On the 5th tee box on Friday at the PGA Championship, I was standing about 10-15 feet next to the players as they were teeing off. It's the par 5 that has a small landing area and a tight FW. The tee box is elevated, so we are below them, just a bit.
Ted Purdy was last to tee in his group, and he really nailed one, high, deep, with a slight draw. I yelled, "Alright, Ted, nice shot, go get 'em baby!" He turned around in disappointment and stared directly at me (there were only several of us there), put his hands on his hips and then shrugged his shoulders at me, as if to say "what, are you stupid or something?" I said back to him "oh, sorry" and he nodded his head and walked away.
Now, his caddie is standing next to me staring at me and I said, "Is his ball OK?" He says "Well, I'm sure it's in the left **** (insert the curse word he used) but appreciate the compliment." Don't know if this was sarcastic or not.
Should I just keep my big fat flapper closed or did Purdy over-react a bit to a fan that was supporting him? Thanks.
If his shot looked errant and was going somehwere nasty then it wasnt a good call to say "nice shot". His shrug seemed like he was uncertain of the outcome of the shot.
If the ball actually landed in the left ****, he probably thought you were sarcastic or making fun of a mishit, and took offense to that. As such your comment was unfortunate, but the players should be able to ignore it.
We were slightly below the players, so we can see the ball take off and about 60-70% of the ball flight, but once it reaches the level of the tee box we can't see the ball anymore. It really looked like a great shot, then upon follwing him to his ball, he was buried in the rough amongst the trees, but only 10 yards off the FW.
I don't think he thought I was being a jerk to him, but just took out a little frustration out on me. After scrutinizing his scorecard, I can understand the ornary mood he could have been in.
I felt bad (and foolish) for about 30 minutes afterwards, like I shouldn't have said this. He parred the hole, but that is like a bogie for #5 (par 5) which was playing as a 4.3 scoring average.
We were slightly below the players, so we can see the ball take off and about 60-70% of the ball flight, but once it reaches the level of the tee box we can't see the ball anymore. It really looked like a great shot, then upon follwing him to his ball, he was buried in the rough amongst the trees, but only 10 yards off the FW.
I don't think he thought I was being a jerk to him, but just took out a little frustration out on me. After scrutinizing his scorecard, I can understand the ornary mood he could have been in.
I felt bad (and foolish) for about 30 minutes afterwards, like I shouldn't have said this. He parred the hole, but that is like a bogie for #5 (par 5) which was playing as a 4.3 scoring average.
You can stop feeling bad now! He should have ignored it or given you (a paying customer) the benefit of the doubt.
Seeing as his drive was errant and found the thick stuff, I can understand why he might be confused at your calling his shot a good one. Perhaps you should wait for the final outcome of a shot before assessing it's quality.
Purdy didn't rub off that well on me, but I'm sure he's a fine gentleman. I looked Brad Faxon eye to eye from 3 feet (his nose almost brushed against me ), and said "Hi, good luck today Brad." He ignored me like the plague.
A lot of these guys appear to be just down-right snobbish.
I know that they're out there trying to win, trying to make money, this is their livlihood, they're entitled to have a bad day every once in a while, yadda yadda yadda.... and I don't think that the fans should ever interfere with their focus.
But what's with the attitudes? I understand not everyone has the personality of Gary Player or a guy like Fred Funk... But some of them are so far removed from the common folk common life that it's almost like they consider fans nothing more than riff-raff.
They don't owe us a thing, but it sure would be nice to see some of these guys smile every once in a while, even if it does come at their expense.
We were slightly below the players, so we can see the ball take off and about 60-70% of the ball flight, but once it reaches the level of the tee box we can't see the ball anymore. It really looked like a great shot, then upon follwing him to his ball, he was buried in the rough amongst the trees, but only 10 yards off the FW.
I don't think he thought I was being a jerk to him, but just took out a little frustration out on me. After scrutinizing his scorecard, I can understand the ornary mood he could have been in.
I felt bad (and foolish) for about 30 minutes afterwards, like I shouldn't have said this. He parred the hole, but that is like a bogie for #5 (par 5) which was playing as a 4.3 scoring average.
Once you got to his ball, you should have tried to apologize, then seen what he said.
Once you got to his ball, you should have tried to apologize, then seen what he said.
Apologize? For what?! For showing some encouragment and appreciation?
Ya know, these tournaments have much more urgent issues to deal with than having a fan "miss a call." We hear tv announcers miss calls on the hour, every hour, in a booth with a birds-eye view. So I suppose that maybe these announcers should come down from the booth and apologize when they do it too, right? Afterall, they're proclaiming it to the world! Or maybe I misread his post? Did LordEmery make these "insenstive" comments during Mr. Purdy's ugly swing? Not from what I've gathered.
Yeah, maybe you should apologize LordEmery, for not having your cellphone out snapping pictures in his backswing. Or maybe for not being a disruptive spectator-turned-participator by intentionally knocking a player's errant tee shot back into play as it bounds near you. Or maybe you should just apologize for just being thankful and fortunate that you were able to make it to the tournament, and trying to be so complimentative.
Every single week I see bad behavior by fans on television, because of many of the very things I mention, and seldom does ANYONE ever make an issue out of it. But once a fellow member here does something genuinely nice, showing a deep respect for the talent of the very people that his paid ticket helps support, it's suddenly an issue?
Apologize? For what?! For showing some encouragment and appreciation?
Ya know, these tournaments have much more urgent issues to deal with than having a fan "miss a call." We hear tv announcers miss calls on the hour, every hour, in a booth with a birds-eye view. So I suppose that maybe these announcers should come down from the booth and apologize when they do it too, right? Afterall, they're proclaiming it to the world! Or maybe I misread his post? Did LordEmery make these "insenstive" comments during Mr. Purdy's ugly swing? Not from what I've gathered.
Yeah, maybe you should apologize LordEmery, for not having your cellphone out snapping pictures in his backswing. Or maybe for not being a disruptive spectator-turned-participator by intentionally knocking a player's errant tee shot back into play as it bounds near you. Or maybe you should just apologize for just being thankful and fortunate that you were able to make it to the tournament, and trying to be so complimentative.
Every single week I see bad behavior by fans on television, because of many of the very things I mention, and seldom does ANYONE ever make an issue out of it. But once a fellow member here does something genuinely nice, showing a deep respect for the talent of the very people that his paid ticket helps support, it's suddenly an issue?
I don't get it....
Okay!
I was just giving Purdy the benefit of the doubt. I agree that he could have done much worse. The op seemed to think that he done something wrong and was hurt by it. He didn't.
I was just giving Purdy the benefit of the doubt. I agree that he could have done much worse. The op seemed to think that he done something wrong and was hurt by it. He didn't.
August 19th, 2006, 08:28 PM
), and said "Hi, good luck today Brad." He ignored me like the plague. 
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