I Hate Quitters, Call yourself a Pro
Sorry, but this post might upset a few people and to be honest I don't really care.
I have just got home and it is 12.20am here in Poland on Saturday morning and i thought i would check out the latest scores for the Honda Classic and see what was happening.
When I got to the bottom of the scoreboard I see that no less than 5 players have WITHDRAWN. Three of them without playing even a shot in round two and two who have played just a few holes of their second rounds.
Now I don't want to name names but lets call these players Chris Riley, Tommy Armour III, D.J Trahan, Matt Hansen and Ron ( Yes! Ron Whittaker)
Now before I start my rant, I just want to make it clear that if any of these players are injured, have a serious family issue, child is sick or bereavement in the family then i can fully understand why they would withdraw.
However, if it is just a case of having a bad first round and not wanting to stay around and try and shoot a 60 to make the cut then that is just not acceptable.
Let's take Chris Riley (Only as an example) he shot a 77 in the first round of the Honda but has withdrawn, WHY???
Take a look at Chris's record this season:
| 1/15/06 | Sony Open in Hawaii | T31 | 76 | 66 | 68 | 68 | -- | 278 | -2 | $30,243.00 |
| 1/22/06 | Bob Hope Chrysler Classic | W/D | 72 | 72 | 81 | -- | -- | 225 | +9 | -- |
| 1/29/06 | Buick Invitational | T76 | 74 | 69 | 75 | 75 | -- | 293 | +5 | $9,486.00 |
| 2/19/06 | Nissan Open | 80 | 70 | 72 | 77 | 75 | -- | 294 | +10 | $9,180.00 |
| 2/26/06 | Chrysler Classic of Tucson | T41 | 68 | 68 | 67 | 74 | -- | 277 | -11 | $10,215.00 |
| 3/05/06 | Ford Championship at Doral | CUT | 67 | 75 | -- | -- | -- | 142 | -2 |
Now do you notice he has won nearly $60,000 this year, that's more than most people earn in a year.
Do you also notice that in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic he was even par after two rounds, had an 81 in the third round and then the big WD sign appeared.
Now I am not picking Chris Riley out, but just showing an example of a PGA Tour player who looks like he has had a bad day at the office and spat his dummy out.
If these guys want to give up just because they have a bad round then they should not be allowed the privilage to play on tour.
Their are many young golfers out their and even handicappers who would give their left arm for a shot at this type of tournament.
If a player withdraws for no real reason then ban him.
Jack didn"t quit and you don't see Tiger doing this either. People like Chris Riley and the others should realise that they are priviledged to be blessed with the talent to play a game at this level and should respect that and not take it for granted.
Have a great weekend
Richard
posted by Richie Smith @ 3:21 PM
3 Comments:
Hiya, I would have to agree with you. Think about poor Hal Jacobs in this field who shot 91 in his first round and then had the decency to peg it up for the second round and beat his first round by 12 shots. Obviously 91, 79 is not a good performance but I stand by my views that it takes guts to complete a bad round ie not to NR or withdraw. These people should be praosed for their perserverence
Hi Lewis,
Thanks for the post, and thanks for spotting a player who did have the guts to not give in.
Good luck to Hal Jacobs in the future and also good luck to you this year in your quest to get to the professional ranks.
Richard
I agree that withdrawing is a cop out, but as for Tommy Armour III, he has had some health problems this year with his hand, his back, and his heart. So although a terrible 1 1/2 rounds may be the reason he withdrew, it could also be that either he was straining his back, his hand, or even his heart! That being said, I do think that people withdraw from tournaments way to often. However, Tiger did withdraw from the Nissan Open, which happened to be about a month before the Honda Classic. Unfortunately, as these players are not big-name players, we don't know the true reason of the withdrawals, as there aren't a plethora of articles written about them
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