Official 2012 Golf Season Thread

[Stray]

Originally Posted by texasdave

I am so tired of boorish behavior being excused or rationalized away because a player is so "super" competitive. So if you don't spray the course with f-bombs and kick/throw clubs you don't really want to win badly enough?

That's not what I meant at all. Not everyone is the same obviously, some really competitive people also have problems controlling their emotions. Heck, Bubba Watson has let his emotions get the best of him on the course before.

I just don't think it's as big of a deal as people make it out to be. I don't look for athletes to be something they're not, I just watch to see the best in the world compete against each other on the biggest stage.

Everything about Tiger is hard for people to understand, I don't get why so many people even try. He has lived under a microscope for the majority of his life, and he was raised by his father to thrive in intense competition. Nothing about his life has been normal. He's a workaholic that takes everything to extremes. It's not rationalizing or making excuses, I just think that it's genuinely who he is. Cussing at himself for hitting a bad shot isn't the end of the world or anything, if they're tired of it getting on live tv they should stop with the mics right on him during shots.

[RiverRat13]

Originally Posted by Stray

I never understood the outrage about Tiger casually kicking his club, or dropping a few curse words on the course. I know golf is supposed to be different, a gentleman's game or whatever, but if you put a mic right next to a super competitive athlete in the heat of the moment what do you expect to hear? I wonder what's said in a baseball dugout, basketball huddle, or football sideline.

I wouldn't go as far as to call Tiger a pathetic human being. I know his foundation has changed the lives of many kids for the better. He's obviously not without flaws...but he's also living in a fishbowl. We all have em, everyone just doesn't see and analyze each one of ours.

That might fly if at the same time Tiger wasn't staring down people who use flash cameras or talk when he swings. If golf is different, then golf is different. He can't have it both ways.

[MWM]

Originally Posted by Caveat Emperor

As far as Tiger goes, I'm done with everything about him. Winning and dominance was a protective bubble that hid the real Tiger Woods -- now that his game has been stripped away from him, we're left looking at the sad and pathetic human being that was inside the entire time.

Pathetic human being? Come on, CE. That's a bit much, don't you think? And I highly doubt the things that led you to believe that were there "the entire time." Tiger became a celebrity unlike golf had ever seen and he was ill prepared for it. I'm pretty sure he was probably a decent guy who got caught up in his own hype. Wouldn't be the first time it's happened and it won't be the last.

[MWM]

Originally Posted by Hoosier Red

I also liked during his victory speech he thanked the members and the volunteers and the clubhouse attendants. He was obviously nervous, but he kept going back to them in the last minute, like he wanted to make sure he thanked them. In the midst of all those nerves I thought that said something.

I especially liked that as well. I am friends with someone who had some personal experience with Bubba as a tournament volunteer and it was not positive (hence my comment about not being his biggest fan). Someone else I know who works for the PGA here in Jax also told me Bubba used to be notorious for treating the tournament volunteers and staff very poorly but that someone took him aside and he's gotten much better about it. So I'm guessing that comment wasn't coincidence and it's great to see.

[Caveat Emperor]

Originally Posted by MWM

Pathetic human being? Come on, CE. That's a bit much, don't you think? And I highly doubt the things that led you to believe that were there "the entire time." Tiger became a celebrity unlike golf had ever seen and he was ill prepared for it. I'm pretty sure he was probably a decent guy who got caught up in his own hype. Wouldn't be the first time it's happened and it won't be the last.

Well when you confine his on-course antics with his treatment of the media, his mildly deplorable womanizing and general entitlement mentality -- yeah, I'd say he's a pretty pathetic dude.

He was a great golfer, but beyond that?

[Redhook]

Originally Posted by Caveat Emperor

Well when you confine his on-course antics with his treatment of the media, his mildly deplorable womanizing and general entitlement mentality -- yeah, I'd say he's a pretty pathetic dude.

It's a pretty harsh statement, but I agree with you.

If you took golf out of Tiger's life, what would he have to offer (besides money)?

[bucksfan2]

Originally Posted by Stray

I never understood the outrage about Tiger casually kicking his club, or dropping a few curse words on the course. I know golf is supposed to be different, a gentleman's game or whatever, but if you put a mic right next to a super competitive athlete in the heat of the moment what do you expect to hear? I wonder what's said in a baseball dugout, basketball huddle, or football sideline.

I wouldn't go as far as to call Tiger a pathetic human being. I know his foundation has changed the lives of many kids for the better. He's obviously not without flaws...but he's also living in a fishbowl. We all have em, everyone just doesn't see and analyze each one of ours.

But yeah, that was a great win for Bubba. After he missed his putt on 18 I thought it was over. Oosty had been playing so consistent tee to green I figured he'd win.

I think a lot of golf fans are growing tired of Tigers antics. I don't think its excuasable either. From an early age you are taught not to act that way on a golf course. I wish his playing partner would have penalized him two strokes for unsportsmanlike conduct. It may have put him back in his place. I didn't see it live but saw a replay of it and just laughed. From someone who was the greatest golfer on the face of the planet to go to kicking a club in disgust on the grandest stage in golf is just sad. Tiger's entire game right now is at a point where I am seriously doubting he ever gets it back.

[SunDeck]

One difference is that golfers are really right there with the fans, separated only by a rope. So in that sense, their conduct has to be a little different than that of a baseball player or a football player because those guys are pretty far removed from most of the people attending a game. Sure, at field level you do hear them in baseball, but there is also a lot of ambient noise around a ballpark and I have never noticed it nearly as much as I might if I were standing ten feet away from a guy in a much quieter atmosphere. You let the f-bomb fly on the tee box in a PGA event and it's going to get picked up by the television broadcast and everyone within 100 feet is going to hear it.
Then there is just the image that PGA is trying to preserve of a game played with dignity and decorum, which if you ask me is worth promoting. As for Tiger, he's probably not any worse than a lot of other golfers through the years, and I can certainly sympathize with a guy who doesn't want cameras clicking in his downswing, but the media has to be somewhat culpable for treating the guy like a holy man for so many years. Rory Sabatini is no worse than Tiger on the course, but he's been somehow viewed as a hothead, while Tiger is given a pass because he's just so intensely focused. Now maybe he'll be given a little less rope.

[Stray]

Originally Posted by bucksfan2

I think a lot of golf fans are growing tired of Tigers antics. I don't think its excuasable either. From an early age you are taught not to act that way on a golf course. I wish his playing partner would have penalized him two strokes for unsportsmanlike conduct. It may have put him back in his place. I didn't see it live but saw a replay of it and just laughed. From someone who was the greatest golfer on the face of the planet to go to kicking a club in disgust on the grandest stage in golf is just sad. Tiger's entire game right now is at a point where I am seriously doubting he ever gets it back.

I don't know, maybe I just didn't grow up country clubs that were nice enough. I've been playing golf since I was 11 years old, and hearing cuss words out on the course isn't anything uncommon for me. I would also think it's safe to say that Earl never taught Tiger that lesson. When he was an amateur in match play he was different than the game...he'd stare down opponents, make big celebrations after putts, and he played with a confidence that pissed everybody off.

I remember around the time he went pro in the late 90s everyone was scared/didn't like him because of how he was different. The people who did like it were the fans because ratings shot through the roof and tournaments were packed. Everyone loved his me against the world mentality, his chip on his shoulder, and especially his fire on the course. I think this is just part of the package... He didn't start cussing on the course in the last few years, he's been doing this ever since he turned pro.

If people are growing tired of it now, I would think they're either growing tired of him not winning at the rate he used to, or they've never liked him to begin with and are seizing this opportunity to be vocal. I guess winning cures a lot of stuff, but I just find it weird that so many people are all of a sudden bothered by what's been going on for like what...17 years now?

[MWM]

Go Rickie!!!!!

[Redhook]

Originally Posted by MWM

Go Rickie!!!!!

Great tournament! It's great for golf that he won. Very impressive. Rory and D.A., my old roommate, played great too.

[MWM]

Originally Posted by Redhook

Great tournament! It's great for golf that he won. Very impressive. Rory and D.A., my old roommate, played great too.

I couldn't be more impressed with DA watching his interview after the playoff. I didn't know much about him before, but I'm a big fan now. He was so positive and genuinely pleasant you can't help but like him.

[MWM]

I like Westwood this week. I know he's a common pick in all the big tournaments, but for some reason I think this is the one he wins. Sawgrass is a ball striker's course and he's the best in the world at it right now.

I've also done a complete 180 on Westwood. He was one of the few golfers I didn't care much for not too long ago. But I've gained tremendous respect for him over the last couple of years more by how he carries himself off the course than on. I think I misunderstood the guy and now have come to appreciate his willingness to speak his mind.

He's also not one of these prima donna athletes who has a finely tuned and well coached public persona so that he can get every last endorsement deal he can get. You don’t see Lee on a lot of commercials. I think he’s just very real. When asked about all his close calls and heartbreaks he never reacts with anything other than appreciation for what he does for a living. He was asked about all his “scars” after the Masters and he quickly said they aren’t scars at all. He then talked about how he gets to travel all over the world and play golf on the greatest courses in the world, etc… And he meant it.

I’ve grown to really like Westwood and would love to see him win this week in my backyard.

[MWM]

posted twice for some reason

[Redhook]

Originally Posted by MWM

I like Westwood this week. I know he's a common pick in all the big tournaments, but for some reason I think this is the one he wins. Sawgrass is a ball striker's course and he's the best in the world at it right now.

I've also done a complete 180 on Westwood. He was one of the few golfers I didn't care much for not too long ago. But I've gained tremendous respect for him over the last couple of years more by how he carries himself off the course than on. I think I misunderstood the guy and now have come to appreciate his willingness to speak his mind.

He's also not one of these prima donna athletes who has a finely tuned and well coached public persona so that he can get every last endorsement deal he can get. You don’t see Lee on a lot of commercials. I think he’s just very real. When asked about all his close calls and heartbreaks he never reacts with anything other than appreciation for what he does for a living. He was asked about all his “scars” after the Masters and he quickly said they aren’t scars at all. He then talked about how he gets to travel all over the world and play golf on the greatest courses in the world, etc… And he meant it.

I’ve grown to really like Westwood and would love to see him win this week in my backyard.

Good post. I like Westwood a lot now too. He's due to win some really big events like this one.