Golf world mourns loss of Kim on Twitter
Published: 20 Dec. 2011, 20:37
Reports hailed Kim’s 38-under-par 34 over 18 holes at the 7,700-yard Pyongyang Golf Course in his first try at golf. This feat was purportedly watched by 17 security guards protecting the man, who was hailed as the “dear leader” of North Korea.
Kim, who died on Saturday of a heart attack at age 69, was 52 at the time he purportedly fired a round where birdie was his worst score on any hole.
Twitter skeptics wondered whether or not Kim might have tried to surpass such stars as Tiger Woods or reigning world No. 1 Luke Donald of England had he truly gone 21 strokes below the best score from the U.S. PGA golfer.
“Look at it this way: With Kim Jong-il dying, everybody will be moving up one spot in the World Golf Rankings,” noted Dan Daly in a Twitter post.
Others pondered the golf showdowns that never happened.
“Kim Jong-il’s passing means Luke Donald is now indisputably golf’s world No. 1,” tweeted John Mackay. “Congrats Luke. Just a shame it wasn’t settled on the course.”
“Golf world mourns the passing of the prodigious world leader never to win a major,” tweeted Shaun Hinds.
Even Paddy Power tweeted that “The world has lost a golfing legend, we’re 1,000,000/1 for any PGA player to beat Kim Jong-il’s record round of 38 under.”
Some saw hope for Kim from beyond the grave, with Rick Reilly posting, “Just in from North Korean state news agency: Kim Jong-il’s corpse shoots 54, incl. 6 aces.”
Nick Howell pondered what might have been, saying his record round “could’ve been even better if his ball hadn’t stuck under the windmill on the eleventh.”
Alistair Barrie was shocked there was not more mention on golf Web sites, noting, “No one seems remotely concerned that the world’s greatest golfer has died.”
“With passing of Kim Jong-il, sports world may have lost greatest golfer of all time,” tweeted HuffPost Sports.
“The golf world mourns the loss of Kim Jong-il. Routinely scored 3 or 4 aces every round according to state-run media, so it must be true,” wrote Len Berman.
AFP
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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