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Sidelines Kalani Simpson |
Golf shows its cruel
side at WaialaeGOLF is a cruel game, and Harrison Frazar looks like it's killing him before the round even begins.
Only golf could torture a person like this. Well, golf and gambling. Which probably means anyone who takes up either deserves whatever he gets.
Only golf can make your wife talk to the ball, as Allison Frazar did on No. 10, the second sudden-death playoff hole, yesterday, at the Sony Open in Hawaii (and, let's face it, probably on every other one, too).
So it went into extra innings yesterday, and for the first 18 holes -- especially that heroic back nine -- Frazar and Ernie Els were great players.
"We both played really well," Frazar said, "kind of traded blows back and forth the last nine holes there. It was a lot of fun."
Enter golf.
Playoff. Wheels off. Poor Frazar. He was great yesterday in regulation, a fighter, a champ. But for much of those 18 holes Els did everything but sing "Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better."
Frazar birdied 17 to tie it. Then they both birdied the last hole.
And then, inexplicably, their matchup became Anything You Can Do Badly I Can Also Do, In An Even More Interesting Way.
Then there were wide shots and bad shots, short shots, off putts, bad luck and rough.
Els is such a fan favorite he put one in the stands.
The No. 3 player in the world, playing like Gerald Ford.
And they kept playing, matching each other wince for wince, the hangdog former real estate numbers cruncher and the strapping South African equally helpless in the clutches of the game they love.
Did you see Els' face after that second playoff hole?
"I made four pars on that hole (this week), all birdie-able putts, and I missed them all," he said. "And I hit another bad putt."
These guys are the greatest players in the world. But it's still golf.
Last year's Sony Open playoff was a testament to greatness, and heart, to two players refusing to yield to defeat.
This year's was a testament to cruelty and capriciousness, to swings that go awry without explanation and balls with minds of their own.
"And I think that's what I'm beginning to figure out," Frazar said of working for wins. "Is that the golf doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't have to be beautiful. You're going to hit bad shots, but you've just got to keep going. One bad one, you pick yourself up and try to hit a good one the next time."
That's also applicable for several bad ones.
And so it was with Els on the third playoff hole, for his second win in a row here. His game came back, and his putt dropped, after a journey of 22 feet.
"I hit it right edge," he said, "and it went right in the middle."
And then he held his arms out wide, head thrown back, as if surrendering himself to a higher power.
That higher power, of course, is golf. Even Els is helpless against it.
His 4-year-old daughter, Samantha, ran onto the green and hugged him around the knees. Good.
It's best that she learn these things early.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Kalani Simpson can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com