Golf & The Asians

My golf hero Tiger looks like he will be history as a golf champion ... not that soon but soon enough. Gone into the back woods? (ok ok bad joke!) So, he got infamous in a different arena, not because he played badly, but because he played behind his wife's back. NOW he is playing badly ... and spitting even! Enough already.

I go in search of a new golf hero ... or heroine. I keep my attention on the on-going HSBC Women's Golf Championship being played right here in Singapore. I am amazed at the number of Asians playing, mainly the eleven South Koreans, four Japanese, two from Chinese Taipei, one from China and one from Singapore.

We use to think that Asians are at a disadvantage in most sport, due to our small frame and lack of height. Perhaps, these don't matter in the game of golf where the main muscles that work are in between the ears. Golf is a mind game. Think fast, calculate right and be accurate. Rattle your opponents and keep calm. This was exactly what Ai Miyazato did to win last year and what Chie Arimura is doing at this year's tournament. She has just two faces she shows - a calm face and a calm face! I hope she wins, only to prove the point that you don't have to be tall and muscular to win at golf.

What Singapore needs is a golf champion to kick start the "I want to be like that" fad among the young hopefuls. That was how it happened in South Korea when Pak Se Ri started winning tournaments in 1998. The whole culture of the game changed and many youngsters wanted to do the same ... and they are now doing it! But what of Lam and Madan, our own golf champs? Yes, what of them? Now you hear them, then you don't ...

Right, so I shall be rooting for Arimura (Jpn), Tseng Ya-ni (Tpe) and Choi Na Yeon (S K) - all Asians. For no other reason than that I feel it is time for the Asians to emerge in a sport that gives an equal chance to all - tall or short, fat or thin, pretty or otherwise! Hmmm ... maybe I should take up golfing!