Just wanted to be (one of) the first to weigh in on something that will be written about in every golf blog, column, magazine, and hotly debated in every active golf forum on the ‘net, even in the shadow of the US Open.
At the Booz Allen Classic today, on the 17th hole, Rory Sabbatini, a very fast player, got tired of waiting for his playing partner Ben Crane, a very slow player, to hit his second short on 17 and simply walked up to the green ahead of him, shot out of turn, and then left for the 18th green before Crane putted out.
The ABC broadcast booth (including former playes Ian Baker-Finch, Nick Faldo and Paul Azinger) were aghast and all reported they had never seen a player leave his playing partner like that, ever, nor had anyone seen a player boo’d by the gallery, as Sabbatini was, ever.
In the space of about five minutes, Sabbatini did four things to establish himself as a world-class jackass. 1. Leaving his playing partner. 2. Playing out of turn. 3. Leaving the green without watching his partner play out, which he is obligated to do. 4. Brusquely shaking hands (if you can call it a handshake, it lasted less than a second), and then walking to the scoring tent spittin’ invective.
I think it was Faldo who said something interesting, and true. “People across the country who are sick of being stuck with or behind slow players are going to applaud Sabbatini’s actions.” In other words, he reacted the way fast players around the world simply daydream about reacting.
But anyone who sees Sabbatini as some sort of fast-play Champion of the People is totally missing the point. This is the PGA tour. It ain’t your local muni. They’re sent off in twosomes, not foursomes. They are afforded the privilege to play slower in a way that Jimbo Slowplay, 26 handicapper, shouldn’t.
Postscript: Judy Rankin just interviewed Ben Crane and to say he took the high road is understating it. He handled the interview with such ego-less grace (saying it was his fault, he totally understands Rory’s reaction, he’s working on speeding up play, refusing to criticize Sabbatini in the slightest) that he just became one of my favorite players.
You are way off-base.
While Sabbatini’s reaction was over the top, the biggest jerk here is Ben Crane. Their group was repeatedly warned to speed up play. Just because they are PGA pros, you can justify them violating basic golf etiquette, which is “Avoid slow play.” The fact that they play in twosomes intensifies the problem, and doesn’t excuse it.
Crane’s slow play is totally rude to all the players playing behind him, who are trying to get into a good rhythm. Sabbatini’s reaction was rude to Crane only.
Sabbatini was totally wrong but at least this will put the problem of slow play into the spotlight, and will probably force the PGA to follow the LPGA and institute a 2-stroke penalty for overly slow play.
I’m not sure, but since they were warned as a twosome, I imagine that the PGA fine would be levied against both of them. So who is the jerk for forcing a fine on an innocent party?
Crane, apologized and realized he was the problem, which was great, but there is still no way to justify his actions over the whole tournament.
Comment by Goggler — June 14, 2005 @ 1:43 pm
The tour officials were gutless. They put Sabbatini in the position to deal with slow play when they refused to. Slow play on the tour only encourages the slow hacks on the weekend. 4 hours should be the limit no matter what, and I love to play on a course that has rnagers moving players along.
Comment by Doug — June 15, 2005 @ 1:41 am
They were NOT on the clock when this occured, and if they were taken off the clock simply because the officials were “gutless,” then I’m sure Sabbatini was surprised to get to the 18th tee and find he couldn’t tee off because the group ahead was still on the green.
I hope the previous commenters never complain about athletes in other sports being whiny or pampered, and I also hope they teach their kids that the way Sabbatini dealt with this is a appropiate example of how to deal with minor inconveniences.
Comment by Administrator — June 15, 2005 @ 4:04 am