Modern golfers: dedicated to practice, prepared by fitness trainers and sports psychologists, advised by caddies that know the yardage of every water sprinkler and divot. Nothing is left to chance.
And yet it seems golfers are as given to superstition as the most hopeless weekend hacker.Â
From Tiger’s red shirt on Sundays (and yes it began as a lucky charm before Nike marketed it as a sensation) to Colin Montgomerie’s insistence on using white tees (red and yellow bring to mind water hazards apparently).
From Jack Nicklaus carrying three pennies in his pocket during every professional round (tails up when he marks his ball) to Paul Azinger using a penny to mark his ball – with Abraham Lincoln’s head facing towards the hole.Â
Great, successful golfers all. Fierce competitors too. But all of them have a little idiosyncratic quirk that they think gives them an advantage over the competition. The comfort of knowing such little things are as they should be provides the extra ounce of confidence they might need.
But surely there is no more famous superstition in golf than the one that says that the winner of the pre-Masters par three tournament will not slide on the green jacket on Sunday night.Â
No par three winner has ever gone on to win the Masters in the same year – although some, like Gary Player, Sandy Lyle and this years holder of the jinxed short course title Mark O’Meara, have won both in different years.
Can it be coincidence? Or are these sportsmen, these professional athletes, really put off by winning what should be an inconsequential curtain raiser?Â
Well, perhaps, because in 1990 that most seasoned of campaigners Ray Floyd won the par three event. And then let slip a four shot lead on the back nine on the Sunday evening before losing a play-off to Nick Faldo.
And only this week Luke Donald’s local paper in the UK reported that he had:
“cleverly avoided carrying the par-three jinx into the 2007 Masters at Augusta.â€Â
Donald was apparently unavailable for comment so couldn’t confirm if he had lost the par three play-off deliberately. But, with Europe searching for a first major of the millennium, Donald will feel he needs all the luck he can get.
Comforting, perhaps, to know that even these millionaire superstars are not above superstition.
