The Blackcaps win over Australia in the recent ICC World T20 tournament had nothing to do with masterful innings construction and well-executed bowling plans – according to Greg Bruce’s dad it was all just a fluke. My dad came into the ICC World T20 hot. The morning after the match against Australia, he turned up at … Read more
If Haru Nomura’s win at the Australian Women’s Open – her first in 72 tournaments – makes her Marky Mark, what does that make runner-up Lydia Ko? Greg Bruce draws the link between early-90s pop and LPGA golf. ‘Marky’ Mark Wahlberg, younger brother of Donnie Wahlberg, scored a number one hit in 1991 with ‘Good … Read more
Arguing With My Dad is an occasional column which features Greg Bruce in conversation with his father about sports. In an unprecedented turn of events, Greg finds himself agreeing with his dad on everything – until an unlikely saviour arrives. I was always aware that one day I might come to write one of these … Read more
Caddies are subjected to an avalanche of indignities. In return, they keep getting shafted by their filthy rich bosses. Greg Bruce pleads on behalf of golf’s little guys. There is nothing in all of sport as cute and sad as a caddy. There they go, marching up the fairways, their little rounded backs bent at … Read more
Greg Bruce wrestles with his double standards over the weekend’s golfing double disaster. After the first three rounds at two tournaments on the world’s most prestigious golf tours over the weekend, New Zealand’s two best golfers were both leading. That is a story of joy and of hope. Lydia Ko, world number one and Danny … Read more
Greg Bruce charts the agony of the five-time major winner, who has met the bane of his golfing life in the form of a young man mere weeks out of high school. What must it be like to be Phil Mickelson? For a long time, he lived in the shadow of Tiger; he may have … Read more
A 22-year-old ‘golf scientist’ with a pretentious hat and excruciatingly poor technique may have sparked a mini-revolution in the game, Greg Bruce writes. Some of golf’s great characters and their foibles: John Daly was always perched on the edge of disaster; Payne Stewart wore funny clothes; Chi Chi Rodriguez sometimes pretended to be Zorro; Shooter … Read more
Arguing With My Dad is an occasional column which features Greg Bruce in conversation with his father about sports. In this instalment, a disagreement over tennis becomes a discourse on the nature of debate itself. Dad and I have never argued about tennis in our lives, and in fact we’ve hardly ever talked about it, … Read more
First there was tennis pro Caroline Wozniacki, then there was PGA staffer Erica Stoll. As Rory McIlroy announces his second engagement, Greg Bruce wonders whether the former world number one’s flair for romance is getting in the way of his golf. Over the course of his relatively brief career, a lot of attention has been … Read more
Will Phil Mickelson win the US Open? Will Lydia Ko stay focused? Will Danny Lee finally gain a sense of humour? Greg Bruce offers some thoughts on 2016 and some half-assed predictions. With a new financial crisis and nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula both imminent, we turn our attention now to golf. As 2016 … Read more
Greg Bruce, author of a masterful feature on Steve Williams, reviews the autobiography of a seething brat who is also undeniably the greatest caddy of all time. I wrote a feature about Steve Williams in Metro magazine early last year. It was a long process, begun in early 2013, when I sent him a handwritten letter, because … Read more
Greg Bruce interviews his Mum about her penchant for Seven Sharp‘s Mike Hosking over John Campbell. Mum came over last week to babysit my daughter and on arrival told me some story about something Mike Hosking had been talking about and, because this is a fairly common occurrence, I thought, ‘Why is my fundamentally decent … Read more
Ever wondered what it’s like to be the son of an obscenely rich, hugely successful but emotionally distant father? Try watching the PNC Father-Son Challenge, suggests Greg Bruce. The international golf year ended with the PNC Father-Son Challenge. Before you decry the tournament’s name as more evidence of golf’s sexism, Bernhard Langer nearly played with … Read more
We asked 12 Rugby World Cup winning All Blacks for their Kiwi sporting hero of 2015. Luke Romano picked world number one women’s golfer Lydia Ko. Greg Bruce reviews Ko’s incredible year – and wonders if she might have peaked too soon. Our Bloody Lydia. What a steady, inevitable progression it has been, from the time she first … Read more
The Hero World Challenge, the Nedbank World Challenge and the Australian PGA: the golf year is ending not with a bang but a whimper. ‘Tis the season for half-assing it, says Greg Bruce. Not that I’m trying to say golf is like high school, because the prize money is totally different, but December was always … Read more
Among the identikit beefcakes and banal platitudes of professional golf, one player stands out. Greg Bruce salutes Andy Sullivan, the golf world’s most likeable man. Men’s golf today is full of lean, ripped young muscle gods in tight polos, arriving on tour in their late teens and early 20s, smashing it 350 off the tee … Read more
Arguing with my Dad is an occasional column which features Greg Bruce in conversation with his father about sports. This week’s disagreement: New Zealand’s best batsman. It was a Sunday morning and I was sitting at the top of a slide on a playground across the road from New Zealand’s largest cemetery when Dad called. … Read more
If you’re struggling to understand what Lydia Ko just won, and how, you’re not alone. Greg Bruce attempts to get to grips with the baffling number of titles handed out at the end of the LPGA Tour. What the hell was happening during the final round of yesterday’s final tournament of the absurdly sexistly-named LPGA? … Read more
Greg Bruce, author of a masterful feature on Steve Williams, reviews the autobiography of a seething brat who is also undeniably the greatest caddy of all time. I wrote a feature about Steve Williams in Metro magazine early last year. It was a long process, begun in early 2013, when I sent him a handwritten letter, because … Read more
Arguing with my Dad is a new occasional column which features Greg Bruce in conversation with his father about sports. This first instalment covers the RWC final… Dad answered his phone and I asked how his morning was going. “Yes, yes,” he said, “I got showered and shaved and now I’m on the last of … Read more
Earlier this year, Mad Men’s prize asshole Don Draper was forever tied to Coca-Cola’s advertising history in an act of televisual finale-making so audacious that it raised the question: is great advertising art? The answer, obviously, is no, but does that necessarily mean its empty calories are worthless? That’s both a clunky rhetorical question and … Read more
Greg Bruce interviews his Mum about her penchant for Seven Sharp‘s Mike Hosking over John Campbell. Mum came over last week to babysit my daughter and on arrival told me some story about something Mike Hosking had been talking about and, because this is a fairly common occurrence, I thought, ‘Why is my fundamentally decent … Read more