By Tom Patri
Well as Steph Curry and Klay Thompson are known as The Splash Brothers due to their abilities to bury 3 pointer after 3 pointer from long distance for the Golden State Warriors as the burn opponents ripping through the Western Conference on their way to the NBA finals, two other athletes and an old friend of mine are exciting the golf world.
SMASH BROTHERS_Your Golf Digest website
This past week at the properly named Black Course at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, NY, the two beasts I refer to as The Smash Brothers battled mightily with the other beast named Black as the rest of the golf world steeped aside as these three did battle. Brooks Koepka emerged victorious over close friend and fellow Big Boy Bomber Dustin Johnson by two shots. Some would say Black beat them both. Maybe a split decision. Brooks started the final day with a seemingly bullet proof game and a 7 shot lead. The entire golf media had all but handed Koepka the Wanamaker Trophy on Saturday night. Two things crossed my mind Saturday night. One, golf is a funny game and I never believe ever that’s it’s over until in fact it’s over. Two , I grew up playing a lot of golf as a kid on the Black and although Brooks man handled Black on Thursday and Friday I had a funny feeling at some juncture over the weekend Old Man Black was going to punch back ! It was simple going to be a matter of who got the last punch in.
Suddenly Sunday on the back 9 as I suspected a golf tournament broke out. Johnson had made a few timely birdies and The Black had Brooks against the ropes and was pounding him senseless. To Brooks’ credit he regained his legs just in the nick of time and remained standing until the final bell and what originally looked like an early round knockout turned out to be a final round TKO by a whisker. If you go back and look at the final scoreboard of a Major which boasts the strongest field in professional golf only 6 of the greatest players in the world were able to better par for the entire event. In the final round over 70 players were over par for the day!
I remember as a kid playing my old friend Black, long before the efforts of both NY State and The USGA agreed to restore this Tillinghast masterpiece. There was broken glass on greens and in bunkers, there were discarded car tires in the rough areas, there was an old abandoned burned out car in what once upon a time was the old championship tee area on number 9. There was trash everywhere and general course conditions were horrific. With all that I remember saying to my peers and we walked up the hill to number 5 green, perhaps the hardest par 4 hole in the universe, “you know if they ever put Black into condition you could play a US Open here”. My friends laughed at me. I believe I was around 15 or 16.
Well I’m 60 now and my old friend Black has hosted 2 US Opens, a PGA Championships, 2 Fed Ex playoff events, a ton of NY State Opens and in 2024 it will host The Ryder Cup. I’m so proud of my old friend Black he has made it through some very rough times and fought back. By the way Brooks hung tough this weekend also. I have a funny feeling it will not be the last battle between 3 very talented beasts. I can’t wait to see the next fight between Black, Brooks, and DJ.
