Tiger Woods toyed with the field and Firestone Country Club looked like a U.S. Open venue with added length and ankle-deep rough. What is the aversion of tournament officials to birdie and eagle opportunities?
And it was a historic occasion as Lorena Ochoa won her first major at the Ricoh Women’s British Open at the Old Course at St. Andrews for the first time ever. Congratulations are also in order for Steve Flesch, who won the Reno-Tahoe Open by five shots.
This week we have a recap of the World Golf Championship-Bridgestone Invitational, Lorena Ochoa closes the deal with her first major, and Herbert Green relives the pressure of trying to win under a death threat.
Hole 1: Woods Wins
Tiger Woods destroyed the field and finished as the only golfer in red figures at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Hey Rory, still like the new Tiger? [Link]
Hole 2: Historic Victory
Congratulations to Lorena Ochoa who won her first major at the Ricoh Women’s British Open. [Link]
Hole 3: Hurry Up Already!
Alistar Tait takes the LPGA players to task for taking almost six hours to play a around at St. Andrews. [Link]
Hole 4: Bad List
Gary Van Sickle puts together a list of the best fellas who have never won a major. [Link]
Hole 5: Bumpy Road Ahead
Rex Hoggard explores the trials that lay ahead for the teenagers who think they can make it on the PGA Tour. [Link]
Hole 6: Pressure Cooker
Hubert Green won the 1977 U.S. Open at Southern Hills with the added pressure of a death threat hanging over his head. [Link]
Hole 7: Small Market World
The small-market venues have to be creative in order stay alive. [Link]
Hole 8: Cheese With Your Whine?
Is the ninth at Firestone “unfair” or rubbish?” Depends on who you ask. [Link]
Hole 9: Crying in the Rain
I appreciate the fact that Rory Sabbatini is honest and speaks his mind but this is bit much. [Link]
It looks like Sabbatini will make the international team this year at the Presidents Cup. Do you think Tiger will want to play him on Sunday instead of Els?
How is it that a fan can be removed from the course for commenting to a player? Do the tickets for a PGA event stipulate that fans may not talk to players?? Assuming, the fan said what he said and not something that suggested physical harm to RS, then removal for a comment (pro or con) is pure craziness and the PGA should issue an apology to the fan, refund 500 percent of his money, and fine RS.
RS, get a grip. You are paid to play golf for the purpose of entertaining fans. Entertaining fans is the only reason there is money involved in your profession. If a fan wants to call you great or an ass, smile and move on. Sadly, it is too often that pro athletes lose sight of the fact that they are entertainers paid only because of a presumption that they entertain fans – ultimately it’s the fans that are your boss RS.
Golden:
I don’t know the specifics of what happened, and you are right that it’s about entertainment, and the players should understand that.
But I don’t agree that fans have a right to say whatever they want to a player. Being rude or discourteous is wrong, whether it’s at a golf tournament or in the living room, and it isn’t fair to the players or the other fans in attendance to let an unruly fan say anything they want.
As I said, I don’t know what the fan said, and I don’t necessarily think that any negative comment is grounds for expulsion from the events. But enforcing a sense of decorum is absolutely appropriate.
Golf is supposed to be a game where players conduct themselves honorably and with courtesy towards their opponents, and we should expect the same from spectators.
It’s been well publicized. He said “Hey Rory, still think Tiger’s beatable?” More here.
This is from a friend of mine who attended Sunday’s final round:
I watched Tiger on 6 holes and the crowd was rude. I was almost embarrassed at how they treated Rory Sabbatini. On the front side someone yelled in the middle of his swing. He was under constant abuse. I’m a Tiger fan but this is uncalled for. I actually had to tell a guy to shut up because he was being so, I don’t even know how describe how inappropriate his behavior was. I know of at least one man being removed. Very disappointing behavior.
I guess what gets me is that (supposedly) one player had unilateral authority to have a fan removed. It would seem it is an official’s responsibility to manage fan behavior. And does anyone know what a PGA ticket says about fan interaction?
Golden–good point. I heard something about this incident on the radio this morning, and they were saying that all the fan said was “Hey Rory, do you think Tiger’s beatable now?”
If that’s the case, and the fan was thrown out for this, I’d agree it was too harsh. But I don’t have any tolerance for throwing someone out for obnoxious heckling, profanity, etc.
You raise a good point–what is the tour policy on fan behavior?
Thanks for your interest in the article.
Duh–I just read Erik’s post…I guess the fan was a bit over the top after all. Anyway, I would be interested in the answer to Golden’s question on the official tour policy on fan behavior.
Major league baseball had a big problem with drunkeness of fans in the mid/late 1980s, and they cleaned the situation up pronto with better enforcement, no selling of beer after the 6th inning or whatever it is, etc.
I don’t think golf has a huge problem, but there are definitely times when it seems the crowd gets too rowdy, and no player deserves to be abused.
I’m not a Rory fan, but if the crowd was riding him all day I can (relunctantly) understand how he’d want to strike back at the one person he could identify. From all I’ve read about the incident, it still doesn’t sound like the retired firefighter who made the comment deserved to be kicked out, but at least Erik’s comments expain it a little.
I do think that the PGATour, and the golf fans themselves, should take care of these situations, not the player. The Tour needs to be the experts on “appropriate” and “inappropriate” behavior. It’s a lot to ask for the volunteer marshals to handle, however good intentioned they are; and the local authorities don’t have much experience with golf tournaments (the crowd should be held to a higher standard than you’d expect at, say, a football game). A hostile crowd can definitely take any player out of a tournament. Maybe the Tour needs a “crowd control” expert on each hole or at least with each of the final groups.
The Tour needs to make sure that competitions remain fair. Golf fans should want to see the players compete, not one guy win because a bunch of folks were coughing in the other guy’s backswing.
However, it’s not at all the first time that fans have inserted themselves into a competion. Arnies’ Army used to ride Nicklaus, and Tiger has had to deal with more than his fair share of distractions during competitions his entire career. Rory probably needs a little thicker skin, as well.
I think you must have misread my post and the comments my friend made. He made no specific comments about the fan that was removed for his prodding of Rory on Tiger’s “beatable-ness” – he just said the crowd as a whole wasn’t as courteous as they should have been. I’ve heard nothing that contradicts the story: that the fireman made but one comment. So no, I don’t think that fan was “over the top” at all.
I don’t think volunteers can be expected to function effectively as police in these situations. Not trained for it, not experienced, and honestly not really up to maintaining consistent behavior standards.
A specific heckler may only have said one thing, but if it comes wrapped in the middle of general rude and inappropriate crowd comments, not hard to see how the victim isn’t going to be able to isolate that one comment from the general wave of abuse. He’s trying to think about golf, not differentiate among hecklers. If he’s doing the latter he’s lost the battle.
Standing alone, that one comment should not have resulted in a fan’s dismissal – but sounds like it wasn’t standing alone.
Sabbatini can’t be faulted for speaking his mind, or for expressing confidence in himself. He just needs to learn not to needlessly spit in the eye of the Tiger. That falls under “sound strategy” category just as much as avoiding reckless shot selection.