“Unravelling the mystery of Allenby is not easy”
In the dawn of Australian Masters week, I had to pass on to wonderful pieces that appeared in the weekend newspapers.
The first was by Brent Read concerning the two faces to Robert Allenby in The Weekend Australian. There is probably no more generous, more charitable Australian golfer than Robert Allenby, but he’s also the most disliked.
Unravelling the mystery of Allenby is not easy. He can be charming one minute, condescending the next. He ranks among the most successful, yet least popular, athletes in Australia. Rightly or wrongly, he has a reputation for being thin-skinned with a penchant for finding excuses and blaming others, a powderkeg who is overly sensitive to criticism and ungracious in defeat.
The second by The Age’s Martin Blake concerns the curious case of the world’s number one golfer Luke Donald. Our most high-profile visitor this week at the JBWere Australian Masters.
Yet Donald, who turned 34 during the week, has not been fully embraced by the golfing world, even in his native Britain. As for Australians, we are about to find out how he affects the radar, for the Englishman is due to play in this country for the first time.
In some ways the public’s ambivalence to Donald is understandable. Though his swing is picture-perfect and graceful, he is not a long hitter; in fact, the strength of his game is around the greens. He is arguably the best putter on the planet, but who pays money at the gate to watch someone putt?
Click the links and read ’em.
Allenby is definately an interesting personality and someone hard to get to really know. I found it interesting that he has been through about 30 caddies in the last 20 years.
Not sure why Luke Donald popularity is not so high. Perhaps as you say it is his steady golf game of just being straight, consistent and a great putter. Maybe the public want to see a more aggressive player who is longer off the tee.
Utterly pent subject material, Really enjoyed reading through. https://ketodrive.org/