it can perform miracles, but when the wires get crossed, call for the fire brigade. Ask Mark James about that.
HK GOLFER・FEB 2015
33