The paper was about the necessity of keeping junior players in education for as long as possible. I referred to Darren Clarke, Graeme McDowell, Colin Montgomerie, Paul Casey, Padraig Harrington and, the up and coming duo of Luke Donald and Robert Duck.
All of these players had managed to combine collegiate education and golf. The main thrust of the paper was that if you managed to combine education alongside a promising golf career, you would be well positioned for a future in the game, either playing or coaching. What was missed by the paper, which was rather embarrassing, was that Messrs L. Donald and R. Duck had a rather more famous Disney link.
What I found out a little later on whilst working with Peter McEvoy, legendary Amateur and Walker Cup Captain, was that he had captained Luke and Robert in the early 2000’s and couldn’t resist putting Donald and Duck together in a foursomes pairing - very mischievous.
The reference to Padraig Harrington, a fully qualified Accountant, and Colin Montgomerie, a recent graduate of Houston Baptist University, is that they have two very special stories surrounding their reluctant rise to the professional ranks.
Harrington, being constantly courted by IMG for four years, the world’s largest Management Company, had previously said ‘no’ to the question “was he interested in turning Professional?” It was only after three Walker Cup appearances when the question changed to “What do we have to do to get you to turn professional?” His answer was along the lines of; him being uncomfortable about the level of financial risk surrounding the occupation of a Tournament Professional. There are no guarantees. IMG then went away, thought for a while and came back with an inspired offer; “What if we put a clause in the contract which says, if you are not happy with the move, you can come and work for us as an Accountant?” With the risk taken care of, he turned Professional and is a now three time Major winner.
Montgomerie’s tale is the opposite but the same. On returning home after a successful stint in the States and recently losing to José Maria Olazabal in the 1984 Formby Amateur Championship final, he too wasn’t sure about the path ahead. So he approached IMG to see if there was a job going. They took the call and as fate would have it, set the meeting up on the golf course. Montgomerie must have been at his mercurial best, playing well enough for IMG to ask Montgomerie “Why work for us, when we could work for you?” These IMG guys are clever aren’t they?
So here’s the thing; how could the fourth and fifth ranked players in the European Tour’s career money list have such an uncertain start to their careers? I would like to think that it’s because of their time in education, whilst developing another string to their bow, that they had the opportunity to make an informed decision. With a little push from IMG they made the step; whereas, without the talent or the perspective, it would have been more of a leap of faith.
But what of the Duck situation? If the onion was to be peeled back a little further there is a Portuguese connection here. After Duck’s brilliant collegiate career playing at Augusta State, he had a brief crack at the Tour, then moved into Sports Management.
He is now in charge of player development and Assistant Coach for the Florida State University Golf Team.
By a strange twist of fate, Ricardo Gouveia’s management company is the same company that Robert Duck worked for before he moved to his job as Assistant Coach.
Gouveia has just completed his collegiate career at University of Central Florida, just a hop skip and a jump from where Mr Duck coaches at Florida State.
For the guys out there unaware of Ricardo Gouveia’s playing talents, he has just graduated No1 from the Challenge Tour straight onto the European Tour. His current world ranking is 85th, only eleven spots behind Luke Donald, and he is the highest ranked Portuguese player of all time.
If you think of it as a circle of life situation, Donald – Duck – Gouveia, all had a great shot at careers on the tour and all have the safety net of a college education behind them. Not forgetting to mention, that everyone in the article has a career in golf. Including me.
With the Ryder Cup being contested again in 2016, it looks like a promising year in store for Mr Gouveia. We can only wish him the best and plenty putts holed.
If I may say a special “Thank You” to Lewine Mair, presently with Global Golf Post and previously with the Daily Telegraph, who was kind enough to recount the Montgomerie story to me this week.