The Professional Foul

by Peter Evans

Has there ever been a more consummate, professional performance in the field of sport than that of Tiger Wood’s victory in this year’s Open? His Father had died a few months before and it was his Father who had first put a club in his hands, nurtured his career and supported him through some very difficult times. It was not long ago, remember, when someone of his complexion who was seen on the Golf Course at Atlanta, outside of the boot room, would have been chased off with a shot-gun.

Nothing on earth was going to stop Tiger from winning that tournament as a tribute to his Father: not the course, not his opponents and not any temptation on his own part to be extravagant. Each hole was examined and its problems understood and each and every shot on all four rounds was played to a predetermined plan. From first to last it was utterly professional.

In this sense “professional” has nothing to do with monetary reward. It means being entirely focussed on what is to be achieved and letting nothing and no-one stand in the way of getting there – but within the rules. It does not mean by fair means or foul and the wonderful thing about Woods is that you know that if he had accidentally broken a rule he would have acknowledged it, accepted the penalty, got on with his game and still won! For him there is no such thing as a “professional foul”.

The alternative approach of by fair means or foul, unhappily, we see Saturday after Saturday when all that matters is winning the race, the game, the tackle or whatever completely irrespective of the spirit of the game. It is doing whatever you can get away with and measuring the immediate benefit against the possible punishment – if caught.

Is sport sport anymore, or is it just business? The obscene money involved seems to have changed everything. There was no such thing in our day was there? But, hang on a minute, wasn’t Bodyline Bowling a kind of professional foul?