On the eve of the Ryder Cup, Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal struck an early blow
for Europe's golfers by putting a ball a record 9.2 miles during the team's Concorde
flight to the United States on Monday.
His putt broke American Brad Faxon's 1997 world record of 8.5 miles and travelled
the length of the supersonic airliner's 150-foot cabin in 26.17 seconds to land
in the cup at the first attempt.
With Concorde travelling at 1,270 mph, the ball was actually in motion for 9.232
miles, a spokeswoman for British Airways said. The flight time of three hours
six minutes was also a record for a journey between London and Boston.
"On the eve of the Ryder Cup
it's great to be involved in a record for golf and for Concorde," said British
Airways captain Dave Studd who had lent Olazabal his putter.
"I'm
going to have the putter mounted and put on display."
