Bubba Gets Mad at his Caddie

[Wisguy]

If I was a tour pro, I'd do a few things that it seems that some pros overlook to avoid stupid mistakes that could cost strokes, DQs and resulting tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars: a) I'd study the Rules harder than a recent accounting graduate studies for the CPA exam and wouldn't be shy or lazy about calling for a ruling. b) On the range I'd count the number of clubs in the bag. Heck, I'd probably count them again while waiting on the first tee. c) I'd have my caddy hand me clubs head first so I could easily verify he gave me the correct club. Just last week I was standing 180 out, got distracted as I reached for my 5-iron, and was astonished to see my shot sail the green by almost 30 yards - I sheepishly realized I grabbed my 4-iron by mistake. Now if it had cost me $50k or more instead of just a couple of extra strokes on a card I threw away promptly after the round, sheepish wouldn't come close to describing how I would have felt at such a silly mistake. ========= Three comments for the anti-PC crowd: a) political correctness does not always equate with out-of-control and excessively unreasonable speech nazis (but I agree when they overstep the line, whereever that line may be, it can be annoying as all hell and ridiculous - e.g. I've seen some obsessive PC types really piss off non-US citizens from the Caribbean and from the African continent by, ironically, stereotyping them and calling them African-Americans); b) silencing prejudice of course won't eliminate it but it goes a long way towards minimizing it; and c) as far as restricting freedom of expression, that depends on what one intends to say, doesn't it? - one really can't say there's a whole lot of free thought going on by thoughtlessly repeating the dogma of intolerance, is there? ================================================ Edit: crap, the last two days it seems that everything I post here looks like I don't have an "Enter" key on my keyboard - I'm not spotting any of the paragraph breaks I put into my posts and I seem to be posting a single mega-paragraph. Is it just my computer or is that how everyone else is seeing my posts, too? (and no comments about how my posts always seem to run on endlessly...)

[dsc123]

Originally Posted by Shorty

Watson didn't yell at his caddie.

That's not the impression I've received from what I've read about it.

Originally Posted by Shorty

This is a golf forum.

Agreed.

Originally Posted by Shorty

The episode was three days ago.

Agreed.

But like I said..

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shorty
Stuff like this happens and luckily for most of us it isn't under a spotlight.

oh, that wasn't me...

[Spyder]

He wasn't out of line, period. You don't blame the horse, you blame the jockey. You don't blame the players, you blame the coach. That's just how it works, period. His caddie, regardless of how "buddy-buddy" they are, knows it too.

You're aiding a million-dollar endorsement and assisting him. If you're a secretary, you don't talk back to the CEO of the company.. you get his coffee and you stay quiet and do your job.

Regardless of who is at fault, Bubba has the need to vent and he's going to do it on the person that is the closest in proximity and most directly involved in his game.

I'm not understanding the dilemma people have here, or the judgement of character. If he grabbed his caddie in a Happy Gilmore style and throttled him, that'd be different. I'm old school though and not too "PC" happy.

[ElWagonne]

Originally Posted by Spyder

I'm not understanding the dilemma people have here, or the judgement of character. If he grabbed his caddie in a Happy Gilmore style and throttled him, that'd be different. I'm old school though and not too "PC" happy.

The thing with Bubba is that he seems to care so much about how his image is portrayed.....then he has episodes where he's acts quite petulant (see last yr. in France for another example).  I'll readily admit that I don't care for him, not b/c he has blow ups but because he purposely tries to create an image that is probably far from what he really is.

[Shorty]

Originally Posted by Shorty

Watson didn't yell at his caddie.

Originally Posted by dsc123

That's not the impression I've received from what I've read about it.

You can see it on Youtube. He didn't yell. He pulled his attractive Steve Elkington move.

Originally Posted by dsc123

Originally Posted by Shorty

Stuff like this happens and luckily for most of us it isn't under a spotlight.

oh, that wasn't me...

And it doesn't relate to my comment on your comment. There were som "buts" after what I wrote.

Please don't accuse my of hypocrisy, especially when quoting me out of context.

[Spyder]

Originally Posted by ElWagonne

The thing with Bubba is that he seems to care so much about how his image is portrayed.....then he has episodes where he's acts quite petulant (see last yr. in France for another example).  I'll readily admit that I don't care for him, not b/c he has blow ups but because he purposely tries to create an image that is probably far from what he really is.

I think that is the case for a lot of public figures though. Actually, I would venture to say the majority of all public figures (political, sports, councils, etc.) to some extent. I also don't know Bubba Watson personally though so I can't assume he's acting any differently in private/public.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by Spyder

He wasn't out of line, period. You don't blame the horse, you blame the jockey. You don't blame the players, you blame the coach. That's just how it works, period. His caddie, regardless of how "buddy-buddy" they are, knows it too.

You're aiding a million-dollar endorsement and assisting him. If you're a secretary, you don't talk back to the CEO of the company.. you get his coffee and you stay quiet and do your job.

Regardless of who is at fault, Bubba has the need to vent and he's going to do it on the person that is the closest in proximity and most directly involved in his game.

I'm not understanding the dilemma people have here, or the judgement of character. If he grabbed his caddie in a Happy Gilmore style and throttled him, that'd be different. I'm old school though and not too "PC" happy.

Couldn't disagree more.  I have no idea how somebody could watch that video and proclaim with certainty that he wasn't out of line when mostly everything points to him being out of line, and I don't even understand the rest of that sentence.  Why can't you blame a player?  And I'm sorry, but a caddie isn't a secretary.  The caddie is more closely analogous to your agent or your stock broker.

And the "PC" cliche is being abused here too.  If somebody is wrong on merit, political correctness has nothing to do with it.  I don't give a crap about politically correctness, and I can recognize how wrong he is.

[newtogolf]

Originally Posted by Spyder

He wasn't out of line, period. You don't blame the horse, you blame the jockey. You don't blame the players, you blame the coach. That's just how it works, period. His caddie, regardless of how "buddy-buddy" they are, knows it too.

You're aiding a million-dollar endorsement and assisting him. If you're a secretary, you don't talk back to the CEO of the company.. you get his coffee and you stay quiet and do your job.

Regardless of who is at fault, Bubba has the need to vent and he's going to do it on the person that is the closest in proximity and most directly involved in his game.

I'm not understanding the dilemma people have here, or the judgement of character. If he grabbed his caddie in a Happy Gilmore style and throttled him, that'd be different. I'm old school though and not too "PC" happy.

Going with your analogy, the secretary shouldn't talk back to the CEO, but the CEO shouldn't be making decisions based on the sole input of the secretary either.    I don't see this being a case of political correctness, it's more of taking ownership of a mistake.  Bubba wanted the 8, his caddie suggested the 9 and Bubba put the 9 in the water.  I know my distances and no one is going to convince me to swing a 9 if I think the 8 is right.

Bubba had a little tantrum, made some snide comments and from our perspective as viewers looked to put the blame on his caddie which imo isn't appropriate.  If after he put the ball in the water he said, "I knew I should have gone with the 8, damn Bubba, learn to trust yourself more"  this wouldn't have even gotten a thread on here.

[Spyder]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

Couldn't disagree more.  I have no idea how somebody could watch that video and proclaim with certainty that he wasn't out of line when mostly everything points to him being out of line, and I don't even understand the rest of that sentence.  Why can't you blame a player?  And I'm sorry, but a caddie isn't a secretary.  The caddie is more closely analogous to your agent or your stock broker.

And the "PC" cliche is being abused here too.  If somebody is wrong on merit, political correctness has nothing to do with it.  I don't give a crap about politically correctness, and I can recognize how wrong he is.

Originally Posted by newtogolf

Going with your analogy, the secretary shouldn't talk back to the CEO, but the CEO shouldn't be making decisions based on the sole input of the secretary either.    I don't see this being a case of political correctness, it's more of taking ownership of a mistake.  Bubba wanted the 8, his caddie suggested the 9 and Bubba put the 9 in the water.  I know my distances and no one is going to convince me to swing a 9 if I think the 8 is right.

Bubba had a little tantrum, made some snide comments and from our perspective as viewers looked to put the blame on his caddie which imo isn't appropriate.  If after he put the ball in the water he said, "I knew I should have gone with the 8, damn Bubba, learn to trust yourself more"  this wouldn't have even gotten a thread on here.

I'm not saying that it's the right thing to do, but it is how the world works. Players are rarely ever blamed for short comings and mistakes. If the Heat lost the series to the Spurs, you think the big 3 would be dismantled? More than likely, Spoelstra would be interviewing.

I did not say that a caddie is literally a jock holder either. He is the closest in proximity to the game that Bubba is playing though as he is directly involved in it. Whether Bubba deflects blame to make himself feel better to get over what happened is his choice to make, not mine to judge or make a determination on.

I am neither Bubba or his caddie though, as you are not either, so I don't know the thought or intention behind it. I can only speculate like everyone else and offer my opinion.

EDIT: Additionally, in the heat of the moment, mistakes are made in everyone's lives. This was very mild . Again, should he have said "Excuse me, Teddie. I believe you misguided me with your advice and as a result, my shot dispersed in an unfavorable way which resulted in a penalty. Please make sure that you take better care in assessing my distance in the future. Good day, sir!"

Come on, all of you at some point have blown up at something and just said F it and went all in on some type of childish banter or tantrum. If any of you claim you have not, you're not being truthful or real. S happens and it happened to Bubba and he reacted. Don't over analyze this.

My god, I am glad Tiger wasn't mic'd and in Bubba's place. This would be critiqued and dissected for weeks on end and press conferences would be held.

[lasabre]

You hear "We apologize for that language folks" from the commentator at every tourney, so I ain't thinking to deep into it

[BallStriker]

Quite a bit of over-reaction going on I think.........Bubba probably regrets this happening, but it certainly isn't the worst think I have ever seen. The bottom line is that this is a hugely pressure-packed enviornment and you can't expect emotions not to flare once in a while...it certainly happens in every other sport, why is golf so different that it is such a big deal here? I guess nobody on this board has ever been chewed out by a boss? It's not the end of the world....

[Shorty]

Originally Posted by BallStriker

Quite a bit of over-reaction going on I think.........Bubba probably regrets this happening, but it certainly isn't the worst think I have ever seen. The bottom line is that this is a hugely pressure-packed enviornment and you can't expect emotions not to flare once in a while...it certainly happens in every other sport, why is golf so different that it is such a big deal here? I guess nobody on this board has ever been chewed out by a boss? It's not the end of the world....

The point is that Watson is a phoney. Not that he had a reaction to something.

If he was genuine, he' dsay it was all just a part of "Bubba Golf" and then start crying because he remembered he had adopted a child.

[BallStriker]

I highly doubt you know Bubba from Adam, so I really am hard pressed to take your opinion regarding whether he is genuine or not......of course, that doesn't stop you from having an opinion (albeit, very uneducated). My very uneducated opinion is that Bubba is genuine....the tears are genuine....the anger/outbursts are genuine....he isn't perfect, but I understand that about 75% of the posters on this forum are.......so expectations may be a big high.

[Zachari208]

Non-Story, but as for whoever said he hit a poor shot, your clearly blind and didn't watch the broadcast. Even Ferity said he hit a great shot. Bad advice from his caddy and both are responsible for it. Moving on.

[Shorty]

Originally Posted by BallStriker

I highly doubt you know Bubba from Adam, so I really am hard pressed to take your opinion regarding whether he is genuine or not......of course, that doesn't stop you from having an opinion (albeit, very uneducated).My very uneducated opinion is that Bubba is genuine....the tears are genuine....the anger/outbursts are genuine....he isn't perfect, but I understand that about 75% of the posters on this forum are.......so expectations may be a big high.

Watson has an appalling record and I think that in a golfing forum he should be open to criticism in additon to being fawned over because Oakley built a hovercraft with a massive logo on it and plonked him in it.

The tears are genuine, no doubt, the anger /outbursts are genuine, no doubt. That should be the end of it, but it isn't. He's not supposed to be perfect, and who here claims to be? But when your actions contradict your stated beliefs and attitudes, be they of a religious nature, or are simply disrespectful of other golfers, caddies, "veteran players", homosexuals, foreign countries and their inhabitants or anyone else you are fair game.

Especially when you are banking millions on an image that is a human construct and not based on what we see.

Next to Zach Johnson, he is the most sullen and miserable wretch on tour.

[mtsalmela80]

its almost comical how every golfer save for tiger gets chomped up and spit out on this forum

[Shorty]

Originally Posted by mtsalmela80

its almost comical how every golfer save for tiger gets chomped up and spit out on this forum

Tiger gets his fair share, but the thing about Tiger is that he has never done anything that draws criticism.

He is:

• a great player, family man and role model.
• an open and forthcoming interviewee.

He:

• never displays temper or blames his caddie.
• is a loyal friend to all who he knew in his youth
• is respectful of his playing partners.
• has never been accused of commercial cynicism, even when he did that Nike ad with his dead father in it.
• is all class.
• has never knowingly taken advantage of the rules, even when boulders the size of VWs and clubhouse rooves are concerned.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by mtsalmela80

its almost comical how every golfer save for tiger gets chomped up and spit out on this forum

And you have a really, really odd way of viewing the world. Whatever color those glasses of yours are, I hope you take them off when you're talking about things that actually matter.