Kevin Na Should Be Grounded for Temper Tantrum, Lose Chef Boyardee Dinner
by Ryan Ballengee on Sep 27, 2010 4:27 PM EDT
in Pro Golf
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PrintWhen I started playing golf on a course at maybe eleven or twelve years of age, I still had a baseball mentality. Coming from a sport where - when I made contact - I was a power hitter, so playing a finesse game that required patience was not exactly my forte.
(Man, has that changed since I started. Now I pummel it 300 yards and hit wedges into greens. Thanks, modern equipment!)
My parents had to take me to the course to play since I couldn't drive, so they would stick along for the round. When my dad was the cabbie or showed up after work to watch, he could see when I was losing patience. He'd try to calm me down before I got upset - a kind of proactive mental massage that Earl Woods seemingly never instilled in Tiger. But, sometimes it didn't work. I would get to a point where I could feel the frustration building, creating little fists of golfing rage.
And then my dad would look at me like he was going to knock me into next Tuesday if I did something about it. Case closed, happiness resumed.
Kevin Na needs a figure like that in his life.
He was having a tough final round of the Tour Championship. Paired with Paul Casey, he was two over for the day coming to the final hole. Paul Casey was still in it. If Jim Furyk, Retief Goosen, and Luke Donald all played nicely, he could still win the tournament and/or the FedExCup's $10 million first prize.
On the final tee, Na hit a disappointing tee shot. He took out his rage on the ground by slamming his hybrid club into the ground and perhaps exhuming some dinosaur bones in the process. Na made bogey to close with +6 (76).
NBC didn't show it live, but when Mark Rolfing talked with Paul Casey after his round, he had to ask the Englishman about the impact. Casey said it was "bad for the game."
Tiger gets railed on for this all of the time. Na is only four and a half months younger than me. My dad straightened me out a long time ago, perhaps leading to the calm demeanor I have today. (Unrealistic fear of reprisal and shame combine to make a great motivator, and I mean that in a good way.) Maybe Na should call my dad to be his mental coach.
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This is not standard Kevin Na behavior – but you can be sure that he will be relieved of a few duckets in the very near future.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
I agree court
Very un-sportsman like conduct indeed. First offence is excusable, but future outburst of that sort by ANY player on the tour should be strokes plus a cash fine.
"pain is only weakness leaving the body"
Court I'm well aware
Of the cash penalties, which are pretty much meaningless to most if not all the players. Stoke penalty would certainly clean things up a bit.
"pain is only weakness leaving the body"
I like the idea of penalty strokes (as per points in tennis)
Cash fines mean little. I don’t claim to have never slammed a club, but a penalty stroke would certainly stay my hand.
Tiger would have lost a few tournaments if strokes were called..
But they wouldn’t do that, if fear of the ratings, would they ? Double standards all round.
But would he have slammed quite so many clubs
if the penalty was strokes? I doubt it. John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, et al, used to get away with murder, but the tennis authorities are much more severe now.
I was pretty
surprised to hear Paul Casey call him out on it, especially so if this not normal behavior from Na. Normally, the players are pretty non committal publicly on issues like this.
I kind of liked hearing most of what Casey said. It was an awkward question and he just didn’t back down on it. If Na had just slammed the sole of the club down like you usually see as an extreme, nobody would’ve said anything – but he took a serious chunk out of the tee box.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
So the fine
or suspension should be commensurate with size of divot or the angle of attack?
I liked what Casey said too, just a little surprised that he said it out loud.
Never Liked Na...
I’ve heard a few stories here and there about him being a nasty SOB to his caddies and that he’s very hard to work for. It has made me root against him the past few years.
That said, I am not surprised at this latest turn of temper for him. It’s not a new thing apparently, it’s just that for once it was a public display rather than one not seen.
No disrespect OMP
but I would rather think the best of someone until it becomes a fact, rather than just “stories”. I’ve heard some beauties about Jack, Arnie and Gary, but they are just that, stories. I’m sure that there are also plenty of other “stories”, that would tell you the opposite.
Having said that, the young man needs to pull his head in when it comes to losing it the way he did on 18.
No offense taken
The things I have heard are first-hand, but you’re right, it is best to give the benefit of the doubt.
And by no means should I be the first one to cast stones. I once had a temper on the course and I face about 0.000001% of the pressure that Na or any other touring pro does. Fortunately, I grew out of it and realized that I master my own destiny in terms of my response to good and to bad. Doesn’t make me any better than anyone, though.
by Charles Boyer on Sep 28, 2010 3:30 PM EDT up reply actions
this was absolutely typical Kevin Na behavior
He is a brutal playing partner. He plays incredibly slow and constantly bitches and moans. He is always gesticulating and slamming clubs. Ask Angel Cabrera (and any other tour player for that matter) how much of a chore it is to play with Mr. Na. He acts like a spoiled brat from the 1st tee until the 18th green.
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