What is it about golf? Such a silly game when you think about it -- traipsing thousands of meters cross-country to whack a tiny ball into teeny holes with a skinny stick. Whoever invented it -- probably the Scots -- had a diabolically twisted sense of fun. And yet, as we are constantly reminded, no other game can quite touch golf's image as the pastime that brings us closest to paradise.

Last month, a renowned American bass-baritone named Thomas Stewart died of a heart attack at the age of 78. His death was unexpected, and opera lovers around the world expressed shock and sadness. Yet many fans took comfort from the manner of his passing.

As Stewart's wife described it, he was on the golf course at the time: "We went out to the course, played for a while, he made par, and then suddenly turned around and fell backwards," she said. "I tried to resuscitate him, but he didn't respond." Make par, then die. As one tribute put it, that is "the way many of us would choose to go."