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July 31, 2005
Doyle lights the lamp at the Senior Open
A tip of the hat to my favorite senior golfer, Allen Doyle, who won the US Senior Open today, in Ohio. In addition to having one of the most unorthodox swings on tour -- an abbreviated Doug Sanders-like affair developed by working on his swing in the basement during long New England winters -- Doyle also has the strangest accent on tour: pungent Northeast R-less dialect combined with Georgia drawl from living down there in recent years (excuse me, ye-ahs).
For those who missed it, Doyle shot 63, including 2-under on the back nine. While the rest of the field was backing up, Doyle was dialed in. We didn't see much of him on the NBC telecast, because he never held the lead until he was in the clubhouse (actually, on the practice tee, staying loose for a possible playoff). So I can't really say too much about how he played. But while NBC was showing us the leaders, plus occasional shots of other marquee players, such as Tom Watson (who had a pretty good week after winning the Senior British Open last week), Doyle was busy "sneaking in the side door," as he put it afterwards. He's hardly the first player to win a major by posting a score early, then waiting for the rest of the field to implode.
Doyle's a generous guy, too. A couple of years ago, when he won the Charles Schwab cup and the $1,000,000 that goes with it, he donated it to charity. He has made other large donations since then, too. In an age of huge egos, polished swings, and tax-shelter "foundations" that wealthy athletes use to make themselves look generous, it's great that there's still room for an ex-hockey player with a funny swing and a funnier accent. Long Live Allen Doyle!
Posted by Urbie at July 31, 2005 03:01 PM