"Watch out chief" |
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Here is an interesting little story from the Northern Trust open this week that got me thinking about a few different things. Randy Young of the OC Register reported that talented 20-something’s Sergio Garcia and Anthony Kim got in a bit of a spat during Tuesday’s practice round. Garcia was lining up a putt on the 18th hole, Riviera’s famed uphill par-4 finishing hole, when another golf ball dropped out of the sky and landed just feet from where he was standing. Garcia promptly turned around and the guilty party was standing quite noticeably in the fairway. Turns out, Kim mistakenly thought Garcia’s group had cleared the green because the flagstick had been replaced. Garcia, however, had lingered to putt to another part of the green, a customary act during practice round play. Perhaps Kim was trying to help poor Sergio out with his putting woes. With the added incentive of golf balls plummeting toward him at a good clip, maybe Sergio would have a little added motivation to sink a few putts and get off the green. The Spaniard is an incredible ball striker but has been haunted by the flat stick during his young career. Garcia missed out on a chance to capture his first major championship when he blew a four-shot lead Sunday at last year’s British Open at Carnoustie. He missed a 4-foot putt on the 18th hole that would’ve given him the Claret Jug. Padraig Harrington ended up defeating Garcia in a playoff. This little tale took me back to high school. While playing with a group of friends in a course in Pennsylvania an elderly ranger curiously pulled his cart just off the right side of the fairway and came to a stop while our group was standing on the tee box. Despite a little coaxing, the gentleman refused to move an urged us to play on. My buddy, we’ll call him Francis, strode to the tee box and took a hack. In my estimate my friend probably had spent about as much time on a golf course as Larry the Cable Guy before he had money. Not exactly up on the etiquette and decorum necessary for the game, he cried out “Watch out chief” as his ball sailed toward the innocent bystander. Forgoing the typical cry of “Fore” left little time for reaction, but luckily the ball rocketed into a tree just over the head of our little, old friend on the cart. I don’t know if I’ve ever laughed so hard, but I’m sure Sergio wasn’t laughing on Tuesday. Really, I don’t think Garcia has all that much to be upset about. So what if he blew the Open Championship last year, the man has millions of dollars and is apparently on the fast track to becoming the Shark’s son in law. That’s right, Garcia is dating Greg Norman’s daughter, Morgan Leigh Norman, who studies Culinary Arts at Boston College. Morgan Leigh is quite the little dish herself, to make a pathetically cheap attempt at a food reference. Don’t worry Sergio, Mr. Kim will get his soon enough. Tiger Woods will face the emerging American in the opening round of next week’s WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship if there are no more changes to the field before Friday. |
