Nice tut-tut, Allis

The venerable Peter Allis is anything but, according to Martin Johnson in the Times (U.K.), who suggests that it's time for the BBC to pull the plug on his career when his contract expires next March. If it's not renewed, Allis, 79, might have worked his final Masters last week. Johnson writes:

Opinion will be divided between those who regard him as a national treasure or an old buffer stuck in a time warp where all the players wear tweed jackets and plus fours, and women aren't allowed within 20 miles of the members' bar. Alliss being Alliss, he followed up with a story on how free drops were handled in his day. "Reminds me of dear old Commander Roe, who used to run our PGA Tour, and if he was ever dragged out[to make a ruling], he'd give the ball a kick and say, 'Play it from there'. Those days have gone." Lovely anecdote? Or another of his irritating in-my-day laments?

One of his least impressive moments came when Torrance praised Italian amateur Matteo Manassero. "He's not only a fantastic talent," said Sam, "but intelligent with it. Fluent in four languages." Alliss chipped in: "Yes, and I haven't heard him say anything interesting in any of them." Torrance, quite rightly, replied: "But Peter, he's only 16.">

-- John Strege