ST. ANDREWS, Scotland -- Alex Salmond is the leader of the Scottish National Party and the First Minister of Scotland -- the highest government official in the country. A graduate of St. Andrews University, Salmond loves the game of golf. He is in favor of Scottish independence. We talked yesterday while he walked to the Royal & Ancient members' tent. It was the closest I'll ever get to being in an episode of "The West Wing."
What is your perfect St. Andrews day?
My favorite St. Andrews day is when I used to tee off as a student at 5 o'clock in the morning. A spring morning. As soon as it got light -- it gets light very early in the morning -- and by the time you finish, its 8 o'clock or 9 o'clock, and there were hundreds of people around the 18th green. So that was the time of my life. I used to pretend I could play.
Describe why Scotland is culturally an independent nation?
Oh, Scotland has all of the attributes that make up a nation. It's one of the oldest nations, of course. It's not quite as old as China, but it's right up there. A great sense of community and distinctiveness. Scotland has that. It's a fully fledged nation. Just lacking the powers of statehood, but these are coming along.
How would it be different if Scotland were in charge of its own destiny?
Let's take a golfing example. We're in charge of golf in Scotland. So what are we doing? We are promoting Scotland and golf together. That's having a fantastic effect in terms of tourism figures for golf. The second thing we're doing in golf is every child in Scotland, at the age of 9, is now playing golf. Every single one. We have an initiative called Club Golf in primary schools, so every child -- 40,000 9-year-olds in Scotland this year -- gets to play. The point I'm making? If we can do that running golf, just think what we would do running the economy.
Should you just call it the Scottish Open?
I'm quite happy. This isn't called the British Open. This is just the Open.
How is this town different today compared to when you were a student?
It's not that different. There are more people. More students. But there's something magical about this place. People say it's the home of golf. It's the eden of golf. This is golf's Garden of Eden.
