"Which brings us to The Ballad of Charlie Beljan and the most remarkable four rounds of golf ever played."

This beauty came from reader Chema, who saw what the Philadelphia Inquirer's Bill Lyon wrote about Charlie Beljan's panic-attack win at Disney.

Lyon no doubt went all 72 holes with Beljan to help him write easily the most ridiculous column of the year.

Kind of makes the NY Times follow up to its A1 story look like a super idea!

Comments

[tlavin]

I guess I can understand quibbling with the editorial judgment to put this story right below the fold on A1 in the NYT, but at a certain point, it feels like "piling on" a guy with a presumably legitimate, diagnosed psychiatric malady. It's not manic depression, bi-polar or major depression, but intermittent panic attacks can be quite debilitating. The fact that Beljan got one during a competitive round is unusual and compelling enough, but the fact that he had it during the tournament in which he was fighting to keep his Tour card is even more newsworthy. When you combine those facts with the fact that he came back to win the tournament after spending Friday night in the hospital, this is a story that bears telling and retelling. Maybe you can fault a guy for gilding the lilly in a column, but this story sort of invites hyperbole. I just think that it is unfortunate that there seems to be an undercurrent that is dismissive of Beljan's condition, not to mention his accomplishment.

[5th Street]

tlavin they are mad at Charlie because he sent some offensive tweets about Obama back in August. That's what this is about.

[Ghillie]

I think the medical story from the Tournament is interesting and, to the extent the consition is clearly misunderstood, important. And I will grant the poignancy of the sdituation arising just as the players is fighting to keep his card.

But there is no excuse for that sort of breathless "journalism." It's pathetic.

And it doesn't make Charlie Beijian any less of an ignorant little twerp that he happens to get panic attacks.

[digsouth]

I have had one panic attack, and I thought I was having a heart attack. It was VERY frightening.


What Charlie accomplished is very noteworthy, and he must have a pretty good publicist to be getting him all his ink. I wish him the best.

But for someone who is so blessed to be such a friggin' HATER- well, let's just hope he gets a clue before his self inflicted HATE doesn't take him down.

I could care less if he was for or against Romney or Obama- the disrespect he showed the POTUS, the office, should be offensive to any American.

[3foot1]

Writers gotta write, so I'll give Lyon a pass on the prose. But as someone whose spouse and daughter have had life-altering anxiety attacks, I'm sympathetic to the guy's panic though not to his politics.

[E.]

To the last comment.

If that was Charlie B. I am disappointed. Probably wasn't you because according to your twitter account you are off the chart. So, what I want to say is, get real fool. Get out of the US now that you are a winner and see the rest of the world. Do something different. Get smarter. The world is only getting smaller and your brain needs to grow. The US is an island and needs to wake up. U 2! Come on man.

E!

[Mike S.]

tlavin--there has been no "diagnosed psychiatric malady". He did not go to the Mayo clinic as he said and has only visited a psychotherapist (who cannot prescribe medications). Separate from his twittering, he has seemingly failed to address his "condition" whatever it may be. Since this episode was the third for him I'm waiting for him to say something like, "I assure you that I'm doing everything so that my wife and child and the public does not have to be put through something like this again". He does not need any more enabling.

[DTF]

Mike S., what's your take in why Charlie is handling the situation like he has? What are his motives?

[Paboy]

Bill Lyon can make a story about a visit to a dump sound romantic, his best column is about the passing of his dog.