PGA Long Drive Separating Point Getters From The Missers
In the moments I took in the PGA's resurrected Long Drive contest here at Valhalla, it became apparently pretty quickly that this was a great chance for the point getters to have a few minutes of fun.
And for the point missers to shine.
My item at The Loop.
Geoff
**Bubba was asked about why he hit iron.
Q. You chose to hit iron off the 10th tee. Your thoughts on why you did that and your thoughts about the long drive contest?
BUBBA WATSON: My thoughts, I want to practice the game of golf. I want to learn this golf course. I haven't seen the 10th hole. I don't see that we should have a competition like that while we're playing a practice round and learning the golf course, trying to win a great championship. There's no reason to make something up in the middle of the practice round like that. That's just me. Like it or not, that's just who I am. That's just what I think.
I think the Par 3, that's something you're spending time with your family. The kids are out there. You're signing autographs, you're have the kid zone, you're signing autographs for kids. You have the choice to participate or not to participate. And this is just right there in the middle of your practice round when you're trying to see the course. Just kind of weird to me.
But I hit my 3‑iron perfect, though, right down the middle. Longest 3‑iron of the day. I won that competition, take that.
Q. (Inaudible.)
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, it will be driver every day. I was just trying to prove a point that nobody cared about.
Q. There's been a lot of chatter on different avenues about your take on the 10th and the long drive. Do you find it surprising that you would be accused of taking yourself too seriously?
BUBBA WATSON: Me? Yeah, that's surprising. I am.
I'm here to win a championship. I'm not here to goof around (laughing).
No, it's just ‑‑ there's a couple things that just rubbed me the wrong way, and so ‑‑
Q. In what way?
BUBBA WATSON: I just see it, if it's going to be a contest, make it where you could participate and not participate. Calling your name on a Tuesday of a practice round, it just seems funny to me, just seems hokey to me, so I just didn't.
Q. And in a broader sense, do you worry at all or ‑‑
BUBBA WATSON: I worry all the time.
Q. Let me rephrase that. Do you care at all what people think of you?
BUBBA WATSON: Truthfully, no. Because the way I'm trying to live my life, read the Bible, follow the Bible; I can't worry about ‑‑ no matter what I do, no matter if I win every single tournament, half the world is going to love me and half the world is going to hate me no matter what. You can't impress everybody and you can't make everybody happy. It's hard enough trying to make my wife happy, so I don't need to worry about other people being happy.
I care about what you think, though, because you write big articles (smiling).
Geoff
**Oosthuizen charges late from the lane and steals it by two yards from Jason Day who was in the clubhouse at a whopping 338. Nice going Louis and to all the players who went through this painful, horrible exercise of being themselves and hitting driver on a driver hole on Tuesday of a major! And don't ask me who Johan Kok is, I have no idea.
Final Results of the 2014 PGA Championship Long Drive Championship
1. Louis Oosthuizen 340 yds.
2. Jason Day 338 yds.
3. Johan Kok 337 yds.
4. Gary Woodland 330 yds.
5. Rickie Fowler 328 yds.
6. Keegan Bradley 326 yds.
7. Danny Willett 322 yds.
8. Adam Scott 320 yds.
9. Sergio Garcia 320 yds.
10. Scott Piercy 320 yds.
Geoff
**From Luke Kerr-Dineen, Point Getter Padraig Harrington having fun:
Reader Comments (66)
I await BenSeattle's impassioned rebuttal. :)
LOVE MAJ. Here's a man with awesome life balance.
Sour Puss doesn't merit a mention by name, what a shame. I wonder what he'd be doing for a living if he couldn't hit a golf ball?
So if you're here to win a championship then prepare like it! I don't get it... okay so don't swing harder, just swing your normal self Bubba! He is getting more and more impossible to defend each time he opens his mouth.
His comments at the Open showed that he wasn't even close to having the right mindset to winning a championship, and this week it is more of the same. Really sad for a talented guy.
Scratch that, he's more childish than Monty. Overall, I'm glad that some of the bigger jerks on tour act out like this, because pro golf is such a milquetoast sport that we should embrace any variety we can find. But if I were a clever European fan at the Ryder Cup, it might not take many sarcastically witty comments to get him unhinged a bit.
Tom Watson has to be looking forward to having this time-bomb on his RC team.
Doesn't care what people think of him, as long as those endorsement dollars keep rolling in. Keep it up, watch that stream run dry. And "Noun, verb, Bible" is a non sequitur. What does religion have to do with the 10th tee?
Confused.
Story of my life, Bubba. Story of my life.
I'm suing you for personal injuries. You should have warned us of the extreme hokem coming from Bubba. Whining about the contest, then mentioning his Bible commitment. Rolled my eyes so hard that I hurt my neck.
Like someone else said, thanks for writing this up. Unintentional comic gold
+1 on the Tanglewood reference.
I know Bubba married a girl from north of Toronto, is she from the Barrie area? I played a round at Maples of Ballantrae a couple of months ago and heard the buzz that they'd been in the area this spring visiting relatives.
I rooted for this nitwit last Masters weekend. Hero to Zero in ten seconds, flat.
"I'm going to avoid the rush and start hating him now."
"Tom Watson has to be looking forward to having this time-bomb on his RC team."
156 players in the field, which means over 98.7% of the players did "get it"
Ding ding ding ding ding!!!!!!!!
DJ, you know Maples of B? Played many a round there a few years back, how's it holding up?
It was in great shape considering the spring we had! It was my first time playing the course, and I couldn't complain. I wish I could say the same for my scoring, which was woeful as I don't get to play as much as I'd like. But hey, life could be worse!
DJ
Nah, DBH.... I caved on this a while back. It's lively, it's an exhibition and it is what it is. I still think three balls (two, maybe?) would provide a more representative winner but that sentiment is old news.
Worse, is that Bubba Watson's very public non-participation is subtracting from the purpose of the event: to make mundane Tuesday a bit more exciting for the FANS that turn out. His stance is the very definition of petulance and a demonstration of hypocrisy at it's highest. He maintains that "I'm here to prepare for a golf tournament" but on a 595-yard par-5 where he will hit driver in the tournament, he drags out a 3-iron just to be a public dick. Golf Channel's Aaron Oberholser's had it right when after Bubba's presser he termed the action a "slap in the face to the PGA."
We know Bubba Watson is an endearing hick, a guy who even today needs plenty of guidance from wife, caddy and support team. We know he has a breath-taking golf game and a personality that's quirky and usually appealing in it's honesty. But come on, Bubba.... are you trying, absolutely determined, to insure that those of us who are willing to accept the idiosyncrasies one day soon simply say "The HELL with this guy?"
Why are some people SO hard to like?
from S Wei's twitter:
'McIlroy, who played 9, went outta his way to 10th to partake in long drive contest...'
No clue how he did, but I could hazard a guess. :)
I don't agree with how Bubba Watson said it, but I understand and agree with his intent.
Actually you can. Hitting one ball for charity costs you nothing but admiration. You d**k. I feel bad for your manager.
Yes, you are too full of yourself in this case, but I still love to watch you play........
Re: About Bubba's statement: "I rolled my eyes so hard that I hurt my neck". I laughed so hard I hit my knee on the keyboard tray.
McIlroy hit it 310.
Jason Day (I think) won with 338, with Woodland 2nd on 330.
Bubba's effort wasn't measured.
JJ