My college guidance counselor had a derisive saying for people who were familiar with many subject areas but had no one area of expertise: Jack of all trades, master of none. I suffer from a similar problem when it comes to sports — I know a lot about almost every relevant global sport without focusing on any one game. For once, I’d like to play up that fact. So every Monday, I’ll break down a sporting event from the past week that won’t lead SportsCenter or make the Sports Illustrated cover but is fascinating nonetheless. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll read about a sport or athlete too “unsexy” for most people to write about at length. Enjoy.

For all their complexities, sports are pretty simple once you get to know them. The rules and the forum of competition don’t change, even as the athletes do. Basketball doesn’t add a four-point line once a week, and soccer doesn’t become a shootout contest at a few special tournaments a year. The game is the game, the rules set in stone (or in the pages of long, banal rulebooks).

Then there’s golf. Specifically, match play golf.

(more…)