Did BBC’s Peter Alliss make a triple bogey on Sunday?
OK, I’ve already included Peter Alliss as one of the reasons why I love the British Open (see here). Within the span of three minutes, however, Alliss appeared to make three big gaffes on Sunday. I don’t have exact quotes, but here they are, as best I can recollect:
1. Alliss suggested that Tiger’s calmness on the course might be attributable to some “Oriental” influence from his mother (Kutilda is from Thailand). At least in the U.S., “Oriental” is not the correct term to refer to Asians. I’d gather it’s no longer correct in the UK, either.
2. When questioned if Tiger was the best he’d seen at the British, Alliss acknowledged Tiger’s greatness, but then noted others he had seen in his many years of broadcasting. “First, there was Arnold Palmer. Then there was Seve. Then there was Jack Nicklaus.”
3. Soon thereafter, Alliss tried to correct the television scoreboard, insisting that Ernie Els was one stroke better–even though he had just bogeyed. Mike Tirico quietly corrected him.
I don’t want to blow any of these out of proportion, but the fact they occurred in rapid succession seemed to confirm that Alliss, who is 75 years old, was off of his game.
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