McEvoy comes out swinging at Phil and co

A FEW readers didn’t like my description of Phil Mickelson as “syrupy” after his recent victory in the Masters at Augusta.

That is perfectly understandable given Lefty's friendly disposition on and off the golf course and his delightful family. I'm just one of many who feels he carries the persona a little too far at times.

Former great English amateur golfer Peter McEvoy has just published his memoirs, For Love or Money (Harper Sport, £15.99), and pulls no punches where his views on the game's greatest left hander and also world number one Tiger Woods are concerned.

McEvoy cannot forget Mickelson's reaction after the famous Walker Cup match at Peachtree, Atlanta, in 1989, when he sank a putt on the 18th to square his match with Killarney's Eoghan O'Connell.

Nevertheless, Britain & Ireland somehow managed to scrape home for their very first Walker Cup triumph on American soil. Here's how McEvoy viewed the climax to that thrilling contest.

"We sensed that he had hit it (Phil's putt) too fast but it hit the back of the hole, jumped up in the air and was followed skywards by Mickelson", he wrote.

"He had the composure to concede O'Connell's tiny putt after being mobbed by his teammates and then began the chant "USA, USA, USA". Even then, there seemed something just a little too sincere about Mickelson. Some kids get a sugar rush when they are young and become hyperactive. Mickelson must have had an American apple pie rush. He became hyper sincere.

"I remember seeing him once in a press conference at the Open when a journalist asked where he was staying. He replied that he was staying down the road with the Jones, before adding 'and I want to tell you, that's one hell of a family'.

"I left quietly through the side door and heaved gently into the bushes".

Nor does McEvoy spare Tiger Woods. Having stated that: "what Woods achieved in amateur golf surpasses anything he has done since in the professional game", he goes back to the 1985 Walker Cup at Royal Porthcawl where Ireland's Padraig Harrington and Jody Fanagan played key roles in the home success and where Tiger gave the first signs that team golf was not for him.

I well recall how he lost to Gary Wolstenholme in the final single on the first day by putting his second shot out of bounds and couldn't seem to care less.

"People are always amazed by Woods's relatively poor performances in the Ryder Cup, but they shouldn't be because he has always struggled in team events", McEvoy declares.

"He was built as a killing machine and his programme for most of the year says that he should be annihilating his contemporaries. Then suddenly, in a team event, he is supposed to be friends with these people. The 1995 Walker Cup, where he lost two of his matches, is a case in point."

McEvoy, quite accurately, details how Tiger "didn't want to be there"; how he didn't show up for the final practice rounds and that it wasn't his only withdrawal from public duty.

"While his teammates were signing their share of programmes, Woods appeared to be suffering from writers cramp", says McEvoy.

McEvoy's book could hardly be described as controversial but it is up front and unperturbed at tackling sensitive areas. A dedicated, lifetime amateur himself, he isn't averse to slagging off those charged with ensuring its success and prosperity. He absolutely lashes those responsible for his omission, and that of Garth McGimpsey, from the 1987 B & I Walker Cup side.

Peter is laudatory of Paddy Gribben from Warrenpoint for his huge contribution to the defeat of the Americans when he was captain of successful team in 1999. Luke Donald and Paul Casey were members of that side, whereas Gribben has disappeared from the radar screen altogether having twice failed to make it as a professional.

As one who wishes there was no such thing as national anthems or flags, I was fascinated by McEvoy's description of the 2001 opening ceremony at Sea Island, Georgia.

"There was just one problem for me to sort out", he relates. "Danny Yates, the American captain, would raise the Stars and Stripes, I would raise the Union Jack, but who would raise the Irish Tricolour? There were two Irish lads on our team, Michael Hoey and Steven O'Hara (a rare slip-up here, O'Hara, in fact, is Scottish) but both were Irish Protestants and the Tricolour was not their flag of choice. Still, one of them had to do it and I told Michael it had to be him because he was the amateur champion.

"As Michael raised the flag and the band played the Soldier's Song, O'Hara whispered "why are they playing the same song that they play at Celtic matches?" He hadn't made the connection."

As a career amateur, McEvoy would have a go at professionals, but he makes a lot of sense when insisting: "they talk about pressure as if they are the only ones who have ever experienced it. The reality is that the pros talk about it in a different language, mainly because of the swarm of gurus and shrinks now attached to golf's various tours. If Colin Montgomerie has a 10-foot putt to make an extra £100,000 that he cannot possibly spend that's not pressure. If you haven't met your sales target for selling washing machines and you've got one day left to achieve it or you will be sacked that's pressure."

Peter McEvoy's book is full of such strongly held opinions and anecdotes and is a terrific read for those who love amateur golf, as well as providing a peep behind the scenes of the game in general.

For Love or Money, Harper Sport, £15.99.