THE STORY about footballer Lewis White going to the wrong Bury sounds funny – unless you’re a golf correspondent who has travelled to the wrong Augusta!
That is exactly what happened to me when I flew to the USA to cover the Masters for the Sun for the third time.
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I’m up to 27 Masters in a row now, and almost a quarter of a century after my 1,500 mile detour I still can’t live it down.
White was ‘only’ 200 miles off track, and that sort of thing happens more often than you think.
There was another famous occasion when Earl Spencer’s teenaged daughter hired a taxi to take her to Stamford Bridge to watch Chelsea take on Arsenal – and ended up in the village of Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire.
That meant she finished up 246 miles away from her intended destination. Embarrassing, but I still think my ill-fated trip takes the biscuit.
Instead of flying into sunny Georgia, I ended up freezing in snowbound Augusta, Maine.
The reality of the situation only dawned on me after I had decided to change into a pair of shorts during a brief stopover in Boston, to get ready for the 80-odd degrees forecast for the start of Masters week.
There were a few funny looks flashed my way as I took my place on the 12-seater heading for Augusta.
And as we started flying deeper into the snow-covered countryside, I realised why.
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I approached the only flight attendant and he confirmed our destination was pretty much the northern-most tip of the United States — with a population of under 20,000.
It was hardly a hub for connecting flights.
Ryder Cup 2025 – all the info
The Ryder Cup is BACK as Team Europe defend their crown on American soil this weekend
Luke Donald‘s team are in New York ahead of the big start on Friday, having dominated the prestigious competition in the 21st century – winning eight of the 11 meetings since 2002.
But only two of those wins have come in the United States, with Team USA winning both the 2021 and 2016 competitions.
In fact, Team Europe has only won one of the four Ryder Cups held in the US – 2012 – since their win there in 2004 and Team USA enter this year’s competition as the odds-on bookies’ favourites.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Ryder Cup 2025…
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By the time we landed, my predicament had been explained to the pilot and co-pilot, who offered to drive me 55 miles to Portland, his home and Maine’s biggest city.
I could get a flight from there to Atlanta and either drive or catch a connecting flight to the correct Augusta.
When I phoned our travel company’s 24-hour line, it seemed nothing else could go wrong.
I asked them to book me into the Portland Holiday Inn.
They booked me into the Holiday Inn in Portland, Oregon, on the other side of the country!
I was able to complete my journey the following day — only to encounter a welcoming committee when I arrived at the media centre.
I had explained to a few colleagues why I’d be a day late and the story spread like wildfire.
The reporter from the Boston Globe interviewed me, and the ‘Lost Limey’ was back page news.
That was in 2001 and I’m still being pointed out as ‘the guy who went to Augusta, Maine by mistake’.
The 2001 Masters was the year that Tiger Woods held off David Duval and Phil Mickelson to complete the Tiger Slam — the only time any player has ever held all four Majors at the same time.
Come on, how could anyone forget something like that?
Ryder Cup line ups
Here are the players who will be competing in the Ryder Cup…
Team Europe
- Luke Donald (C)
- Shane Lowry
- Jon Rahm
- Sepp Straka
- Viktor Hovland
- Ludvig Aberg
- Matt Fitzpatrick
- Rory McIlroy
- Robert MacIntyre
- Tommy Fleetwood
- Justin Rose
- Rasmus Hojgaard
- Tyrrell Hatton
Team USA
- Keegan Bradley (C)
- Justin Thomas
- Collin Morikawa
- Ben Griffin
- Cameron Young
- Patrick Cantley
- Sam Burns
- Scottie Scheffler
- JJ Spaun
- Xander Schauffele
- Russell Henley
- Harris English
- Bryson DeChambeau
