As the world’s best golfers tee off at Pinehurst No. 2 this morning, I’m still chuckling about a wayward shot world No. 2 Vijay Singh fired off in the media tent yesterday. Vijay obviously doesn’t practice humility or common sense as much as he does his golf game.
So Vijay rolls into the media tent. No one ever expects him to have much of interest to say, and he obliges with all the boilerplate comments about the great shape Pinehurst No. 2 is in, etc.
But then Fiji’s gift to golf decided to take a few shots at the USGA. Granted, this is a hobby I myself enjoy immensely. The blue blazers need to be brushed off the plate every now and then.
But in sniping at the USGA, Vijay indirectly showed his snide side toward the rest of us, the common golfers. Also known as the people who spend all the money that makes it possible for him to play the game for a living. Here’s what he said:
I just want to know if they [the USGA officials that set up the golf course] ever go out and play the golf course on Sunday to find out how difficult it is, None of the guys are ever going to break 100, if they try, if they set it up like they did at the U.S. Open last year. I don’t think anybody enjoyed playing out there, except obviously Retief (Goosen, last year’s champ) and Phil (Mickelson, runner-up a year ago).
First off, the USGA has many shortcomings, but a lack of actual good golfers on staff isn’t one of them. Do you think the USGA would hire or promote to a high office someone who didn’t know how to hit a low cut with a 2-iron?
Second, players complain about playing conditions. This is a fact in all sports. But pro golfers in general complain non-stop. If you put our guy Veej in charge of course setup at an event, you’d get fairways as wide and flat as driving ranges. That’d be as boring as Vijay himself.
And third, Singh’s comment telegraphs the fact that he considers anyone not playing at the tour level to not have the aptitude to understand or appreciate the game. Oh, you have to play a hard course, Vijay? Let me grab a tissue to dab my eyes. These tears of sadness just won’t dry on their own.
I have a feeling if anyone associated with the USGA had a chance to play Pinehurst No. 2 on Sunday, with the brutal Open setup and the chance of embarrassment in front of a large gallery, they would all to a person say, “What’s my tee time.” Because they, like you and me, love the game of golf and love to play it under a variety of conditions. I bet they’d have fun out there, and at the end say, “Wow, that kicked my butt.”
I had the chance to play Oakland Hills the day after the Ryder Cup Matches last September. Myself and some other media types played from the same tees and had the same hole locations that were used for the previous day’s singles matches. My previous three rounds had been 84-76-81. I shot a 102, and that was with some good putting. But you know what? I had fun. I experienced a tough course at full strength, from more than 7,100 yards. I wouldn’t want to do it every day, but what a blast!
Yes Vijay, you play a different game than we do. But I wouldn’t complain about your plight. You know what? I’d love to have a tee time this Sunday at Pinehurst, with a good caddy and immaculate course conditions. When I hit a good shot, people would even applaud me. Not only would I be playing for free, I would even get money after my round. Pretty nice arrangement.
My problem with Vijay Singh is that he is just as removed from the reality of what the average person experiences in playing the game of golf as the USGA bluebloods he’s sniping at. Don’t complain about how hard you have it, Vijay. Get back to doing the two things you do best: hitting golf balls and keeping your mouth shut. Of course, what do I know? I’m just a guy who actually pays to play golf on Sundays.
Well, I don’t have as much sympathy for the guys that played Shinnecock last year. With the exception of the ridiculous par-3 7th, the course was playable. And you can’t tell me it wasn’t when the winner ends up at -4 and Phil was -2 I believe. At least it wasn’t +7 like at the 99 British at Carnoustie.
I did hear those comments though last night on the Golf Channel, and I just laughed. Vijay don’t talk much like you mentioned, but when he does, it’s usually something rude. :/
I realy like your blog, and especially this post. I have linked to it on my weblog at http://strangethingsafoot.com/?p=234
Keep up the good work.
I’m sure I’m the only one who thinks this, but I like when Vijay speaks up, regardless of if he’s thought it through or if it’s offensive. At least he expresses an opinion, unlike a couple other top players (tiger and phil).
Josh: Agreed, Phil and Tiger come off like politicians. It is great that Vijay is honest about how he feels and lets us hear his thoughts candidly sometimes. But I’m not a fan of what he actually says. I think he has more contempt for his fellow competitors and the world of golf than any other tour player I’ve ever been around. A huge chip on his shoulder, and a genuinely self-absorbed, insufferable person.
But, as Dennis Miller used to say back when he was funny, that’s just my opinion, I could be wrong.
Just passing along that I put together a pretty comprehensive list of golf blogs including yours at http://www.golfSLO.com.
Your blog is the one I follow most regularly. As you can see from my website, I liked your background border. I had my site completed, then after seeing your site’s design, added a darker blue top border for contrast ;).
Also, make sure to check out the U.S. Open’s Blog this weekend at http://www.usopen.com/blog/.
GREAT post. Vijay and his ilk will always have his defenders (just like Rory Sabbatini has his defenders against Ben Crane), and it’s interesting…those golf fans who claim to hate mainstream sports like football often cite the whiny, spoiled millionaire players as what prevents them being fans…and then GET behind whiny, spoiled millionaire golfers like Rory and Vijay…I think it has more to do with a contempt, subconcious or not, they have with the origin subset (read: poor and black) of the whiny football and basketball players than with the whininess or spoiledness by itself.
Don- i agree completely with you. i think my only complaint about the tour is the lack of personalities, and vijay offers a personality – just one of an asshole. 🙂
What a bunch of baloney.
I found it refreshing that Vijay expressed an opinion. And you seemed to read something completely out of context – I didn’t see anything there that wasn’t expressed by everybody – the course was just ridiculously difficult last year. Vijay wasn’t bashing the average fan at all, he was simply expressing his frustration at the USGA officials.
And of all the people in the world who gets that they are rich, spoilt and have it real good, Vijay is probably the most clued-in PGA professional. He’s described how good they have it and how much they whine frequently – read this article for some insight into his thinking:
http://www.golfdigest.com/features/index.ssf?/features/vijay_un_e4yupckc.html
If you don’t like someone, it’s easy to see everything they do in a negative light, and everything they say can be interpreted in the worst possible way. Yeah, if this had been Mickelson with his Colgate smile, it wouldn’t have ticked off anyone, and everybody would have been nodding their heads in agreement.
You probably have to walk a mile in his black, foreign shoes to understand where’s he coming from. It wasn’t that long ago that the USGA wanted to play the PGA at a club that wouldn’t even admit blacks. What did they let them do?
Yeah, admit a token black. Nice.
Vijay talks about Annika not deserving an exception to play? He gets accused of sexism. Just how many players, fans, corporate sponsors, media reps have proposed a boycott of the Masters because Augusta doesn’t allow women to play? Who’s the real sexist? The sheer hypocrisy…
You see Vijay being self-absorbed and selfish? I see everyone else being sick, racist, sexist, and utterly hypocritical. I see an ugly undertow to all of this carping about Vijay. I see a hard man who came up through hard times, telling it like it is and wanting to improve things. He cares about the game more than you ever will.
Tiger pounded a green in frustration, what an official called a breach of etiquette. If that had been Vijay, he would have been crucified. As it is, he still is. Thank you, ugly America…
I gotta agree with ‘golfnut’ on this one. There is a strong sense that Vijay is held up to a different standard that the “mainstream” PGA Tour pros and his comments – off-the-cuff mostly – are often misinterpreted, unduly scrutinized and criticized.
I don’t think that Vijay’s comments imply that he feels the USGA official aren’t good golfers. He’s simply implying that they aren’t PGA Tour caliber golfers, which, by definition, they aren’t. If Goosen and other top players shoot in the 80’s on Sunday at Pinehurst, in all likelyhood these “good players” from the USGA would probably shoot in the 90’s or over 100. On many levels Vijay is right, the course is too penalizing in places which in turn leads to a greater likelihood that luck will have some part to play in the final outcome. There are several places in the course where a few inches can mean the difference between a birdie or a bogey+. If one of the USGA “scratch golfer” guys took six or seven shots to get up-n-down from just off the green maybe they’d reconsider how that green was set up. Maybe.
Bottom line – Vijay’s comments have nothing to do whether he appreciates the fame and fortune he has derived from becoming one of the best players in this world. Enjoyment from your work (yes, work) is derived from being able to perform to the best of your own ability and be recognized for that. This is true whether you’re a golfer, computer programmer or accountant. This has nothing to do with Vijay enjoying a game of golf in his spare time.
Just a thought.
So what if Vijay is torqued about the difficulty of the course? So what if Goosen shot in the 80s? Not everyone found it as difficult as these guys did (see Campbell, Woods, Love III on Sunday). Winning on the PGA Tour is based on the scores of your fellow competitors, not strictly on how many under par you are. I’m sure Vijay’s pride gets a little bruised after posting a 74, but if everyone else is shooting in the 80s then the checks will continue to roll in anyway.