Dazed In The Life

While our own Padraig Harrington was never going to win the BBC Overseas Sports Personality award in a category alongside Michael Phelps and winner Usain Bolt, it was fitting that Chris Hoy won the top award in Liverpool today. Despite the drug cheats and moments of shame, the Olympic Games still have an enormous power to delight and inspire us. In Beijing, Usain Bolt had the world smiling; it was impossible not to wonder at the exploits of Michael Phelps; the Irish boxers made us immensely proud; and, while the ceaseless British trumpeting of “Team GB” could get a little overpowering at times, the plaudits for the British Cycling Team were thoroughly merited.
The cyclists won three awards tonight: Coach of the Year, Team of the Year and, in Hoy, there could be few more deserving of the title Sports Personality of the Year. With three gold medals, the quiet Scot is the essence of sheer determination and professionalism. He is an inspiration not just to British youngsters but to any aspiring athlete. Hoy is not flashy; he shies away from the celebrity status which many sportsmen crave. He performs to the very highest standard in a sport which receives little attention yet which exerts immense physical pressure. Hoy’s victory today – a recognition of a year of victories – reminds us that, while the glamorous “mainstream” sports like football, rugby, golf and tennis occupy the majority of the back pages, there are a whole range of sports which require equal if not more superhuman effort. Chris Hoy’s victory is a victory for the “small” sports which have many unsung big heroes.

In Dubai today, the greatest golfer on the planet retired. If it was the greatest male player, Tiger Woods, it would be a front-page story. But this player is the brilliant Annika Sorenstam, the most elegant, successful and compelling lady golfer of the last 20 years and it barely makes shakes on the back pages. This lady is a force of nature, having won 90 tournaments worldwide since she turned pro 16 years ago including 10 majors and completing the career Grand Slam when she won the British Open in 2003. She became the first – and so far only – lady golfer to shoot 59 in 2001. She has 8 LPGA Tour money list titles, an astonishing 24 points in Solheim Cup competition and a whole host of awards over a glittering career. She also became the first female player to play in a PGA Tour event in nearly 60 years (since Babe Zaharias) when she competed at Colonial in 2003.  That same year she appeared in the Skins Game, a money-making event usually reserved for 4 PGA Tour players, where she finished 2nd. She is the only PGA or LPGA player to win the same event 5 years in a row and the only LPGA player to win the same major in 3 consecutive years. In 2005 she won 11 of 21 events entered, despite the end of her marriage to David Esch.

I could go on. If you want an idea of the immensity of Annika Sorenstam’s achievement, check out her Wikipedia page – it’s a small insight into the career of a golfing giant. With her huge success in the game, it is amazing that Sorenstam has decided to call it a day at age 38 but it was fitting that she closed her career with a birdie on the 18th hole and another top-10 finish. No player has dominated the female game quite like Sorenstam and, like Woods in the men’s game, she has revolutionised how the world views the lady’s game. She is a true sporting great and, were it not for her sex, she would be one of the names that trips of everyone’s tongue. It has been a pleasure to watch Annika Sorenstam’s star rise and shine in the golfing firmament. 16 short years but what a 16 years. Ní bheidh a leithéad ann arís.