Memorial Round 3 Inside Stuff
Muifield week is among the longest, most stressful weeks of the year for us tv media types. But this year, it’s as grueling as ever. The rain delays make for very early mornings and extremely late nights. It’s worth it all, because Memorial week is also enjoyable a week in journalism as we enjoy. We learn to truly appreciate the golfers for their craft—their skill level really is mind boggling. They’re also extremely bright, extremely focused men. Which is both good, and at times, very bad for us as media losers.
At times we have great conversations with them and learn remarkable insights about the game and them as people. But when they don’t play well or are in a “mood” they can be very rough. Both Tiger and Phil broke par Saturday (69 and 70 respectively) yet both skipped out on their post-round media sessions. Several fans gave Tiger some sass on the course Saturday (likely with some liquid courage) but Woods responded neither time.
And Jim Furyk—-the guy is as moody and media unfriendly as you can find. He chewed out a colleague of mine earlier this week for posing a question about the challenges many golfers face at Muirfield “What’s your handicap” he quipped. Sassy there, Jim.
On the other hand with Furyk, he’s about the hardest working athlete I know. Friday night I left Muirfield around 8:30—-about an hour after the 2nd round ended. Furyk was still on the practice range. No other player was there.
Rickie Barnes torched the Village for a 62 Saturday, but many still know him for his near-US Open victory last year. He was among the few players to sniff par at Bethpage Black and led the open until Lucas Glover broke through for his first major win. Barnes and Rickie Fowler are among the young influx of players who continue to torch the PGA this year.
Should be a highly enjoyable Sunday…
