Yikes, I'm a Jerk
Way back in 2000, I went to the US Open in Pebble Beach. In fact, coincidentally I’m wearing the shirt I purchased there today. I was thinking about that event today with fond recollection – not for the dominant performance Tiger Woods put on during his record win, and not for watching Jack Nicklaus hit a driver off the deck on the 14th hole, a memory I’ll always hold dear.
No, what I remember is my friends Andy, Scott and I following Tom Lehman’s group around, not only because we all like him as a golfer, but because his wife Melissa was, by all accounts, one of the hottest women any of us had ever seen in real life. Not a Amy Mickelson fem-bot type, all plastic and shiny, but a gorgeous woman.
I thought of this fondly because, while going through SI.com’s Ryder Cup Wives and Girlfriends photo gallery (and yes, it’s insanely sexist that they even have such a thing) I saw the typical loveliness of Elin Nordegren and others. Just gorgeous women, almost to a tee. (Yes, that pun was intended.) I will say that Tabitha Furyk looked a little…worn, but I’ve seen her before and it’s not an entirely new look for her. All in all, though, an impressive bunch of ladies.
And then…the last photo in the collection took my breath away, and not in a good way.
Now, sure…she looks better than Woosie’s wife, but is that really the litmus test here? Melissa Lehman, by all accounts a lovely caring woman, looks like a trannie here. (Yes, I’m an asshole.) This isn’t right…I blame the photographer, because any other outcome just makes me sad.
It’s sort of like – but not quite like this – I recently saw a picture of Bridget Bardot protesting some sort of alleged animal rights violation in Paris, and this photo is tainted by the fact that she was crying, and that’s not a good look for anyone. But how does this: turn into THAT? Age, to be sure – I’m sure I’ll be one ugly mug in my seventies, but for models and actresses, you think they are starting with a much better hand of cards, so to speak.
Life sucks sometimes.