Kid gloves
Should he, or shouldn’t he? Should Rickie Fowler have laid up at 15 during the Waste Management (snicker) Open, or should he have given it a rip and try to make eagle?
Who cares.
Let me just get this out of the way early – only Rickie knows what was the right call there and I’m sure he feels he made it. Good enough for me.
What intrigues me though is the level of disdain for golf commentators, bloggers and fans who have questioned the decision.
You can see some of it here and here, and in comments for these posts as well. I read both of those blogs regularly and think their writing is quite good. Ryan at WaggleRoom is even a full on member of the GWAA ya’ll.
What bothers me about the sentiment shared in the above posts, and elsewhere, is the idea that professional broadcasters and fans (or even know-it-all bloggers) should give Rickie a pass because he’s 21. Why does that matter?
Is this just a subconscious (or maybe conscious) reaction by golf society to try and rally around the person already being considered as a possible Tiger successor? Or at least the ‘please deliver us from this immediate Tiger mess’ savior? It arguably embodies a stereotypical criticism of golf, the golf media and golfing community overall - it seeks to protect its own, at all costs.
In what other sport do you find star athletes that are immune to harsh criticism? Ask Jimmy Clausen at Notre Dame if he gets some kid glove treatment from press or fans? Ummm…not so much.
Kids who are younger than Rickie, and don’t get paid (i.e. NCAA Division I athletes), often have as big a spotlight on them and have to sometimes deal with brutal criticism.
Why should a 21 year old up and coming golf star, that has Puma from head to toe, be any different? Is he mentally fragile? Is he incapable of dealing with the spotlight? I doubt it. In fact, recently after seeing one of Fowler’s bot-like tweets I said this to him. I’m not proud.
It was knee-jerk and in reaction to his publicist driven tweets - but it was also how I felt at the time. What ensued was some back and forth with Rickie that made me rethink (in part) my hasty judgment, and in the end I gained respect for him. Superstar prodigy challenged…he responds…blogger gains respect for prodigy…life resumes. Ahhh, happy endings.
Right call or wrong call at the Waste Management (snicker) Open? Irrelevant. Criticism of it? That’s just sports.
The kid will be allright, without the kid glove treatment.
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I am sure he can take us hacks talking about his decisions on course. If not, he is not tough enough and he will not make it. We obviously suck so our opinions don’t really matter. Or maybe I should say that I suck and my opinion doesn’t matter.
Now I seriously do not like his hat, but I think I am getting old and I may be out of touch with the youngin’s,
My sentiment wasn’t that Rickie should be left alone because he is fragile at 21. Rather, he should be left alone because he is still figuring out how to win on Tour less than a dozen starts into his full-time PGA Tour career. Seems like the criticism is more of a function of the way we are quick to criticize. I mean, the guy has been at the door twice in less than a dozen starts. That deserves more credit in my mind than he does criticism for laying up.
A reasonable point but I think you minimize the level of praise he’s received as well, in advance of having won. How many articles, reports, blog posts etc. have swooned over Rickie before he’s won on Tour?
Again, not his fault but he’s certainly reaped the benefit of the charitable side of celebrity. A little criticism is simply the other side of the coin. My concern is more the ‘how dare you’ aspect of some of the voices online re: leveling any criticism.
When will “Rickie” change his name so we accept him as an adult and take him seriously.
This guy had no problem:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Schroder
I seriously don’t get the discussion over the lay up. His shot. His decision. I actually think it showed a level of maturity to do what he thought was right regardless of what others were doing.
I think he’ll get a “W” sooner rather than later.
As fans of golf we are going to discuss pros decisions. That does not mean we would make a better decision or make a better shot. If the fans were not here caring enough to chat about it then where would the Tour be at all?
As human beings we like it when someone “goes for it” whether or not they win. I still love it that Sean O’Hair went for the win at the PGA Championship (I think 2008) when he was a shot behind Phil. Yes, he put it in the drink, but he went for the win and for some reason I like that. I talked about that shot just like I talked about Fowlers shots and numerous other shots.
$240,000, possibly $400,000 richer for making par vs. possible meltdown on 15… could be a factor.
I thought it was a good decision from his own strategy standpoint (Ryan at Waggle Room pointed that out also), plus he did same 3 of the 4 days, so I thought from a percentage standpoint it made sense for him to lay up.
One thing that struck me during Phoenix Open week was that when I attended last year (I go every year to Phx Open) he was still at Okie State (a sophomore), not too many folks following him (I saw him at #9 green on Friday), and he made the cut. He’s come a long way in a year.
Saw your interaction with him when it came across Twitter – wondered why you didn’t ask him what the DBI was for everybody questioning his shot selection on 15?