Masters champion, Charl Schwartzel was among many PGA Championship competitors who were at the premier of the new Hollywood golf theme movie – ‘Seven days in Utopia’.
Robert Duval, the Academy Award winner, stars in the movie along with Lucas Black.
Black plays the part of a Texas-born pro who snaps his putter over his knee after shooting a 14 at the last hole on the final day to lose the Callaway San Antonio Open.
Swedish stars Johann Edfors, Peter Hanson and Fredrik Andersson Hed at the premier of 'Seven days in Utopia'. (Photo - Fran Caffrey/www.golffile.ie)
On the seventh day, Duval reveals he’s managed to secure an invitation for Black, who’s also been awakened to the ways of the Lord, to contest the Valero Texas Open.
Black then finds himself in a play-off with K J Choi, winner this year of the Players Championship, or T K Oh as he is in the movie.
The movie abrupt ends with Black about to hole the winning play-off putt.
“It was fantastic movie, and any movie you watch where you can take something out of it, and apply it to everyday life, is a good a good thing,” said Schwartzel.
“Yes, it was a golf movie but there was more than just golf in the movie. You can always relate to what when on in the movie.
“You can draw inspiration from the movie.
“I also thought it was quite touching in a way because it also shows you how much we golfers can find ourselves in this little bubble, and the movie showed how much your golf can actually improve.”
However when quizzed by www.golfbytourmiss.com if he had broken a club in anger like the main actor, Schwartzel laughed saying: “Is this on the record or not?!”
But there was a scene in the movie that the reigning Augusta National could associate.
As part of Duval’s work with Black, he takes him up in a four-seat Cessna he owns but unbeknown to Black who now has control of the plane, Duval turns off the engine, leaving Black to deal with the expected drama of landing in a ploughed field.
“You know what, that’s actually happened to me,” said Schwartzel.
“When I was training I was circling the airfield and the instructor turned off the engine. But then I was with someone who’d had about 20,000 hours flying experience, and your sort of feels he knows what he was doing.
“But in watching the part in the movie where they were going to try and land on that field, I thought that if they landed in that field in real life, they’d flip the plane over.
“They probably would have survived but then Robert Duval was only fooling and turned the engine back on.”
Schwartzel also made a great comment, and a delivered a message to all movie directors.
“When is the last time you could sit down with you wife or anyone, and watch a movie without any swear words in it,” said Schwartzel.
“Think about! An adult movie without any swear words.”
And now having got a sneak look at ‘Seven days in Utopia’, Schwartzel believes it’s the best movie he’s ever seen.
“I’m not a big movie watcher but then I like a movie where I can take something away from that and ‘Seven days in Utopia’ did that for me,” he said.
