HKG: Your last win—the Madeira Island Open in 2006—what did that mean to you? JVDV: I had come close so many times prior
to that. Not including the Open, which was just freaky, I missed out at the Open de France and lost a playoff in America. Winning is always nice. Because of an injury, I couldn’t walk in 2002 and 2003, and in 2004 I only played five times. You can’t be competitive like that. When I lost out at the French Open I was just trying to walk and play golf. It was disappointing, but it was also a good feeling to know that I could play again. HKG: You’ve played in the Ryder Cup. Will Faldo make a good captain? JVDV: How can Faldo not be a good captain?
Look at his experience. I mean—6 majors! Excuse me—6 majors! That’s more than Ernie Els, that’s more "At the end of the day, if golf is than anyone apart from Tiger. what defines you as a person Experience is important in Ryder He might be introverted, then you're a loser, because Cups. but he’ll find his way as long as you're always going to lose he can communicate with the more times that you win." players, which he will. Faldo will be fantastic in America. HKG: So Europe will win? JVDV: Yes, Europe will win. I don’t care about
the score—as long as they win. That’s what counts.
HKG: You didn’t qualify for the British Open at Carnoustie last year, but a lot of people were suggesting that you should have received an invite based on your performance the last time around. What did you make of that? JVDV: I was flattered. I play golf because I
love to play golf, and obviously there were a lot of people who watched me play in 1999. But the fact of the matter is that I was injured during qualifying and couldn’t compete. I don’t believe anyone has ever received an invitation to the British Open— you have to qualify, which I didn’t do. I don’t hold it against the R&A—that’s the way it is. What can you do? I was disappointed to miss out, but nevermind. If I win at Birkdale this year, no-one will care about last year. I’m cool with it. HKG: How cool were you with what happened in 1999? JVDV: Ha! The way that ball hit the
grandstand and came down, it’s a fluke…it’s freaky. You have to remember golf is a game—it involves luck. Whatever game you play, luck is involved. In golf, 2 plus 2 doesn’t equal 4. Yes, you could argue that I played the wrong shot, but I could have hit 8-iron back to the fairway and it could have hit a sprinkler head and gone out of bounds. If it’s not 36
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meant to be, it’s not meant to be. I was sad, yes, but is it really important? Of course not. You’re in the golf business, who won the Open in 1992? HKG: Faldo. JVDV: Who won in 1985? HKG: Err, Lyle? JVDV: OK, who won in 1964? HKG: No idea. JVDV: See, we’re both in the golf business, but
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we still have to check. We don’t even know. In a hundred years, people won’t know what happened in 1999. They’ll look at the trophy and see the winner’s name. People die every day in conflicts all over the world. That day at Carnoustie, John F. Kennedy Jr. died in a plane crash. Here I am trying to hit a golf ball into a hole. It might be important for me, but not for anyone else. Let’s be realistic. HKG: How important is golf to you now? JVDV: At the end of the day, if golf is what
Public golf. It simply doesn’t get any better…
defines you as a person then you’re a loser, because you’re always going to lose more times than you win. Golf is a part of me, but it’s not me. The way I reacted in 1999 is an aspect of me.
Story by Alex Jenkins Photography by Robin Moyer
HKG: Did you watch the British Open last year? JVDV: I watched Garcia play [holes] 2,3,4 and
5, and then I switched off. I don’t watch golf. The only exception is the Ryder Cup—I’ll sit down and watch that all day. I love the confrontation of matchplay. A golf tournament is a golf tournament. I play in them every week. HKG: You didn’t see Harrington make double bogey on the eighteenth? JVDV: No. A friend of mine called me
on the final day and asked if I wanted a bet. I picked Harrington straight away. I knew he was going to win. My friend staked his money on Garcia. Padraig is an amazing player—and so is young Romero, and so is Garcia. It was just a feeling I had. Carnoustie is a good course for him. There’s only one blind shot, and that’s the second shot on the 14th, a par-five. The course suits his game. People don’t realize how tough a finish it is…15 to 18—it is the toughest finish of any course in the world by a mile. It’s brutal. It doesn’t take much [to mess up] 18—if you hit it in the water on the right you’re left with 215-yards to the front of the green. There’s Out of Bounds to the left. It’s brutal…brutal. HKG: But isn’t that what separates the men from the boys? JVDV: I don’t consider myself a man yet.
When it’s windy and tough it can go against you. You have to find pleasure in that. If not, find another game to play. WWW.HKGA.COM
The view across Kau Sai Chau's new East Course WWW.HKGA.COM
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