Golf: Kill the four-hole playoff
If Stewart Cink’s SIX-shot victory in the British Open playoff doesn’t kill the four-hole playoff, nothing will.
Only the Masters, among the majors, plays sudden death, but it’s clearly the best playoff format. The U.S. Open plays a ridiculous 18 holes on Monday, which is as goofy as if the Super Bowl played overtime with an extra 15 minutes the day after the game. The PGA has adopted the British Open’s four-hole playoff.
Those who claim a major title shouldn’t be decided on one hole are right. And no major is. The Masters, if tied, is decided on 73 holes, which seems like plenty.
The 2009 British Open was one of the greatest sporting events of the last 40 years, thanks to Tom Watson. If the 59-year-old Watson had won, 26 years after his most recent major championship, it would have been the most remarkable sporting achievement ever.
But the playoff sucked some of the greatness from the week at Turnberry. The four-hole playoff served as midnight, and Watson, who turned back the sporting clock the way it’s never been turned, suddenly reverted to a 59-year-old golfer 20 years past his prime.
That’s a shame. Had Cink beaten Watson on the first playoff hole, this Turnberry classic would have ended on a far sweeter note.
The four-hole playoff debacle doesn’t ruin the Watson fairy tale. But it does detract from it. One playoff hole is better than four.
Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel.
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I think they should have just left it as a tie. No playoff at all. That way Tom could have been the winner, or at least co-winner. They used to say a tie was like kissing your sister, but in this case, the sister was gorgeous. There is nothing wrong with a tie. In my book, Tom will always have won that tournament.