By F. Edwin Miller
The worst possible thing that could have happened to Pete Oakley, let alone any man, happened at the Senior Open Championship at Turnberry on Friday: his wife couldn’t find his ball.
(Gregory Shamus, Getty Images North America)
The job of 2004 Senior British Open winner’s wife and caddie, Jennifer, requires her to spot all of her husband’s tee shots. Yet, when Oakley struck the ball on the 13th hole during the second round of the tournament on Friday, Jennifer Oakley struggled to deliver in more ways than one. Her mistake charged Pete Oakley with an “undue delay” (known as ‘slow play’ or not keeping up with the pace of play as dictated by the committee) and a two-shot setback.
Jennifer Oakley claims a ball from another golfer on the 10th tee that landed near her husband’s sparked the mix up and successive penalty.
“I was looking at the wrong fairway” she explained about the slipup.
Oakley finished the round with an 83 after the two-shot penalty; however, he missed the cut by 16 making the final score irrelevant.
“I might not have been laughing so much about it if the two-shot penalty had seen me miss the cut,” Oakley said. Huh? Regardless if you make the cut or not, when your woman looks at another man’s fairway it is no laughing matter.
