| Like all who have come before him, Ed Brooks failed in his attempt to become the first medalist to go on and win that year's Mid-Amateur title. But to say his effort wasn't all that impressive would be an unjust slap at the 50-year-old from Georgetown, Texas, whose 3-under-par 139 led the field into match play at Old Warson.
Brooks suffers from an eye disorder that misleads him on the exact location of the hole. On a 15-foot putt, for example, Brooks sees the hole four inches short and six inches left of where it is actually located. Though the misalignment narrows the closer he is to the hole, taking two putts from 50 feet is somewhat of an impressive accomplishment.
"I wasn't quite as sharp today", Brooks said after his second round, 3-and -2 defeat at the hands of Jeff Knox of Augusta, Ga. "I was two over today and he was two under, and anytime you play under par on this golf course, you're probably going to win. I caught a guy who deserved to win".
Brooks three-putted twice in his defeat, once from 40 feet and once from 30, but he refused to use that as an excuse. "I can't blame it on my putting. I putted well until today".
Before he'd learned of his eye problem, Brooks believed he'd simply gotten into the bad habit of pulling his putts. "I'd hit a perfect putt and it'd go left", he explained. "Then my caddie behind me would say, 'No, you were lining up left.' I'd line up right at the hole and he's day, 'You're still aiming left'.
"It's tough to compensate for it Brooks continued. "When it's really tough is when you get in competition and you have a 12-or 15-footer for the match. You get over the putt and ask yourself, 'Which line do you trust?'"
Brooks says the problem doesn't affect his life off the golf course, though while parking the car his wife has, on occasion, pointed out that he's a little too far from the curb. And when Brooks picks up a hammer, he hasn't had a lot of people volunteering to hold the nail. |
