Eschatological golf

I settled down this evening in front of the t.v. to watch the highlights of the final day of the Ryder Cup. This has been one of the most exciting tournaments I can remember, made all the more fascinating by uncertainties created by the extreme weather conditions. At the end the tournament came down to the last match, on the penultimate hole, as Graeme McDowell secured the point needed to give Europe victory over a hard battling United States team.

The great thing about watching the highlights was that I already knew the outcome and so it didn’t matter how close the U.S. came to winning. Even when it looked like Europe had blown their chances, when apparently secure leads faded away and Captain Colin Montgomerie seemed destined to miss out on glory once more, I knew that Europe would win. All very different from earlier in the day when I followed the match live via the radio and internet and the European team seemed determined to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. This is eschatological golf. Enjoying watching the game in the certain knowledge of the outcome.