"If he's a former Ryder Cup captain, he ought know better, right?"

Steve Elling fleshes out the Bernard Gallacher-Jeff Overton incident. Gallacher really comes off poorly in this one.

Overton walked back toward his ball as his father, who had been stationed several yards away with a handful of other American fans, observed the broadcaster speaking to his son in demeaning fashion and stepped in to set Gallacher straight.

"Nose to nose," as Ron Overton described it.

If there is a truism in golf, it's that reporters are on the course to observe, not participate. Unless a player initiates a conversation, it's best to keep your trap shut. Gallacher was so far beyond the pale in antagonizing Overton that he ought to be ashamed of himself. Ron Overton didn't know Gallacher's name, much less his pedigree, until afterward. That only made it worse.

"If he's a former Ryder Cup captain, he ought know better, right?" Ron Overton said. "A ruling is between a player, the second player and the judge. Any player has the right to have a ruling explained to him. Nobody else has the right to say anything to either player."

And this was nice to read...

Ron Overton said he first spoke with Gallacher in a level tone that escalated from there. Fans were reportedly shocked by the exchange, and rightly so. Ron said it was the only cross words he had with anyone the entire trip.

"Please make a point of mentioning that I said that [incident] was the only rudeness we experienced from the 100,000 fans we encountered over the four days we were there," Ron Overton said Wednesday after arriving home in the States. "They have the greatest fans in the world. This was the only poor sportsmanship I witnessed the entire time."

Comments

[Ky Laffoon's Ghost]

Oy. Gallacher is such a tool. Yes, he should know better. I have marshalled and served as an official at Division I golf tournaments and the only time I ever said a word to a golfer was when I was asked a question or showed the player where the ball crossed the margin of a hazard. I think I once told a player that, yes, her tee shot was embedded in its own pitch mark when she glanced at me upon reaching her ball. That's it. Mr. Overton's reaction was measured as far as I'm concerned.

[Jim]

Wow, there is no gray zone here. Both Overtons behaved fine and Gallacher was WAY out of line. Speaking of gray, this Gallacher sod is going to rival Jim Gray for the D-Bag of the year award.

[rose]

Overton can be demonstrative and I am guessing that Gallacher was predisposed to dislike him from the beginning. That Overton was well within his rights is beside the point. Even had he been incorrect, imagine had the shoe been on the other foot and Azinger or big Hal Sutton or any other American past captain/commentator injected themselves into a match like that.

Oh wait, you can't imagine it? THAT"S BECAUSE IT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN. Gallacher is a small man indeed.

[thusgone]

does gallacher's intercession qualify as typical american gamesmanship?

[CharlieG]

Thusgone, I think it qualifies as typical stupidity.

[Hod]

Wait a minute. Gallacher was "yelling" at Overton? If so, that's so far out of bounds that he deserves to be barred from future Ryder Cups. It might be difficult to bar a "reporter" -- but that wasn't the behavior of any correspondent I've ever known. It's more like hooliganism.

[JR]

Poor showing by Gallacher.

[tlavin]

Clearly, he behaved like a jackass.

Overton's shown that he is capable of such behavior in the past, but this is all on Gallacher.

[Scott]

I agree with Hod, Gallacher's behavior is so far out of line he should be banned from all future cups. This is way worse than Brookline, not that anything bad really took place there. Overton's dad should have stuffed a haggis down his throat.

[Tim in Hoylake]

I'll launch a formal complaint with the BBC. It's my license fee that pays the guy's salary. Not of lot of this story making much of an impact over here so far.

As an aside, if Fisher can't read his own putts, he doesn't deserve to be on the winning team. Was there any other examples of a teammate doing 90% of the line calls on both members' putts?

[Hod]

Hmmm. Scott, I think the Brookline mosh pit was even worse. As Ken Venturi would say, let's just walk away quietly from that one.

[Tighthead]

BBC has cleared him.

Great Venturi quote - when someone would take advantage of some great luck "you take your 4 and walk quietly to the next tee Jimmy"

[dbh]

"BBC has cleared him.'
Do you have a link for that, Tighthead? I'd be curious to know what they have to say

[Scott]

"BBC has cleared him"

Never would have guessed. They're usually so pro-American!

Here's Gallacher's comical version of what happened, in which he comes across as a mix between Gandhi, Metternich and Old Tom Morris. I have no doubt it's 100% true.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/golf/9063439.stm

[dbh]

Lol, Gallacher should probably look for a new hangman, er, publicist.
Still asking though, is there a link where the BBC states its position on the whole deal?

[digsouth]

tim in h

timed one 'read' at 1 1/2 minutes: that was just the 2's
reading time.........

[China Golfer]

You have to think Gallacher would have been more than a little peeved that neither of the Overtons recognized who he was. I don't know if this of any solace but Bernhard has a very fine-looking daughter - Kristy... look her up. If she had said, "that's a fair drop" then I think Jeff might well have agreed with her :)