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| Monday, 27 May, 2002, 13:25 GMT 14:25 UK Cheering on the underdog
For the second year in a row, the PGA Championship has succeeded in producing an unexpected winner. Despite the long list of renowned competitors, the player to make the final hurdle was Denmark's Anders Hansen - a relative unknown in the big-name game. Perhaps it was the blustery, unpredictable weather at Wentworth over the four days that unnerved the more established players. Perhaps the PGA Championship is developing a taboo - that the most strongly backed entrants become jinxed. Or maybe it is simply the depth of quality of the current batch of European Tour players. Whatever the reason, in my view it is wonderful to have the exciting possibility of almost any name from the field having a real chance of success. This is a far cry from some other sports that seem to have become something of a one horse race. The down side of lesser known players carrying off the winner's cheque is that it affects the sponsors. No matter how much people like you and I might be pleased to see the underdog do well, it is not always good business. Sponsors have historically always hidden a tinge of regret behind the congratulatory speech for the simple reason that unknown faces don't sell their product!
No matter how successful the event - or the quality of the golf - a famous face is what most sponsors like to be associated with. Playing in my first few tour events I found the sponsors did not always share my pleasure in my victories - particularly when it was over more illustrious names. In the Hennessey Cup in 1989 I felt that knocking players such as Laura Davies and Nancy Lopez down the field was not the desired outcome. These were far more exciting and well known golfers than me - they certainly had more selling power! Fortunately there are enough people in golf who take the longer view. In part, even the greats of the game were unknowns once! But perhaps most importantly, the entertainment value of seeing the names drop out one by one, to be beaten by a lesser known is a key factor that makes tour events so entertaining. |
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