Day 2

I don't want to go on indefinitely about the golf tournament, but there are a few more things to say and several more pictures to share. For instance, there's a sort of contraption that people at golf tournaments--spectators and the people "inside the ropes" who aren't players (the agents, coaches and others who have access to things that the regular mortals can't do)--carry around, a combination umbrella and folding chair. It's convenient but doesn't look very comfortable and it's ungainly both to carry and to sit on. See, for instance, the man in the center of this photograph from the practice tee on Tuesday, ostensibly Tommy Armour III, a golfer known more for his sartorial sense (and his scathing wit regarding others' lack of sense in that area!) than for his skill on the course:
Does it not look as if the man has his chair/umbrella wedged in his butt? The devil-may-care tie over the shoulder look is pretty fancy, too, given that one assumes he'd be in a great deal of pain if the umbrella-chair were as tightly jammed as it seems to be.
    I was very pleased to be in the right place at the right time on Wednesday; I was nearly conked on the head by a wayward drive from Davis Love III on the 9th hole. Davis won a very memorable PGA Championship in 1997 at Winged Foot (in New York) in the rain; it's doubtful that anyone who saw the golf that day would ever forget it. Although he is practically lives in a different world than I do, I feel like I know him--he's one of the rare very famous people who I think I would want to know. So I waited on the fairway and snapped as many shots as I could get (considering
that the recovery time with a digital camera is longer than usual and also that my fingers were nearly numb with cold). This is one of the best, showing him (in blue) seemingly out for a casual round of golf with a friend (Brian Bateman).
    After Love and Bateman hit their myriad second shots toward the 9th green (since it was a practice round, they were permitted to use any number of balls, in order to test the surfaces and see how things would land on various parts of the fairway, rough, fringe and green--very instructive), Lake Michigan beckoned. The 1st, 9th, 10th, and 18th holes run basically East/West, either toward or away from the clubhouse, while the remaining holes follow Lake Michigan's shoreline, the front line toward the south and the back nine to the north. This is near the 4th tee:

    Almost everything at a major championship (except the Masters) is sponsored by some huge corporation. Even time, which is brought to you by...

(This huge clock is near the practice range.

Note the extremely dark clouds--it wasn't raining when I took this shot, but it had been about 5 minutes before, and it would be in about 10 more minutes.)

    Different spectators do different things at practice rounds. Some will follow a favorite player on their rounds. Others will find a comfortable place to sit, usually at an "interesting" green, and wait for the action--and all of the players--to come to them. Some will wander around, following players for a while and sitting for a while. I prefer a combination of those things, but I usually end up spending most of my time on the practice tee and green. I think that it's there that the true personality of the players come out, where they interact with each other and with their caddies and coaches--and with the fans. Incidentally, it's also a good place to take pictures because they're relative "captives" for large amounts of time. Take, for instance, Nick Faldo. Even non-golf fans have probably heard of him. He's very famous in Britain for going through an extremely acrimonious divorce; his ex-wife beat the crap out of his Porsche with a golf club when she found out about his philandering. He's also notorious for his relationship with a student (much younger than him) from the University of Arizona. Oh, and he won the 1987 British Open, the 1989 Masters, the 1990 Masters and British Open, the 1992 British Open, and the 1996 Masters (famously, snatching the victory that Greg Norman was trying desperately to give to someone--anyone). So, here's Faldo:

    But everybody's got their favorites, and mine is José Maria Olazábal. He's from Spain. Before going pro, he won 7 major amateur titles. Since then, he's won 20 European Tour titles, 6 worldwide titles, and The Masters twice (1994 and 1999). But that's not what it's about. He's basically a quiet guy who plays very well--but he can also (apparently) tell a good joke, and he's incredibly handsome. In this photo [also from the practice green] he's facing the camera, smiling.

    There were no lasting effects from being sooooooo cold and getting soaked by the sputtering rain over and over. I took some great pictures. And I saw one of my favorite people in the world. Few things could be better.