Chubby Chandler Fires More Anti-American Jibes...

I'm beginning to think golf agent to the stars William ‘Chubby' Chandler has a sort of spidey-sense that alerts him whenever there is an opportunity to critique Americans as a whole. He never misses a trick.

His latest foray into ‘Europe roolz, America droolz' is on the heels of Bubba Watson's Great Gaelic Adventure, where he says the actions and attitude of Bubba are the norm for American golfers and not the exemption. Now, I don't recall Steve Stricker making rude comments about Qatar this year, but perhaps I'm missing something. Take it away, Chubby:

"I saw the interview (with Bubba] and it was quite pathetic how he was. For a grown man to talk like that was quite pathetic.

No argument there. Go on.

There's a lot of Bubba Watsons because a lot of them don't travel.

So Chubby is equating American pros that don't play in Europe with one American who played (poorly) is France and insulted everything up to Sarkozy's unborn child? The fact that Hunter Mahan doesn't play Open de España means he hates paella, Penélope Cruz and Ricky Rubio? A bit of a stretch, but I'll give you a chance to convince me.

You can't say that about Tiger. At least Tiger travels. And Phil (Mickelson] started about five years ago.

I'm going to assume Tiger and Phil can get more of that sweet sweet appearance money than, say, Jeff Overton or Nick Watney. For the latter you are asking them to not play their domestic tour for less money.

Rory was in America last year and he felt the same way going from New York to Boston to Chicago. He found it hard work, but he didn't whinge about it. He's just not doing it any more. He didn't want to. There was no fun involved. Every week was the same. The Americans like that, though. It's just two different cultures.

No, Rory at least waited until the end of the year to whine about his US PGA Tour experience. Or don't you consider ‘it was a lonely experience' whining?

They think their tour is the be-all and end-all. They have no idea that in ten years' time Asia will be bigger than America."

I would say, outside maybe ten American golfers, the US PGA Tour is the be-all and end-all. It provides them a place to play every week for a boatload of money. Even if you are not in the winner's circle every time out, you can make a very comfortable livelihood. And, at least at this time, no one in Asia is ringing up Keegan Bradley, offering him big bucks to come to South Korea or mainland China. If Chubby is right and Asian golf is bigger than American golf in a decade, American golfers will go to Asia. Just as European golfers come to American because American golf is more lucrative than European golf.

And what exactly is wrong with pride for your own country/tour?  Aren't we currently seeing the European Tour and its members puff out their chests due to the improving strength of their organization?  So it is okay for Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy  to decide playing more in Europe fits their lifestyle but when Jim Furyk says similar about playing in America, he is taking a big steaming pile on Europe?

"They don't get it because they have everything in America, don't they? Everything over there is easy for them. There's a lot of cash to play for. They don't see any reason why they should play outside America.

How dare Americans not understand how important we are!

And yet a lot of our guys who go from here to there are not stimulated by playing in America every week, to go from Boston to New York to Chicago, it doesn't stimulate them. They'd rather be going from Jakarta to Seoul to Valencia, you know what I mean? That's just the way our guys are brought up. The Americans are brought up to think that America is it. They're conditioned to that mindset from a very young age.

I'm not going to argue the differences in upbringing between American youths and European youths; I have no experience with the latter (I doubt Chubby has experience in the former, but unlike Chubby, I choose not to pull generalities out of my hindquarters). I will say I didn't think it was the job on any tour to emotionally fulfill and stimulate the professionals. If bland American cities don't provide Chubby's guys with the contentment that Jakarta, Seoul and Valencia do, they should feel free to continue to play Jakarta, Seoul and Valencia and leave the boring villages of New York, Boston and Chicago to those culturally deficient Americans.

Of course, Chubby doesn't want that, not the piles of money available to his players. I'm not totally sure what he wants. Perhaps continental pride is affecting his thought process. Perhaps deriding Americans not playing in Europe is a preemptive strike to the charges that some of his clients don't play enough in America. Maybe he is just keeping his name in the public eye to ensure his position as a Very Important Person in the world of golf.  One thing I do know is I've just about had it with Chubby's regular shots at America. Unlike Chubby, I won't pile all of Europe or the golfers that employ him under one blanket. I'd be happy to see Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer, Luke Donald, Ernie Els and Rory McIlroy playing in America as much or as little as they would like. On the other hand, I would not shed a red white and blue tear if Chubby never set foot in the banal United States of America ever again.