We don’t want golf to go down same road as tennis
I WAS utterly dismayed to see Sergio Garcia damage his putter in anger during the third round of last week’s Dell Technologies Championship.
Under the rules of golf, if you alter the characteristics of a club during the course of a round, you must take the club out of play.
Having to play the rest of the round alternating between a 3-wood, a driver and a 3-iron effectively ruined the Spaniard’s chances of a decent round and, as a consequence, any prospect of getting himself into contention going into the final round.
Sergio’s a big name, the reigning US Masters champion. The TV cameras follow his every move.
So when he took his frustrations out on his putter by lashing out at an irrigation head, he was in danger of not only damaging his reputation, but of also setting the worst kind of example to the millions of youngsters watching on TV around the world.
At the age of 37, Sergio has to learn to lose such petulence from his game, as it is damaging him.
He could have been right there challenging for a victory in Boston. Instead, his third-round 75 took him out of the reckoning.
Hopefully it was a one-off, because we don’t want to see the day when golf’s rules-makers are forced to introduce a club-abuse rule, similar to that found in tennis.
Most golfers have, at some point, vented their fury on a club. But rarely do they continue that action because it shows a lack of temperament – the very foundation to being a successful golfer.
However, even the best players have learned the hard way.
Arnold Palmer, in his youth, was a club thrower until his father, Deacon, a golf professional himself and a strict disciplinarian, warned his prodigious son about his conduct.
He stopped it immediately. He went on to not only become a seventime Major champion, but also established himself as the mostrevered golfer of his generation, because of his exemplary behaviour on, and off, the course.
We are approaching the 30th anniversary of one of the most highprofile examples of a furious player breaking a club and, subsequently, paying a high price for doing so.
Ben Crenshaw, the two-time Major winner and former Ryder Cup Captain, snapped his putter during the 1987 Ryder Cup at Muirfield Village, when playing Irishman Eamonn Darcy in the Singles on the Sunday.
Nicknamed ‘Gentle Ben’, he was anything but when it came to representing his country, and was a fierce competitor.
Two down after six holes, the American was forced to putt with a 1-iron for the rest of the round, after taking out his frustrations on his under-performing wand.
Crenshaw lost on the last green to Eamonn, a result which ultimately cost his side the Ryder Cup, and saw Europe winning for the first time ever on American soil.
For the moment, however, I don’t believe there is a serious issue with pros breaking clubs on the course.
But the PGA Tour and the European Tour monitor their members’ behaviour closely, and any frequent breach of etiquette and rules will be harshly dealt with, for the sake of preserving golf’s enviable reputation.