A Certain Slant of Light: Professional Golf's Equivalent of "Rocky"

We watched a little of the U.S. Open golf championship yesterday on television, and I was fascinated by Jason Gore. I didn't know who he was, he doesn't look like a golfer, at least not a pro golfer, and he was there with all the big names I do know, in a huge tournament.

What I didn't know was Gore's background story. For one thing, he's ranked 818th in the world, and today he was to be paired with Retief Goosen, currently number 5 in the world. And:

The unflappable defending-champ Goosen is no surprise whatsoever, precision ball striker and putting artist that he is, but one would have expected Tiger Woods or Vijay Singh or Phil Michelson to be teeing the ball up with him at 3:00pm today, not a round-belly guy who drove to the tournament in a car without air conditioning and had his and his wife's clothing, along with his car stereo, stolen along the way. They even stole Jason's underwear, which he laughed about saying the thieves would find his size boxer shorts a bit disappointing. Were that set of circumstances not unsettling enough, his 8-month old son has infections in both ears! Have you ever been out-of-town with a sick baby on your hands trying to find a doctor who will make a house call to a Best Western motel? Talk about being up against it.

Full Gore post at A Certain Slant of Light

UPDATE: Gore and Goosen both had a bad golf day, but were good sports and gracious losers. Gore even got Goosen to laugh out loud on one hole, after it was clear neither had a chance of winning. According to the television commentator, Gore reportedly asked Goosen if he'd like to play the next hole for ten bucks, just to make it interesting. Gotta love these guys - especially since you know neither one is likely to let this particular defeat matter in the long run.

But the nicest bit of the day was that Michael Campbell of New Zealand came almost out of nowhere and played tremendously well, to win the tournament to tears and cheers all round. Great game. And Campbell comes across as such a nice guy, too. I love it when champs are gentlemen as well as superior athletes.