Wonderful spotlight for Carr

Joe Carr was 78 yesterday. And with admirable timing, one of his career highlights was screened on Sky Sports last Monday night and again on Tuesday afternoon. "It was the only time I was made to feel like a star," said Carr of his Shell Wonderful World of Golf match with Al Geiberger.

It happened on the Mahony's Point course at Killarney in August 1964, when a viewing audience of 18 million in the US alone gave an incalculable boost to the club. Christy O'Connor, who had been professional at Killarney until his move to Royal Dublin in 1959, was unable to take part in the match and was replaced by Carr.

The substitution of a professional by an amateur caused quite a rumpus in the IPGA at that time, but with typical diplomacy, Carr announced on television that his share of the prize fund would be donated to the IPGA benevolent fund. As things turned out, this was a $2,500, a substantial figure.

Though he has his own videotape, Carr was clearly pleased that the public had an opportunity of seeing it. "I think I showed I could play a bit back then," he said yesterday. "The match lasted almost two days, but it was a great experience. They made a big fuss of Al and I, taking us into make-up each time before the cameras started rolling."

Geiberger, then in his fifth year as a professional, was a month short of his 27th birthday and had won the Ontario Open in 1962 and the Almaden Open a year later. But the best was yet to come, notably his USPGA Championship win in 1966 and a tour record 59 in the Memphis Classic on June 10th, 1977.

Peter Alliss once described Carr as having "a swaying slash of a swing with a pronounced lean into the shot and the right hand quite well under the shaft". This method had been modified somewhat by the time of the Killarney match, but the famed power-hitting on a pronounced, left-to-right trajectory, was still very much in evidence.

A case in point was his play of the long, 478-yard 13th where he produced the highlight of the match. By his prodigious standards, the drive of 245 yards was decidedly moderate, but even Geiberger gasped at the majesty of the second shot. With another driver, Carr guided the ball between the approach bunkers and onto the green. And he sank the 27-foot putt for an eagle three.

"That was one of the best shots of the day," enthused Gene Sarazen, the celebrity half of a commentary team with George Rogers. To which Carr replied: "If you can't hit a driver off the fairways over here, you're dead."

Using the small ball, Carr's drives were sometimes over 270 yards and comfortably outside the American. So it is ironic he should have been deprived of victory by under-hitting at the celebrated, short 18th. For the 202-yard shot with a breeze gently sweeping right to left off the lake, Carr was short with an over-ambitious five-iron. It meant Geiberger's par was sufficient to tie the match at 74 - level par.

Now, 36 years on, what did Carr feel about his 78th birthday? "After my heart attack at 51, I would happily have taken 70 if I was offered it," he replied with a chuckle. "And I would have embraced the doctor if he had suggested 72."

"Olivia wants to win and so does Colin. But Colin has a terrible dilemma because he wants both of them to win."

- Eimear Montgomerie on the rivalry between her husband and six-year-old daughter at the game Jenga, in which wooden blocks have to be removed from a tower, one at a time, without toppling the structure.

When Kate MacCann applied for the job of director of golf at Mount Juliet nine years ago, her only fear was that she might be too young: gender never crossed her mind. Which goes some way towards explaining her outstanding success in a post she is leaving on March 3rd, before her marriage in May.

She has many happy memories, not least getting the chance to play such courses as Augusta National, Pine Valley, Pebble Beach, Winged Foot and Valderrama. And she has met some of the game's great players - "Tom Watson was a fantastic gentleman and Nick Faldo was extremely warm and pleasant to deal with."

An abiding memory of Faldo was when he returned to Mount Juliet on a holiday in 1993, after completing a hat-trick of Irish Open wins. "I was concerned he shouldn't be pestered by anyone," she recalled. "With that, I happened to be passing the gym when I saw this man talking to Nick while he exercised.

"When I returned a little later, the man had gone but Nick looked a little concerned. `Was he bothering you,' I asked. `Oh no,' he replied. `That happens to be my doctor.' Then he added: `I must be paying him too well when he can afford to stay here'."

Kate's many friends in golf will wish her well.

How much has your salary increased since 1992? It would have gone up threefold, if the conversion rates of the US Golf Association were applied. How come? Well, when the US Open was last played at Pebble Beach (in 1992) the prize fund was $1.52 million. And the fund for its return there in June will be $4.5 million, a whopping increase of $1 million (29 per cent) on last year.

Special exemptions have been given to past champions Curtis Strange and Tom Watson and to Australia's Greg Norman. Amateur compatriot Aaron Baddeley also got one, having become, at 18, the youngest winner of the Australian Open, last autumn. And at 60, Jack Nicklaus will be making a 44th successive challenge.

Meanwhile, an additional decision will see the US Open back at Pinehurst in 2005, a gap of only six years since last June.

While making travel arrangement this week for a trip to the west coast of the US, it struck me how much easier things would be if I had access to TWA. And I don't mean the airline founded by movie mogul Howard Hughes.

Tiger Woods Airlines, as in private and corporate jets, is how his tour colleagues describe the preferred method of travel of the world number one. The fact is that since turning professional, Woods has never used a commercial flight to or from a tournament.

"I go through an airport the same way as a golf tournament (without stopping)," said Woods. "There's no way I could sit on a scheduled aeroplane and go to sleep." So, where most players see a private jet as a luxury, Woods views it as a necessity.

But he's not averse to sharing. Which leads to fellow Orlando residents Mark O'Meara and Lee Janzen being asked by colleagues: "Are you going to the next tournament commercial or by TWA?"

Players often talk of having been inspired by watching telecasts of Jack Nicklaus competing in the US Masters. But by his own admission, defending champion Jose-Maria Olazabal was a mature, 18-year-old before he saw Seve Ballesteros achieve his Augusta breakthrough of 1980.

"After I played an exhibition with Seve at Pedrena in 1984, he gave me a video of that win," recalled Olazabal. "I took it home and spent a couple of hours watching it. They were the first pictures I ever saw of him winning. His first British Open win of 1979 was never shown on Spanish TV, which meant that Spain wasted the influence of a great player."

This day in golf history . . . On February 19th, 1936, the will of Samuel Ryder, donor of the Ryder Cup and otherwise a great supporter of the Royal and Ancient game, was read. It contained not even one mention of golf.

Teaser: A ball is half buried in a water hazard and is not identifiable. Having announced his intention in advance to his opponent, marker or fellow-competitor, the player touches the ball and rotates it. By so doing, he is able to identify the ball as his ball. Is such procedure permissible?

Answer: No. Neither Rule 12-2 nor any other rule permits a player to touch his ball in a hazard for identification purposes. Accordingly, the player was in breach of Rule 18-2a for touching his ball purposely and incurred a penalty of one stroke.