1. I love to watch major golf tournaments, but I found today's final round of the PGA Championship difficult to enjoy. Granted, I admired the way Justin Thomas more than hung in there despite starting the day seven shots off the lead and his shotmaking down the stretch and in the tournament's playoff were scintillating. He's a great champion.
I did not enjoy, in fact, I cringed with pain, as the tournament's leader through 71 holes, Mito Pereira, bled strokes coming down the stretch and then, on the 72nd tee, executed a swing that looked like a one-legged man in an ass kicking contest and racked up a miserable double bogeyed to lose his lead. Pereira's playing partner, Matt Fitzpatrick, whom I'd thought might win this tournament, also played wobbly golf throughout the last round. Both players' inability to play well under the pressure of the moment opened the way for Justin Thomas to mount his impressive comeback and defeat Will Zalatoris in a playoff.
I suppose I watch sports for what the ABC network in its introduction to The Wild World of Sports used to call the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. It's an emotional experience and, when watching golf, I am particularly prone to feeling the agony of watching players fail the moment and I experienced plenty of agony today.
2. Ron D.'s visit interrupted my golf viewing. No problem. He came over to listen to Debbie tell him what she'd like built as a roof structure over our patio area. Ron took measurements, assured me he could fix a small problem with our sprinkling system, and will submit a bid later in the week.
3. The golf tournament ended. Ron had done his measuring and drawing. Evening was approaching. Debbie suggested I stop at Humdinger and grab us each a burger and an order of fries to share on my way home from Yoke's. I did.
I have become, as I've aged, an old-fashioned burger eater. Let me briefly explain. Many contemporary grills and burger joints offer huge burgers. The patties are thick. The cooks load up the burgers with all kinds of delicious choices: various cheeses, mushrooms, bacon, peanut butter, fried eggs, cream cheese, and so on, in addition to the traditional pickles, onions, lettuce, and tomatoes.
In the last couple or three years, I've discovered that these huge burgers leave me feeling overfed.
I really enjoy a thin patty of ground beef, a few pickles (both sweet and dill, if available), some catsup and mustard and that's it.
It's why the burgers at the Elks are perfect for me.
Likewise, the Humdinger's single burger is also perfect and I enjoyed my small, retro burger. I didn't feel stuffed. I felt pleasantly satisfied.
I admit, I miss the days not that long ago when I'd order a burger with cheddar cheese and bacon and a fried egg. When that was the right sandwich for me, it was a blast to eat.
Those days, now, appear to be gone.
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