The good thing about being a professional golfer is you get to pick your own schedule. There are never those late night flights to Charlotte for an afternoon game in front of 5,000 people. Never drives home after a lengthy road trip that didn't go so well. Just your schedule, with your team, when you want.
And that's fine. I like it. I've always said I loved that Tiger Woods would only play in a few events a year because it made those events so special. (and really, why does he need to play in the Zurich Classic at this point?)
So if you don't want to play that week, fine, nobody will judge you, just do it with a little respect. Don't come out and say you're skipping an event because you think the golf course is too hard. Oh wait, Hunter Mahan has something to say (via Dallas Morning News).
“I don’t like it tee to green,” Mahan said after his second straight 69 at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. “I don’t like the way the fairways are shaped. It’s hard to hit a fairway for me. I don’t want to rip it up or rip up the tournament, but it’s a place where I don’t play well, it doesn’t suit me, it’s a pain in the butt to play.”
“I don’t like the way they redid the greens,” he said. “I just don’t think they’re very good. He [D.A. Weibring] couldn’t do much. The course is what it is, and you can’t really do much about it.”
Hummm ... now, someone explain to me why Hunter would say such a thing? Admitting a golf course is too hard when you consider yourself an elite golfer? Complaining about the way it was redesigned? Doesn't everyone have to play the same golf course?
Listen, I know some golf courses set up well for certain players, but to me, a really, really elite player doesn't say these things. Even if it isn't your favorite golf course, play it so you can try to take it down. You don't see people back away from guys that beat them ten times in a row, do you? No, because the pride of a golfer holds true, and you want to go out and kick that guy's butt on the eleventh attempt. It's a competitive thing.
Also, I'd avoid doing this in your hometown. Dallas people love them some Mahan, and it's almost one of those things that he owes to the community. Now, if only he'd married a former cheerleader for the local team ...
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3 comments:
Not surprising really, Hunter is completely full of himself from what I've read.
...and that performance on 18 against McDowell at the Ryder Cup begins to make more sense. A golfer that can't embrace the challenges that a tough course might throw at him is a golfer that will chunk a chip at the worst possible time.
I think he said it because he is likely getting some flack for not supporting Mr. Nelson's tournament. I think he would like to play in the event to commemorate Lord Byron but he doesn't like the course.
Tiger played in Mr. Nelson's event until his passing, even though he didn't like the course they played. In fact it was the course the broke his ridiculous cut streak.
I like to see guys voicing their opinion about the course. It is some honesty, I for one would like to see more of it.
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