Blog: I’ve joined the editors’ One Hundred Club
This is the 100th issue of NCG that I have had the pleasure to edit, and while that statistic is of little interest to anyone apart from me it is only natural at such times to cast an eye back and take stock.
Natural that is to everyone apart from the former England cricket captain Mike Atherton, who believes that his sport is far too concerned with milestones. He finds it illogical, for example, that an innings of 101 is deemed so much more significant than one of 99.
He has a point, even though, some 20 years on, his decision to declare against Australia with Graeme Hick on 98 not out in Sydney still seems harsh.
Anyway, back in 2007 when I succeeded my friend and now-occasional colleague Chris Bertram in the NCG hot-seat, Tiger Woods was still amassing Majors at the rate of more than one a year.
Opinion: Tiger just can’t resist the whiff of Major competition
Heading into that season, he had 12 to his name, and was defending both the Open Championship title he won at Hoylake and the PGA claimed at Medinah.
He did win his 13th Major that year, though he had to wait until the PGA to do it and I’ll be impressed if you can tell me that year’s Masters champion.*
It’s also been a period of significant change here at Sports Publications Rory McIlroy was still an amateur, coming to widespread attention for the first time when he shot 68 on the first day of the Open at Carnoustie on his way to claiming the Silver Medal.
Rory McIlroy wins the WGC-Cadillac Match Play
In September he played in the Walker Cup at Royal County Down and immediately afterwards turned professional.
Within a month he had finished third at the Dunhill Links and done enough to earn a card for the following season.
Little did we know then that the game of golf (along with the global economy) was about to enter into a recession from which it is only now beginning to recover.
R&A announce results of pace of play survey
It’s also been a period of significant change here at Sports Publications, now I think about it, but this is not the time to bore you about that. Suffice to say that through it all one of the few constants has been my monthly delivery of golfing wisdom/drivel.
So if you have been, thanks for reading. It only remains for me to put in writing my sincere appreciation to all my colleagues for their help and here’s to the next 100 issues.
