Many many congrats to Lilia Vu, the new world No 1 in the women’s game but most importantly the recently crowned AIG Women’s Open champion.  Alas, for English fans it wasn’t a nail-biter and although Vu and Charley Hull started the final round on the same mark it was Vu who took control early on and ran out the winner with a six-shot cushion.

That’s the last three majors that have registered that same margin of victory – Brian Harman in the Open Championship, Celine Boutier in the Amundi Evian Championship and last Sunday we had Vu enjoying that 18th hole walk at Walton Heath virtually jitter-free.  One regular tournament victory (in Thailand in February) followed up by two major wins in one season makes for astounding reading for the Californian native.  Yet, strange as it may seem, she suffered a monumental crisis of confidence mid-season, convinced that those first two wins were a fluke.  Who says sport isn’t mental – in every respect?

And what about Charley Hull?  Two runner-ups in the season’s majors brings her closer than ever to her dream of lifting one of the big prizes in the game.  She’s adapted to a diagnosis of hyperactive ADHD and says she has learned her triggers.  It’s not easy juggling her medication as some of it is on the LPGA banned list.  Isn’t it oh-so-easy to forget, or not realise, that the wonderful sportspeople we watch on our screens frequently have life struggles off the course to deal with as well?

Along with many others, I do believe Charley will win a major or two and, as sure as night follows day, inevitably a mention in a birthday or New Year’s honours list will ensue.  In the interests of transparency here I don’t believe ANYONE should get a gong for simply doing their job extremely well but that isn’t the way of things apparently.  And so I come to one of my long-standing topics for my soapbox.

Karen Stupples.  Or to put it more accurately – why is Karen the only one of the five female British major champions not to be honoured?  We have Laura Davies, aka the Dame, heading the list with four majors, then Ali Nicholas with one major – and a gong;  Catriona Mathew with one – and a gong;  and Georgia Hall with one – and a gong.  Well, you get the picture.  Stupples, who won the Women’s British Open at Sunningdale in 2004, has yet to be mentioned in dispatches.

My contention is that as she has resided in America virtually all of her adult life she has simply been overlooked – not by the Awards Office, I hasten to add, but by those in golf who should have been putting her name forward.  That is how the system operates – Karen’s club, county, country, home professional tour or other professional organisation needs to orchestrate and put forward a body of work to be considered by the Awards Office.  At the very least, surely the powers-that-be at England Golf should look into this?  They have three players thus honoured – why not the fourth?  (Point of info for the our non golf-tragic readers – Catriona Matthew is Scottish.)

Perhaps the R&A can help?  They are searching for, and promoting, women role models from all branches of the golf industry and here is a major champion under our noses.  Please, please consider this as a project to be pursued.  Don’t just assume someone else will do it thus allowing this fine player (and better person) to fall through the cracks.

Surprise, surprise but this topic got me thinking about our male major champions from Great Britain and Northern Ireland – in other words those who may qualify to be considered for these awards.  Since 1951 when Max Faulkner won the Open at Royal Portrush we have celebrated twelve male major winners.  By my reckoning they are as follows:  the aforementioned Max; Tony Jacklin (Open and US Open); Sandy Lyle (Open and Masters); Ian Woosnam (Masters); Nick Faldo (3 Masters and 3 Opens);  Paul Lawrie (Open);  Graeme McDowell (US Open);  Rory McIlroy (Open, US Open, 2 PGAs);  Darren Clarke (Open);   Justin Rose (US Open);  Danny Willett (Masters) and Matt Fitzpatrick (US Open).

Lists are dangerous things to put in blogs as you always run the risk of leaving someone out.  However, I’m very happy to be corrected by more knowledgeable and/or detail-orientated readers.  To the best of my own, somewhat streaky, knowledge Willett and Fitzpatrick, the most recent winners, are the only ones yet to have a medal pinned on them by royalty.

Perhaps, like Karen, their time will come.

It is certain, however, that Lilia Vu’s time is now and I hope she takes time to celebrate in fine style.  We will see her skills on this side of the Atlantic again very shortly.

Next up – Spain and the Solheim!

 

I’m always on the lookout for fun, inexpensive presents for the single-figure members of the family.  No, not the golfers – don’t think any of us are that low anyway – but the under-10s, of whom there are several.  Whisper it quietly but the charity shops are a regular haunt and a rich source of gifts and the aisles of Lidl and Aldi are always worth a sweep.

The wee football above came from Lidl – there’s no disguising it, it’s written on the ball – and in the end I decided to keep it for myself.  After all, how could I explain to a football mad 7-year old that blasting a too-big ball as hard as he could with his dominant foot wasn’t going to get him to the premier league.  Fingers crossed he’s learning that elsewhere.

In the meantime, I’ve decided to dedicate myself (sort of) to becoming better at keepy-uppy. It shouldn’t be too difficult since even one or two will be an improvement; the bar is set very low.  For those of you who haven’t a clue what keepy-uppy is, it’s “the feat of keeping a football from touching the ground by repeatedly flicking it upwards using the foot, knee or head”.  You’ll see new signings at big clubs doing showy versions for the cameras.  It’s like golfers bouncing the ball endlessly on a club face.  It takes time and patience to perfect.

I can hear you asking, “Why bother?” but why not?  There must be a knack to it that’ll click eventually if you persevere…

The blue and yellow colours won’t be on show at the final of the Women’s World Cup in Sydney this Sunday because Spain beat Sweden in the semis and will now play England for the biggest prize of all.  The Lionesses, the European champions, beat Australia 3-1 in an impressive display and the blog will be cheering them on in the final.

And on Saturday this half of the blog will be making her first trek of the season down to N17 to watch Spurs v Manchester United, secure in the knowledge that it won’t be a nil-all draw – it’s one of the rules of the fixture that there should be goals, usually lots of them.  We’ll miss the sainted Harry and his goals and wish him all the best at Bayern Munich, where I hope he’ll be successful and happy.  COYS.

To cheer myself up, I rooted out my book commemorating the Spurs Double Team, ancient history now (1961) as fans of the likes of Man Utd, Man City, Arsenal and Chelsea will crow.  The pre-season photo call featured the first eleven, a far cry from the big squads of the present day.

Danny Blanchflower, the captain, who’s standing in the middle, looking over his shoulder, played for Aston Villa before joining Spurs and was a good friend of Dai’s father, who wrote for the Evening Mail.  Danny, a Northern Irishman, was never short of a word or three and became a football writer himself when he retired.

One of his most famous sayings was:  “The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning.  It is nothing of the kind.  The game is about glory, it is about doing things in style and with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom.”

Well, winning in style, that’ll do nicely.

There hasn’t been much golf in this bit of the blog, so this is as good a place as any to congratulate Charlotte Heath on winning the Smyth Salver as the low amateur at the AIG Women’s Open at Walton Heath.  A student at Florida State University, the Yorkshirewoman finished ahead of Julia Lopez Ramirez, the European Amateur champion, the only other amateur to complete all four rounds.

“I heard my name being shouted, which is not something I’m used to,” Heath said.  “It’s a really nice feeling, having the home crowd.  I felt a lot of support out there.”

She hopes to turn professional in due course and follow in the distinguished footsteps of some of the previous winners, who include Rose Zhang, Michelle Wie West, Anna Nordqvist, Georgia Hall and Leona Maguire, to name just a few.

Congrats also to Ingrid Lindblad, of Sweden, on winning the Mark H McCormack Medal, awarded to the leading woman in the 2023 World Amateur Golf Rankings.  The graduate of Louisiana State University will be exempt into next year’s US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club and the AIG Women’s Open at the Old Course, St Andrews – providing she remains an amateur, one assumes.

With a bit of luck, when she does turn professional, Ingrid will become another in the long line of Swedish stalwarts of Europe’s Solheim Cup team.

Alongside Heath and Lopez Ramirez – who’ll be on opposing sides this Sunday…