Who Is Your "Golf Villain"? And Why?

[DeadMan]

I really want Kuchar to go full heel, but he just won't do it. I'm guessing his nice-guy persona makes him too much money off the course, but he's so much more interesting to me as a killer, semi-villain.

[Bballref]

Can't stand Aphibarnrat, probably because like me, he looks so non-athletic but can play whereas I can't. Don't like the slow players, especially Ben Crane. Followed a group behind him one day, and he takes forever. Can't remember what year it was when Sabattini, on a TV broadcast, got tired of waiting and drilled one over his head from behind. I always liked Sabattini after that. 

A special dislike for the players who shoot a bad round opening day and then withdraw from the tournament, some with excuses. And then, there they are again next week. 

[SPJr]

On 3/29/2019 at 10:54 AM, RichWW2 said:

I've never liked Phil Mickelson..... he's always seemed so shallow and disingenuous when he's on camera.

I agree that Phil seems odd on camera. I don't know if I would say "disingenuous", but maybe that's it. I can't really figure him out.

I don't really mind him, however.

[phan52]

I have always believed that Kuchar is a phony and he has been reinforcing that belief in recent months. The situation the other day with Sergio is a case-in-point. The way I see it, Sergio is an a-hole, something that is unavoidable because he cannot help himself. But Kuchar is a JO which, IMO, is willful. All he had to do was tell the official he gave Sergio the putt, end of story. But, no . . . 

[SPJr]

21 minutes ago, phan52 said:

I have always believed that Kuchar is a phony and he has been reinforcing that belief in recent months. The situation the other day with Sergio is a case-in-point. The way I see it, Sergio is an a-hole, something that is unavoidable because he cannot help himself. But Kuchar is a JO which, IMO, is willful. All he had to do was tell the official he gave Sergio the putt, end of story. But, no . . . 

But... But.... He didn't concede the putt. So why should he lie?

Anyway, this debate should probably be had in the tournament's forum. So I'll let it go.

I'm starting to see a lot of "ill-will" directed at Kuchar. Makes me want to support him. Alas, I am a Koooooch fan now!

Edited April 1, 2019 by SPJr

[iacas]

40 minutes ago, phan52 said:

I have always believed that Kuchar is a phony and he has been reinforcing that belief in recent months. The situation the other day with Sergio is a case-in-point. The way I see it, Sergio is an a-hole, something that is unavoidable because he cannot help himself. But Kuchar is a JO which, IMO, is willful. All he had to do was tell the official he gave Sergio the putt, end of story. But, no . . . 

Oh brother.

No, he shouldn’t have lied to save Sergio from himself.

[Archie Bunker]

I think a lot of the "villains" today are made through all the available social media and general media exposure. There were plenty of "villains" from years ago that had it much easier. When he wasn't on camera, Lee Trevino could really make you hate him. Same goes with other guys, including Fred Couples, Tommy Bolt and Ben Hogan. Hogan was seen as pretty cold, aloof and mean. If he were playing today, he would probably be golf villain #1.

[krupa]

1 hour ago, phan52 said:

All he had to do was tell the official he gave Sergio the putt, end of story. But, no . . . 

he told the truth instead.  That bastard.

[Vinsk]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

Oh brother.

No, he shouldn’t have lied to save Sergio from himself.

This. To all those who think Sergio has even the slightest point. Had something beyond Sergio’s control happened ( a fan threw a beer can at him while putting i.e.) then Matt could be cool and just give the putt. But Sergio who plays with emotion rather than passion let it get the better of him once again. 

He could’ve saved face at the post round talk but instead doubled down by saying, ‘ Matt said he didn’t want to win the hole like that so I said we’ll concede the next hole..there are options but he didn’t want to take any of them.’

Are you f****** serious? I thought Sergio was making a turn with his attitude/professionalism...he’s back in the dumpster of ‘won’t root for’ with me. What a douche.

[iggywriter]

I've honestly never been a fan of Rickie Fowler for whatever reason. He just rubs me the wrong way. Kuchar is probably the guy I'm loathing right now, with all the drama this season. 

[ChetlovesMer]

On 3/31/2019 at 9:26 PM, RickK said:

Not sure villain is the word but I cannot/will not root for Zach Johnson.  Have never liked the guy.  

Quick Zach Johnson story for you. 

So, way back in the 2000's I was living in Central Iowa. As you may know Zach Johnson was born in Iowa City, and went to school at Drake University (Des Moines). Sometime in 2006, maybe even 2005 the course at which I was a member booked Zach Johnson to come in for a demo-day guest speaker. They booked him for the summer of 2007. Anyway, even though I was a member at the course and lived really close to Des Moines I had no idea who Zach Johnson was.

Of course, Zach went on to win the 2007 Masters in April. Now suddenly he's famous; talk shows; radio interviews; etc... We all assumed that he'd back out of his obligation to come out to our course. I mean he literally had nothing to gain by flying to central Iowa and back. But we were wrong. He showed up early, stayed late, had time for everyone's questions, he chatted with me and all my golf buddies. Seemed like a really good dude.

The one thing I remember him saying was that he won the masters without ever trying to reach the green on a par 5 in two. He hit his wedges brilliantly all week. He said somebody winning The Masters that way will probably never happen again. He was quick to point out that's not because he's so much better than everyone else with his wedges, but instead it won't happen again, because everyone else's long game is getting so good that under "normal" conditions they can fly into the green in 2 as well or better than he can in 3. It was kind of interesting because he said don't copy his style of play, because his style will be disappearing in the coming years. He basically said for him to win a major the conditions have to be just right, which means terrible. The more terrible the better; it brings the field back to him.  

Anyway, he seemed like a really good dude. Down to Earth, didn't come off as self-important or anything like that. If you remember, (why would you?) he came up through the Hooters tour. Which is gone now, so he'll probably be the last one to do that as well. 

So, there's my Zach Johnson story for you. He may be a total jerk in "real life", but I met him briefly right after his Masters win and he seemed pretty cool to me. 

……………… Although, he does wear a white belt a little too often for my taste...………………….

[boogielicious]

15 hours ago, Archie Bunker said:

I think a lot of the "villains" today are made through all the available social media and general media exposure. There were plenty of "villains" from years ago that had it much easier. When he wasn't on camera, Lee Trevino could really make you hate him. Same goes with other guys, including Fred Couples, Tommy Bolt and Ben Hogan. Hogan was seen as pretty cold, aloof and mean. If he were playing today, he would probably be golf villain #1.

Very good points. We tell to forget the negatives as time passes. Nicklaus was a villain for Arnie fans.

[nevets88]

Does it have to be a player? Can it be a reporter? Jimmy Roberts annoys me.

[ChetlovesMer]

16 minutes ago, nevets88 said:

Does it have to be a player? Can it be a reporter? Jimmy Roberts annoys me.

Unlike golf, there are no "rules" on this thread. It can be anyone you'd like it to be. 

[saevel25]

I don't really have a golf villain. I like to see certain golfers win, but I don't actively root against certain golfers to do bad.

[NJpatbee]

Not that I lose sleep over it but Kuchar's stiffing of his caddie in Mexico and then standing by it until he felt the heat changed my view of him from "All American Boy" to the "Ugly American".  He did pony up $50,000 to the caddie and apologized after being skewered but his original "be thankful you poor Mexican for the $5,000" defense was a loud statement about his values and does make him the villain of the day for me.    

[LMoore]

I despise hearing Gary McCord as a commentator. He tries to be funny and is not.

As for someone not caring for Zach, I also have a story.

Tuesday before the Masters, Our church hosts the Masters breakfast. Zach and Stewart Cink were the guest speakers in 2014. It started at 7am.They were to leave at 9am. Well over 1000 attended, and most wanted autographs. I was head of security and after signing for close to an hour, at 9:10, there was still 30 or so waiting. Their manager told them they needed to go, but they told me if I would make sure no one else got in line, they wouldn’t leave those people hanging. 

After taking care of those folks, Zach said, “you’ve stood there for well over an hour with us, can we sign something for you?”

Watching them both flex their aching hands, I told them I wouldn’t dream of asking them to do anything else. A few minutes after they walked out the door, the manager came back in with a signed golf glove.

Both he and Cink are class acts.

[hoselpalooza]

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