Am I alone in thinking that, if it wasn’t for Emma Radacanu’s (@emmaradacanu) glorious, unprecedented, journey from qualifier to US Open Champion, then surely Richard Bland (@blandy73) should have been the 2021 Sports Personality of The Year (SPOTY)?
(As it turned out ‘Blandy’ didn’t make the short list for SPOTY, so frankly who cares?
…other than Tom Daley (2nd) and Adam Peaty (3rd) – although New Year’s OBEs for both probably sweetened any SPOTY disappointment…).
Anyway, let’s put the (seemingly) flawed lense of SPOTY aside and, unreservedly, celebrate two superlative sporting triumphs. Which, undoubtedly, they both were.
Of course, Bland’s win, at The Belfry in May, was in stark contrast to Ms Radacanu’s win in New York a few months later. The US Open was only Radacanu’s fifth top level professional tennis event. The British Masters was Bland’s 478th European Tour golf tournament.
I’m undecided as to which of the two ‘career defining wins’ is the more impressive. On the one hand we have an 18-year-old debutant, so unfamiliar with her surroundings that she had to ask directions to the players’ canteen at Flushing Meadow. On the other, a 48-year-old veteran, finally presented with an opportunity to win in his 20th year of ‘doing the rounds’ (easily over a thousand of them by my estimation) on the European Tour.
They are both undeniably meritorious, but which win was more significant?
Well, the commercial metrics come down heavily in favour of the tennis player. Here are just two:
Prize money:
Radacanu won £1,847,250 for her US open victory. Bland took home £166,660 for winning the British Masters.
Sponsors:
Tiffany & Co, Dior, and Evian have all signed deals with Radacanu since September. And they won’t be the last big brands wanting to be hitched to Radacanu’s star. Some commentators are predicting she will become the first 'billion-dollar athlete'. Contrastingly…two months after winning at The Belfry, ‘Blandy’ rebuffed an approach from PointsBet to be his hat sponsor during the US Open. Why? He’d promised his home golf club (The Wisley) that he’d wear his club hat throughout the tournament. (#loyaltygoals)
And in terms of impact? It seems a certainty that people will be talking about Radacanu for years. Even if she doesn’t win another major (unlikely) her achievement of winning as a qualifier (without dropping a set!) is the stuff of legend. It’s never likely to be repeated.
Bland’s landmark victory, on the other hand, is likely to soon fade from the memory, particularly outside the world of golf. And even within his own sport, ‘veteran wins golf tournament’, is hardly unique. Let’s not forget that Phil ‘Lefty’ Michelson won the US PGA in 2021, and, in doing so at the age of 50, became the oldest winner in the history of the majors.
So objectively, the more important win, the one that resonated most profoundly within and beyond the sporting world, is Emma Radacanu’s surreal and historic victory in the US Open.
But…personally, I draw a little more from Bland’s late blooming as a winner, than I do the precocious achievement of Radacanu’s first major.
Why?
Because ‘Blandy’s’ win gives me hope.
It talks to my inner competitor and says, ‘keep the faith’.
It reaffirms the value of practice, play, and persistence.
As a middle-aged golfer myself, Bland’s win is more relatable than Radacanu's 'once in a millennium' achievement. And as such Bland's triumph is more inspirational, to me. It’s tangible proof that if you keep working at the right things then improvement and achievement can be your reward.
It’s one of the great things about golf that you can play well, competitively well, into your advanced years. And therein lies the scope to improve as a player at an age when even playing most other sports is inconceivable. I've enjoyed a lifetime of playing a variety of sports, but the majority of them are now consigned to the memory banks and the odd scrapbook. I have contemporaries who have found a new lease of life with the ‘beautiful game’ through taking up walking football. I’ve yet to try it and so reserve judgement and from what I hear it can be highly competitive. But frankly I’m not sure I’ll be inclined to give it a go all the while that I can improve my golf. How joyous it is to be able to hit the ball further, and shoot consistently lower at fifty five than I did at twenty five!
Thanks ‘Blandy’. You’ve shown us that not just better days lie ahead, but, with graft and application, maybe even ‘best ever’ days can inhabit the future.
After two years of a global pandemic, who can’t get behind a sentiment like that.