You want only laughs, quit golf. The essence of golf is all the elements that make the game so frustrating and, at the same time, so rewarding. The essence of golf is Ernie Els, exhausted and happy that he survived the examination when all others did not. Winners do not have to yell and shout. The essence of golf is not a group of hand-slapping men acting like conquerors.
Many sports seem primal when compared with golf.
This is the sport of gentle men and women, and we should be glad. Lehman, who was presented the Player of the Year award last January, cried at the podium as he thanked his wife, Melissa. This is the sport of introspection, and we should be glad. What I think I am is real. One by one, the exhausted men lumbered home in the U.S. Open.