This Page About Torrance enjoying a 'wonderful life' in golf

Torrance enjoying a 'wonderful life' in golf

December 8, 2005

Sam Torrance, the rascally old Scot, has not been back to Australia since the late 1990s and there's a swag of former Australian golfers mightily thankful for that seven-year reprieve.

Because Torrance, now 52, once was one of the great carousers on the European tour and his partners in crime were invariably Australians - Jack Newton, Bob Shearer, Ian Stanley and Wayne Riley among them. All of them suffered, at one time or another, in his gregarious company.

"He was a bit dangerous in those days," Shearer said yesterday. "A few beers were had by all, here and there, but especially when we got to Scotland. Then it was on for young and old."

Riley was one of the Scotsman's regular partners at the card table, pool hall and betting shop.

"He's a jack the lad, a lovely knockabout bloke who, to be honest, just doesn't like boredom," Riley said. "He's drawn to people with big personalities because he's got such a big personality himself."

Born into a strong golf family, Torrance left school at 13, turned professional at 16 and joined the European tour a year later. That was in 1970, in the days before the tour was infested by bottled water, bananas and alfalfa sandwiches, when exercise was a test you did at school and gym was the name of a barman.

"I've always said we're here for a good time, not a long time," Torrance said yesterday, as he took time out before today's opening round of the Australian Masters. "We had great fun in those days but we were serious when we had to be, when the gun went off."

In a recent Golf Digest article, Torrance said his reputation for drinking was always exaggerated.

He had seen his father, Bob, one of Britain's best-known professionals, beat alcoholism. "(Former tour player) John O'Leary and I would never touch a drop from Tuesday to Sunday but on Sunday and Monday nights, it was wipe-out time, great fun," he said.

Did he feel sorry for the young players today, given that they don't seem to have much fun, being as preoccupied as they are with technique, swing theory, endless practice and dietary fads?

"No, I don't," Torrance said. "Each to his own. For the young players today, it's a very tough and demanding school - much harder than when we were starting out. They've got to work hard, there's a great depth of talent, so they can't let their guard slip."

Torrance's affinity with Australia extends beyond his friendship with the likes of Newton and Shearer. It was in Melbourne in 1980 when he won the Australian PGA Championship at Royal Melbourne, against Seve Ballesteros and Greg Norman in their pomp, and that still ranks as his most memorable individual victory.

This year, the man awarded an Order of the British Empire for leading the European Ryder Cup team to victory in 2002, topped the European seniors tour order of merit. And last week he was set for a top-10 finish in the Australian PGA Championship at Coolum before double-bogeying the 72nd hole, so the old rogue can still play.

Torrance's 17-year-old son Daniel, a fine amateur player, was due to come to Australia with him and contest an amateur event at the Dunes, but was kept at home by his driving test - which he duly passed.

Would Torrance ever encourage him into a professional career? "Absolutely I would; it's a wonderful life," he said. Continue to learn more about golf, please visit The Age.

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