It was the Monday before the 2011 Presidents Cup and, after months of pre-event hype, the vaunted Americans were finally on the hallowed soil of the Royal Melbourne Golf Club.
Gates were closed to the public and there were just a couple of lucky writers walking around with arguably one of the strongest teams ever to play representative golf.
Yet because these Americans had largely been without recent tournament experience on the Sandbelt, most of the scribes – myself included – had written off their chances.
How could they play on these flint-hard greens? How could they adapt in time to the bump shots required to score? How could they put aside bomb and gouge, a weekly tour tactic that’s destined for disaster at the Mecca of Australian golf?
As it turned out, veteran Jim Furyk had endured the golf traveller’s nightmare of arriving at his destination without his clubs and shoes and was walking along 17 West when I saw something I’ll never forget.
In bare feet and using a teammate’s 5-iron, Furyk drilled an approach from roughly 180 metres to kick-in range.
I knew in that instant my selection – and basis for it – was complete folly; and the rest is red, white and blue history.
They proved it’s indeed possible for visiting players to manage
