It’s that time of the week again and boy, does it seem to arrive more quickly than ever.
I’m referring, of course, to blog-writing day which, for me, is a bit of a moveable feast. As we post on a Friday morning, I generally like to have things done and dusted by Wednesday at the latest. Sometimes, I attack the writing in two goes, getting half of it splurged onto the page on say, Tuesday, and then returning with hope and inspiration to get me over the line on Wednesday. Occasionally I write on a Monday and get finished on a Monday – it just all depends…..and very occasionally Thursday is called into play.

Patricia and I had a lot of laughs doing this photo session with my then neighbour, John Minoprio. Perhaps it’s time for an update?
Patricia, however, is much more routined and predictable. Thursday evening at around 10 pm is her “now what will I write about?” moment. Presumably, a lifetime of writing to deadlines and dealing with changing scenarios has led to her leaving everything to the eleventh hour but hey-ho, horses for courses and all that.
The reason I’m pondering our respective modi operandi is because, amazingly, this week we have clocked up nine years of madillgolf.com. NINE years! It’s scarcely believable, but what is even more astonishing is that some of you have been with us from the very start. Seriously? Yes. Seriously. So, thank you.
While we here in the UK are enjoying gloriously sunny, reminiscent-of-lockdown weather, those in the environs of Quail Hollow in North Carolina, site of this year’s USPGA Championship, have been sloshing their way round a saturated golf course in practice. No spectators were admitted to the grounds on Monday and the bad news is there is more rain forecast. The club’s sub-air system will be severely tested if the championship’s organisers, the PGA of America, are to produce the firm, fast-running test they favour.
Soggy conditions always favour the bombers but they also aid the wayward, with crooked tee shots having more than a sporting chance of holding on to the fairways and not running into trouble. Ditto round the greens. So, perhaps more than ever, those who bring their putting boots will prosper.
One of the little quirks of the PGA is that the top three players in the world are grouped together for the first two rounds so it’s no surprise that Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele, the defending champ (see the pic at top), tee off together. Traditionally, this group starts from the 10th tee on Thursday and I remember one year (I think it was at Southern Hills so that would make it 2007) being on duty early doors to commentate on Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott as they launched their campaigns to annexe a PGA Championship title to their resumes. At that time they were Nos 1, 2 and 3 in the world respectively.

This week at Quail Hollow, Adam Scott, one of the most popular players on tour, is playing in his 95th consecutive major. [Courtesy of PGATOUR.]
What a treat it was to walk the first nine holes that morning as virtually the only onlooker. Talk about an unencumbered front row seat! The usual antipathy between Tiger and Phil was present, bubbling away below the surface; Adam was consumed with the task of manufacturing a swing and hitting shots that would protect his injured hand; and Tiger was……..well, getting on and doing his own thing with the blinkers securely on.
Tiger won the championship, his thirteenth major at the age of 31. It would have been incomprehensible then to think that he would “only” win two more but life never does run smoothly, does it, even for the most gifted?
This year 99 of the 100 top-ranked golfers are playing and it’s the only major in which no amateur can put in an appearance. Strictly professionals only. It may surprise many of you to learn that the guy in charge of all this, the Chief Championship Officer for the PGA of America, and the man with the overall responsibility for the course set-up and the running of the championship is an Englishman, Kerry Haigh, who hails from Doncaster. He is held in the highest esteem by the players for his fairness in his course set-up and his ability to listen to those around him before making balanced decisions.

No doubt Kerry Haigh will have a crick in his neck come Sunday with all that constant inspection of the grey skies over Charlotte. [@GlobalGolfPost]
They were great days. We were young and ambitious and all passionate about golf. I remember sitting having a coffee with the two of them one morning in Puerto Banus, near Marbella when the conversation turned to where we all saw ourselves in five years’ time. This would make for a better yarn if I could recall specifics but suffice to say our dreams were generally to forge a path in golf.
We did make an arrangement to meet back at that coffee shop five years hence to review how things were going. Neither of them turned up…….but neither did I, so I guess that was a full house of no-shows. I expect life got in the way – forging a path is quite a time-consuming activity.
So, as we enjoy watching this major, do spare a thought for those behind the scenes who meet every challenge head-on and with seriously little sleep. Perhaps when this week is over we should see about resurrecting that coffee date. We might be more than forty years behind schedule – but, you know what they say …….
Better late than never.