Memories By Mark

The Open 2011: return to Royal St George's brings back painful memories for ...

History does not tell us whether Roe was in possession of the former at Royal St George’s in 2003, but the want of the latter led to one of the most notorious episodes of procedural pettifoggery that golf has ever seen. Roe and Jesper Parnevik forgot to exchange cards at the start of their third rounds, an oversight that led each to sign for the other’s score. The entire world knew what had happened, but the R&A yielded no ground in applying their rules and both players were disqualified.

Parnevik had shot 81, so it was no skin off his nose, but Roe’s brilliant 67 had put him firmly in contention. He was two off the lead and set to play the final round in the company of Tiger Woods . Astonishingly, when the error came to light he kept his composure, did a dignified round of interviews, then drove back to his Surrey home. The following day he watched on television as Ben Curtis received the claret jug. Then he went upstairs and cried like a baby.

“But I was just two behind. I would have won with a 69. But who knows what would have happened? I could have had a bad day and shot 78. I’m not foolhardy enough to say I would or should have won the Open . We all know what the game of golf can be like.

“What I do feel sad about is that I didn’t get to play with Tiger on the Sunday of a major. It would have been great to have the opportunity to test myself in the ultimate arena. There couldn’t be any greater pressure than to play in the last round of the Open, with the world’s best player, and have a chance to win.

“So when I reflect on it I just think, what a shame. What a shame I didn’t have that opportunity.”

Roe was 40 at the time. The 2003 Open was his 12th appearance in the Championship. Three years later, still competitive but tired of the life of a touring pro, he decided to retire from the tournament scene. His final round, poignantly, was a 67 on the Old Course at St Andrews, good enough for 15th place in the Dunhill Links Championship and a cheque for 50,000 euros. He signed his card carefully and walked away from the game.

Mark Haines Dies: Memories of a Man Who Cut Through Nonsense ...

The death of Mark Haines, anchor of CNBC’s Squawk on the Street program, is heartbreaking news for CNBC viewers and for the many guests who have gotten to know him over the years from his perch at the New York Stock Exchange. I was lucky to be one of them as a guest on the show for many years.

You can get the biographical material elsewhere. I’ll share a few memories and observations.

First, Mark was brilliant at cutting through another person’s nonsense, something that has been in short supply on Wall Street for too long. I’ll never forget sitting with him on set in March 2008, the morning after Bear Stearns collapsed. Richard Bove, a banking analyst, sat with us and declared it was the buying opportunity of a lifetime for bank stocks. As was often the case, Mark had his New York Post turned to the gossip pages and spread out before him.

After a few initial, skeptical questions, Mark didn’t seem to be paying much attention as Mr. Bove, Erin Burnett and I talked. Then, Mr. Bove said that the bad mortgage problem wasn’t as bad as people thought. Mark leapt all over him, challenging his estimate of problem mortgages and throwing out Treasury Department numbers which contradicted his guest. I had been too-gently disagreeing with Mr. Bove. Mark in about 15 seconds ripped his argument to shreds from the inside out. I wasn’t sure he had even been listening.

This is why he scared me when I first appeared on Squawk Box many years ago. I was always afraid that he was going to pick up on something that I said which was inherently stupid or wrong and lay me to waste in public. We became friends, in part, because we discovered a common passion: lacrosse. I played for a good team in high school and also got my start in journalism writing about that team in my local town newspaper when I was 16. Mark’s son Matt was a star lacrosse player. Nothing gave Mark more pleasure than talking about his boy’s exploits. Nothing gave him more pride. I’ve got three kids of my own and know how it feels to swell with pride like that, and I was Mark’s happy enabler. I didn’t know his family, but my heart goes out to them.

Finally, my heart goes out to everyone who worked with Mark at Squawk on the Street, especially Erin. They really liked each other. Television can be a cold, cut-throat business. With Mark, Erin and the whole team they assembled there, it wasn’t cold. It felt like family. They called me Hilsy. Walking up the narrow steps that led to their cramped perch above the stock exchange many Monday mornings, I always felt like I was coming home to friends.

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