The Masters, for the foreseeable future, will probably be about greater than who simply will get an unwearable blazer. Whereas the chase for the inexperienced jacket will take up many of the story, as a result of it’s the solely main that may’t ban golfers who joined the LIV tour — or gained’t — then it turns into one thing of a temperature verify/referendum on the state of the skilled sport as an entire. It might’t be helped, and but all of the gamers who determined to take Saudi Arabia’s blood-soaked cash are almost pulling each hamstrings working from any questions on it.
Sergio Garcia was the most recent to throw all of his toys out of the pram when he was requested a easy query after his opening spherical. The query was merely requested if it felt regular to be again at Augusta, and he then went to the traditional playbook of blaming the media for all of the controversy. It’s by no means any of those guys’ fault, after all. All the pieces could be high quality if the pesky media, and that is the golf media we’re speaking about — which isn’t precisely Woodward and Bernstein — would simply go away these poor guys alone.
Garcia is hardly alone. Phil Mickelson, who skipped out on final yr’s Masters altogether so he wouldn’t truly need to be in entrance of a microphone to reply why he had mainly develop into a spokesman for the LIV Tour, is in Georgia this time round however continues to be ducking any questions he can. He even misplaced weight so he’s extra evasive (not likely however let’s fake). Bryson DeChambeau, by no means too shy to be the world’s greatest ass-boil, has been decrying his remedy for months. So far as anybody can inform Greg Norman lives in a bunker.
What’s most galling, although not likely all that shocking, is that that is the trail these guys selected. Nobody made them go away the PGA Tour merely for an ungodly sum of cash from an evil authorities for a tour that basically has no likelihood of standing on equal footing with the PGA Tour. Professional golfers won’t ever be confused with the best thinkers of our time, however absolutely there was an agent or confidant round to elucidate to them what would possibly occur ought to they bounce ship.
However nothing is ever actually a golfer’s fault, is it? It was that gust, or that lie, or that break, or that fan blowing their nostril on the unsuitable time, or that digital camera, or that format, or no matter else. You’d suppose a minimum of one in all these guys would simply pull a, “I’m wealthy, biatch!” in entrance of any microphone and to any query, contemplating that was the motivation within the first place. What the fuck do these guys actually care?
It’s not sufficient to get all the cash on the planet. Everybody has to pat you on the again for it too, irrespective of the way you went about it.
Take a look at this pitch
Within the newest exhibit of how pitchers should not actually of this Earth, we current Dustin Could final evening:
Simply what the fuck is any hitter presupposed to do with this? It’s 100 miles an hour and moved a foot and a half to basically transfer from the surface nook to the within. It’s considerably shocking hitters don’t run from the field screaming for an exorcist as a lot as making an attempt to get a chunk of wooden on it, which they mainly don’t have any hope of doing.
Baseball can juice the balls and guidelines nonetheless they like, and so they have, however till they discover a technique to preserve so many guys from doing shit like this, hitters are up in opposition to it and can simply attempt to maximize the uncommon contact they’ll make. And Could is the Dodgers’ second or third starter. He’s not even the most effective they’ve, a minimum of not for the time being.
It ain’t straightforward whenever you’re goin’ down…on strikes.
For a transcript of Sam’s ideas, you may ship $20 to @Felsgate on Twitter. You gained’t get a transcript, as a result of that’s what that is, however he’ll fortunately take your cash for nothing.