{"id":197,"date":"2004-11-04T21:09:21","date_gmt":"2004-11-05T02:09:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/uncategorized\/once_a_cheater\/"},"modified":"2004-11-04T21:09:21","modified_gmt":"2004-11-05T02:09:21","slug":"once_a_cheater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/b\/swing_thoughts\/once_a_cheater","title":{"rendered":"Once a Cheater…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"cheat_at_golf.jpg\"Go ahead, you can admit it to me. I won’t tell, I promise.<\/p>\n

You’ve used the foot wedge, haven’t you? You’ve taken too many mulligans. Heck, I bet you’ve hit a few into the woods, teed it back up and didn’t take the stroke.<\/p>\n

You are a cheater.<\/p>\n

And what of it, I say? Yes, you’ve cheated. I’ve cheated. I use the foot wedge, and far too liberal winter rules, and take too many mulligans, and countless other rules infractions. Heck, I’m willing to bet that I cheat every single round.<\/em><\/p>\n

I hurt myself and my golf game; I’ve probably deflated my handicap by a couple of strokes (and considering my handicap, that’s pretty sad) and as a result I don’t have a true gauge of my skill. I might’ve even gloated to my father-in-law over a win that I didn’t deserve because he gave me a few strokes too many.<\/p>\n

But, I don’t play in tournaments. I don’t bet on golf. I try to enjoy the game and, if a foot wedge or two helps me enjoy the game, what of it?
\n
\nThe thing is, I’m not a pro. When you hit that level of skill and competition, even the stigma of cheating is a serious matter. Take this quote from an SI article<\/a> while Vijay won the Masters back in 2000:<\/p>\n

\n

\nAcceptance has been an issue for Singh ever since a nebulous 1985 incident in Jakarta in which he was accused of altering his scorecard in order to make the cut at a tournament, an allegation he denies. At the mention of Singh’s name last week one American Ryder Cupper sniffed, “Once a cheater, always a cheater. Golf has a long memory.”\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And, Ernie Els follows up that article with some rather indignant rhetoric<\/a> in defense of Vijay in Sports Illustrated a couple of weeks later:<\/p>\n

\n

\n“Why would someone say that about Vijay as he triumphed in the Masters? Why would SI’s article on the first major of the 21st century not confine itself to Vijay’s magnificent victory? Why instead did the writer dredge up an unsubstantiated allegation about an event that may or may not have occurred 15 years ago?”\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Why, Ernie? Because in the Pros, you’re not supposed to cheat. Dig up Shoeless Joe Jackson<\/a> and the rest of the Black Sox<\/a> and ask them how likely it is they’ll ever make Cooperstown.<\/p>\n

Nearly twenty years ago a 22-year old Vijay Singh was fined by the Southeast Asia Golf Association for modifying his scorecard in a tournament by one stroke so he could make a cut. As this Sports Illustrated article<\/a> points out, the growing tendency in the media is to forgive and forget this incident. “He’s a great golfer,” the thinking goes. “Cut him some slack for a youthful indiscretion and let the man’s brilliance be the standard-bearer for his career.”<\/p>\n

“Once a cheater, always a cheater.”<\/p>\n

Obviously, one ‘Ryder Cupper’ isn’t alone in his failure to accept Vijay for the great golfer he’s become. Go read this post on blogger<\/a>, and you’ll see that even today, Vijay’s past comes back to haunt him.<\/p>\n

“Golf has a long memory.”<\/p>\n

Is that fair? Let’s be honest here; cheater or not, Vijay has had one of the best years in the modern era of golf. If he wins this weekend at the Tour Championship<\/a>, it’ll be his tenth win of the year – double-digit wins and the most wins in a single year since Sam Snead won eleven in 1950.<\/p>\n

Impressive? No, dominant<\/a>. Historic, even.<\/p>\n

So what do we talk about? Tiger<\/a>. Honeymoon-itis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cheating.<\/p>\n

Is it fair to Vijay that we’re bringing back up something that happened when he was 22, struggling to make it as a professional golfer, when he’s fighting to make every cut so he can make it just one more week on the tour? Worst yet, can we say we’d really do any different?<\/p>\n

“Once a cheater, always a cheater.”<\/p>\n

Yup, I’m a cheater. Even when I promise to play it straight, I cheat. It’s not fair to my playing partners, and it’s not fair to me. More importantly, it’s not fair to the game.<\/p>\n

If I never cheated during a round of golf, I’d feel comfortable blasting Vijay for cheating on the Southeast Asia Tour. But I cheat, and I can cut the man a little slack.<\/p>\n

Especially when he’s gunning for history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On cheating, golf’s long memory and glass houses. With a little bit of Tiger-post-honeymoon-watch thrown in, just because you can’t write a golf article without mentioning Tiger …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-swing_thoughts"],"yoast_head":"\nOnce a Cheater... 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