GREAT WRITER IAN WOOLDRIDGE

(75) DIES: TRIBUTE

FROM EUROPEAN TOUR

Ian Wooldridge, who has died after a long illness, aged 75, wrote unrivalled columns which transcended sport with golf passionately supported both on and off the fairways.
Wooldridge, saluted as the greatest sports journalist of his generation, played golf left-handed, but never seriously enough not to realise that winning a hole with an eight to a nine was far more fun than overcoming his opponent with a birdie. Such experiences lit-up the 19th hole! After all, he was recognised for the brilliance of his prose and his unerring eye for the telling of an anecdote not to mention his liking for a small refreshment.
Early in his career, which started on the New Milton Advertiser in Hampshire, Wooldridge ghosted a syndicated column for Max Faulkner, winner of the Open Championship in 1951.

MAX FAULKNER STORY INVENTED

On one occasion, having been unable to extract a good anecdote from Faulkner on his success at Royal Portrush, he invented the story that Faulkner, before teeing off in the final round, had scrawled the words “Open Champion – 1951” on a ball and handed it to a young autograph hunter. Some years later George Plimpton, an American writer who had read about the tale, said on meeting Wooldridge – “Great story that one about Max Faulkner,” Wooldridge’s response? “Total nonsense!”
Wooldridge’s incomparable and entertaining style of writing delighted his followers in the Daily Mail for more than 40 years and also millions of readers of countless other publications worldwide. He enjoyed the world of golf, enthusing about the sportsmanship of the game, and the qualities of its players.
In The 2006 Ryder Cup Official Programme he was asked to visualise golf “In The Year 2525” and his entertaining essay included the words: “And what of global warming? If Sir David Attenborough’s anxious countenance is anything to go by, the polar icecaps will have melted to such a degree that even imperious golfing premises like St Andrews and the Augusta National will be several unplayable fathoms under water.

RYDER CUP WILL SURVIVE
“Well, I am having none of this pessimism. I believe The Ryder Cup will survive because, despite the odd hiccup here and there, it simply deserves to.
“From its original concept until today, it has established itself as one of the greatest sporting events in the entire curriculum. Conflict? Occasionally. Continuity? Unhindered, except by war. Courtesy? Mostly infallible because long, long ago golf created a code of conduct that has survived the ill-discipline that has disfigured so many other professional games.”
George O’Grady, Chief Executive of The European Tour, said: “Ian’s special ability to capture the very essence of sport and captivate the reader was a rare gift which he shared through his words with his readers. He enjoyed his golf, writing warmly and enthusiastically about our sport, and, more importantly, he was a good friend whose company we all relished. We will miss his passionate and instinctive views at our summit meeting luncheons and we send our condolences to his wife, Sarah, his family and his thousands and thousands of friends around the world.”
A LEGEND OF SPORTS JOURNALISM
The Daily Mail pointed out in its tribute to Wooldridge that: “With style and coruscating wit, he celebrated the achievements of our sporting heroes, but was merciless in his condemnation of the cheap and tawdry, the fake and the crooked. From the Rumble in the Jungle to a rumble in Kampala with Idi Amin, from racing with huskies on the Iditarod Trail to running with the bulls in Pamplona, Wooldridge was there.”
Arnold Palmer and Colin Montgomerie led those tributes from the world of golf.
Palmer said: “I am extremely sorry to hear of Ian’s passing. I had great respect for him as a journalist and always enjoyed his company. He was a fine man.”
Montgomerie said: “We have lost one of the real legends of sports journalism. He was damn good fun to be around.”
Ian Wooldridge was a lovely person. He was his own man. He had a great sense of humour. He was self-effacing and never self-congratulatory. He was an absolute gentleman in whose company all felt at ease.
He was appointed OBE in 1991 and his awards were legion. In the British Press Awards he was Columnist of the Year in 1975 and 1976 and Sportswriter of the Year in 1972, 1974, 1981 and 1989. The Sports Council made him Sportswriter of the Year in 1987, 1988 and 1996 and it elected him Sports Feature Writer of the Year in 1991 and 1997. In May, 2006, he won the London Press Club’s Edgar Wallace award for outstanding reporting over many years.
Wooldridge concluded that article in The 2006 Ryder Cup programme with the words: “Nonetheless, 2525 is a long way distant. Maybe the pills won’t have worked. Perhaps some police car may have got me or some cross-eyed politico might have peppered me with lethal shot. In which case I hope there is spirit in a celestial press box along with such glorious Ryder Cup chroniclers of the past as Henry Longhurst and Peter Dobereiner.”
+The above article is reproduced from the European Tour website.