Friday, August 12, 2011

Golf and the Irish Border

During Friday's TNT coverage of the PGA Championship, golf broadcaster and County Down native David Feherty made a simple, but profound statement about Ireland and Irish golfers.

As Padraig Harrington was teeing off, Feherty observed that with the recent success of the golfers from Northern Ireland (McDowell, McIlroy and Clarke) it's easy to forget about the major victories of Dubliner Padraig Harrington, who won the Open Championship in 2007 and back to back majors in 2008 when he won his second Open Championship and followed by a win at the PGA.

While describing Harrington, Feherty, in his distinctly sarcastic tone, noted:

"Here's an Irishman with just the three majors from just 100 miles away from those others. It is one island."

A simple fact that has been easy to forget over the past 90 years. Geographically, Ireland is exactly what Feherty said, one island. Politically, in a way created by man, Ireland is two separate countries. Feherty's astute observation was one that struck me as honest, sincere and beautiful.

History writes a different story, one that challenges Feherty's point of view, but I still loved this comment and it added to the respect that I have for David Feherty as both a commentator and an Irishman.

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