All by himself

There will be plenty written today and tomorrow about Padraig Harrington's second consecutive Open Championship victory and about the great week of Greg Norman. They deserve the ink, but I wondered about who teed off first today at Royal Birkdale. Lam Chih-bing must have felt like the invisible man. Chih-bing shot 11 over par today in the final round of the tournament, but in doing so became the first man from Singapore to finish all four rounds of that particular tournament. He had what I consider to be the most glorious of tee times on any golf course. First off in the morning, all by himself. Now don't get me wrong, I am a night owl and I hate the alarm clock going off any time before 7:45am, but I love having the very first tee time of the day. Anywhere. The crisp morning air, the sun just creeping up on the eastern horizon and the crystal drops of dew glistening on the grass. Nobody in front of you, you can play at the pace you want to play without fear of holding of the group behind you. You can hit the shots you need to hit, without worrying about how much of your day you have spent waiting on people who wouldn't know where in the dictionary to find the word etiquette, much less exercise it. I have played some of my best golf when teeing off first in the morning, it is complete escape and total freedom. I have played 18 holes in just over two hours with a friend, and that is rare anywhere. I have even been first off in the morning with only God and the course as my scorecard witnesses. What must that be like to play all by yourself in a major championship? I'm sure there were at least a few people outside the ropes, who might have given Lam the polite applause when nobody else seemed to be watching. I'm sure he played the fastest round of the week with nobody but his caddie and tour officials paying much attention. Perhaps it wasn't his best golf, but I would have loved to have that tee time, at Birkdale or anywhere. Congrats Lam on your accomplishment, and remember no matter how frustrated you may have been by shooting 83-81 on the weekend, Vijay would have loved to still been playing! I hope you enjoyed the walk, it's the best of (tee) times in my book!