Justin Thomas Curses and in 2021 Uses Homophobic Slurs

[Greg 504]

Does not bother me at all. I enjoy seeing and hearing the true emotion from the pros as my reaction to poor shots is quite similar. After all, they're just like us, right? They just play much better golf, have a lot of money, hot women, fast cars. @$&% they're not just like us at all........

[iacas]

I'm on record (forever) as liking Tiger showing emotion, and I'm on record now as not caring about and slightly liking this, too.

[boogielicious]

1 hour ago, Bonvivant said:

Look at all other sports. They cuss like crazy. The difference right now is the crowds aren't there so you hear a lot more, particularly just after impact where most of the crowd noise comes. His job is to play golf, not be a saint, IMO

He does have two Saints names for a name though!

[Slim_Pivot]

1 hour ago, Bonvivant said:

His job is to play golf, not be a saint, IMO

He also has sponsors. He is paid to represent their product.

Since his pay is not 100% based off of his golf scores, I would argue he has at least 2 jobs- Golfer and Brand Representative.

My only thought is that reporters are writing articles telling him to cut it out and I bet he tones it down a lot.

My comment “it doesn’t happen again” was taken in its most literal form. 

Im going with, tones down using the f word into hot mic’s. I will quantify by saying less than 3 times the rest of the year. 

Again, I don’t care that he says it. I just think he will not do it as much in the future due to the heat he is catching from sports writers

[DeadMan]

I don't f***ing care about this at all.

[JGus]

Voted No, to me it's a ridiculous argument with stuff like this.

[ShawnSum]

2 hours ago, Slim_Pivot said:

Its his job, and it’s not a good look. He’s a good dude, and he’s getting some flack for it. I bet it doesn’t happen again.

JT is way too competitive for it to not happen again. Not a problem for me at all.

[StuM]

I voted "YES" and want to offer some commentary on my opinion.  We all have moments of frustration and some use expletives while others do not.  I think the issue needs to be taken into context and frequency.  I disliked when Keegon Bradly was constantly shown spitting on the course however he was made aware of it, he apologized and I no longer see that occurring.  A player that lets out an infrequent curse word is one thing but if it is happening every tournament they need to learn control and show professionalism.  "Slim_Pivot" commented that he may get frustrated at work but does not curse in meetings or with patients.  He has taken his professionalism seriously and has control over himself, we should expect no less from professional athletes.

We are hoping to grow the game of golf which ideally will bring more young children into the game and I am sure many parents do not want their youngsters hearing this from those that should be role models.  I understand the kids are hearing it from many sources early in life but for professional athletes that are looked up to as roll models we need to expect more.

NOTE: I also hate watching baseball players spit on camera so I am not applying a double standard.

[Bonvivant]

6 minutes ago, StuM said:

we should expect no less from professional athletes.

I take it you don't watch any other sports than golf.

12 minutes ago, StuM said:

I also hate watching baseball players spit on camera so I am not applying a double standard.

I guess I was wrong. Ball players curse all the time. You don't have a problem with it because you normally can't hear it. If they take all of the crowd away and put mics all over the field, you would hear far more cursing there than at any PGA event.

It's the heat of battle, emotions are running high, and there is loads of money on the line. Words are going to slip....frequently. I have heard many other players use the F bomb in the last 6 weeks. JT probably has been caught the most, but he is also always on screen because of how good of a golfer he is.

[Zippo]

I think it's a problem. Yeah, I'm in the minority. But here are some reasons why:

1. Golf is a game of control. Control the club face, backswing, downswing, etc. Cursing shows a lack of control.

2. Young people are watching the players and emulating them. Yes, many young people (unfortunately) are all too familiar with the terms and their meanings but I see no need to encourage that behavior by televising adults behaving like children.

3. Even the broadcast announcers apologize for the language used by the players.

4. I don't see those words posted here - instead I see euphemisms - f**k, etc. Do we all know what they mean? Yes. But there must be a difference or we'd be writing the words themselves.

5. To my mind being a professional means acting like a professional and not like some street gang punk. This includes slamming your club into the turf or throwing your club at your bag and caddy.

]6. It's a game. It's not life and death. No one is shooting at them. They don't have to go squat in a field under a burning sun and pick tomatoes or something for 14 hours a day.

7. If they need relief from the tension of a missed shot maybe the should try deep breathing or stretching. It must be possible to make a bad shot without cursing and throwing things or the announcers would be apologizing steadily.

[StuM]

2 minutes ago, Bonvivant said:

I take it you don't watch any other sports than golf.

I guess I was wrong. Ball players curse all the time. You don't have a problem with it because you normally can't hear it. If they take all of the crowd away and put mics all over the field, you would hear far more cursing there than at any PGA event.

It's the heat of battle, emotions are running high, and there is loads of money on the line. Words are going to slip....frequently. I have heard many other players use the F bomb in the last 6 weeks. JT probably has been caught the most, but he is also always on screen because of how good of a golfer he is.

It is not that I do not mind it in other sports, I just think that we need to stop accepting the lowest standard and saying if they do it why not us.  How about golfers set the standard that others should aspire to?

Golf is already the only sport I am aware of where players penalize themselves.  We need to be respectful of others on the course, or in the audience.  Have you ever seen a family out with their young children with a group of drunks swearing at the top of their lungs in front of them?  I realize many do not care, but many do care and we need to be respectful of others' preferences.  It should not always be about "ME".    

[StuM]

3 hours ago, ChetlovesMer said:

I like this idea.

I like the intent but just imagine they start competing to see who can claim they donated the most to charity...we may never hear anything except the F-bomb.

[saevel25]

32 minutes ago, Zippo said:

1. Golf is a game of control. Control the club face, backswing, downswing, etc. Cursing shows a lack of control.

Maybe in your mind, but maybe not in Justin's mind. His mind is not yours. 

32 minutes ago, Zippo said:

2. Young people are watching the players and emulating them. Yes, many young people (unfortunately) are all too familiar with the terms and their meanings but I see no need to encourage that behavior by televising adults behaving like children.

I learned how to curse from adults. So, I would say i was behaving like an adult. 

33 minutes ago, Zippo said:

3. Even the broadcast announcers apologize for the language used by the players.

They didn't have to, but I am sure they were trained to do so. Just because they did doesn't mean Justin was out of line. 

34 minutes ago, Zippo said:

5. To my mind being a professional means acting like a professional and not like some street gang punk. This includes slamming your club into the turf or throwing your club at your bag and caddy.

So you want robots with no personality on the course? Honestly, I never got the opinion you are presenting here. Also, there are plenty of professions that are way more meaningful than street gang punk and cursing is all over the place. Please don't generalize. 

36 minutes ago, Zippo said:

6. It's a game. It's not life and death. No one is shooting at them. They don't have to go squat in a field under a burning sun and pick tomatoes or something for 14 hours a day.

For some athletes it is life and death. Read Andre Agassi's book. He had nothing but Tennis. Not saying it is prevalent, but i am sure that there are people who would struggle greatly to make a living if they were not playing a sport. It happens all the time in the NFL. 

37 minutes ago, Zippo said:

7. If they need relief from the tension of a missed shot maybe the should try deep breathing or stretching. It must be possible to make a bad shot without cursing and throwing things or the announcers would be apologizing steadily.

How often does Justin actually curse? Is it after every bad shot? If it's two to three times a round, so what? 

I bet you want everyone to sound like Matt Kuchar, "Oh dangit Matty!" It's fine for him, but it would super annoying if every golfer sounded like Kuchar. 

Again, it's not Justin's fault the announcers feel like like they need to apologize. The announcers have their standards (not necessarily correct) versus Justin. Maybe they need lighten up? 

[phillyk]

I think society needs to move past "curse" words. They are words that most of the time are used to emphasize emotion. Why is showing emotion unprofessional?

We always say you aren't good enough to be mad. But the ones who are good enough can't be mad and show it? 

[mclaren4life]

I voted no. I have no issue with the language. I use bad language a lot. I always type the words if those are the ones I choose to use. I never use *** in the middle. Please don’t compare sports to normal jobs. They are a totally different thing. I hate when people do that especially when it comes to salaries/money. People give bad language way more power than it deserves. They are just words. 

[StuM]

10 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

How often does Justin actually curse? Is it after every bad shot? If it's two to three times a round, so what? 

I am not saying we should expect perfection or for everyone to sound like they came out of the "Good old days".  My initial post included "we need to consider context and frequency."  I'm not sure how often Justin curses and that is not relevant to my opinion. My opinion is on overall usage and if it becomes "Routine".  Many a golfer, at any level, will occasionally curse (myself included).  The the issue I have is if it become normal for them and at what point does it begin to hurt the ability to grow the game.  One dropped F-bomb on occasion I have no problem with, but if it is happening frequently then I have the issue. 

I realize that is a fine line and hard to define but all I am saying is they should try not to make it a habit, try to understand it may offend some people and try not to be the guy known for dropping the F-bomb.

[mclaren4life]

For the folks that say it can hurt the ability to grow the game, why do you think that would happen? Honestly i don’t see it hurting the growth. There are other things that I think hurt it more. 

[Vinsk]

1 hour ago, Zippo said:

but I see no need to encourage that behavior by televising adults behaving like children.

As you said the kids are aware. And boy are they! Let’s be realistic here...there are some pretty bad to horrible things kids are exposed to with social media. Hearing a golfer yell a curse word every once in awhile is hardly anything. It’s not encouraging anything. It has so little effect compared to what’s out there that they’re exposed to every single day.