Maybe he is trying to be outcast of the tour. I hope he never wins another tournament for the rest of his career. On a side note, how funny would it be if Tiger pulled off the Grand Slam this year? What would Rory have to say in response?
The Subject Line says it all here. Rory messing with Tiger would be like me challenging Michael Jordan to a game of basketball. He doesn't even deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence.
The guy is a dick. You get any group of 100 dudes, and there are going to be some pricks in there. I'm actually surprised that there aren't more ******** on the PGA tour, as pampered and spoiled as they are.
His withdraw drew almost as much attention as Woods' seven-shot victory, with Couples sounding off the loudest. He was told that Sabbatini's agent attributed the early departure to shin splints. "Of course, he did," Couples said. "And Roger Clemens' agent said he didn't do steroids."
I know I'm in the minority but I like Rory. I wrote a big story about him before the Colonial a couple of years ago. His wife, a Native Texan, is cool as ****. Rory is what he is -- a hot-tempered, call-them-like-he-sees-them personality. What he said about Tiger at the time wasn't that far from the truth. Tiger wasn't near as dominating as he was when he completed the Tiger Slam. It looks perhaps a bit silly now since Tiger won seven times and was player of the year but if you think he's anywhere near as dominant right now as he was in 2000 you're crazy. But did Rory poke the hornet's nest? Probably. Believe me when I say he wasn't the only one out there that was thinking that. He's just the only one that said it on the record. In this instance, I don't think Tiger being the host had anything to do with it. He was last in a tournament, was guaranteed $170,000 no matter what happened in the final round and decided to get a head start on a trip to Hawaii with his wife and kids. Should he have played the final 18 holes? Certainly. But this doesn't make him the biggest ******* in golf. Like I said, Rory is what he is. He's the anti-Phil. I love Phil Mickelson but he's a two-faced SOB from most insider accounts. You guys go on with your "hatred" of Rory. Me? I hope he wins a major.
He's not as good as he was in 2000. The biggest difference is that he has a much harder time hitting the fairway with his driver. Last Saturday they showed his lowest career rounds. Most of them were from 1999-2000.
Tiger just finished one of this better years in his career he may not be on 2000 level but he's still far and away the best player on the planet and will be winning tournaments and majors for years to come. he has a chance at history and i think he gets it Rory is a dumbass who should keep his mouth shut. This kinda stuff just furthers him being seen as a dumbass. Even other players are bashing him for taking off from this tournament
it's a simple rule really. keep your mouth shut until you actually do something. and then you prove that it wasn't a fluke by doing it at least one more time. until rory actually does something of value, then any words, true or not, from his mouth will just be hot air and add to the ahole imgage that he is perfecting. i'm glad that you know the guy. i too know some aholes. but the fact that i know them doesn't make them any less of an ahole.
I think it's nothing short of idiotic to refer to Sabbatini as an ******* for either of these incidents. A dumbass? Sure. Go for it. But an *******? No way. He was honest about his perception of Tiger's game. Wrong, but honest. That's not being an *******. And this week he dropped out of a tournament that he had no shot of improving his position in and was guaranteed $170K. And he apparently dropped out to spend a little extra time with his family. That's not being an *******, either. Dumbass? Sure. The dumbest part was the lame excuse. If I were Sabbatini I would have never given out the shin splints crap. I would have said I wasn't playing well and decided to spend extra time with my family during the holidays. Then I would have given a percentage of my take to a charity. Then let Tiger sound like an ******* if he wants to.
Let's not forget about the Ben Crane incident. It's not coincidence that some of the biggest controversies on tour in the past few years involve the same jerk. "Hot tempered" is just a nicer way of saying prick. The Link
I agree with Huck's post. He speaks his mind and does dumb things, but that doesn't make him an ******* in my book. And the Ben Crane thing is on Ben Crane, IMO. The guy plays TEDIOUSLY slow. There is no reason for that nonsense. And it fucks the faster player, b/c they have to play at the turtle's pace. Why is it fair that Sabbatini can't play at the pace he wants. I was actually watching the tourney where Sabbatini went ahead and didn't blame him, as I had already noticed how glacially slow Crane was.
The problem with this incident is that it was an invitation only tournament with a very small field. who cares if you are sucking? Finish the tournament. I don't buy the spend more time with family either because had he been in Top 10 with no chance to improve he would have played through his "shin splints". The fact is that it was a bad decision that has been overblown, however he deserves it. If he had done what you say and donated some of the money to charity then it may have been better. However, he should have at least showed up the morning of for and autograph session or something. OTOH, it is not like this is THAT big of a deal.
the ben crane incident was interesting. yes crane was/might still be the slowest player on tour. however, the crowd at the event booed sabbatini. he was basically "showing up" his playing partner crane which is a little classless. but i agree, it sucks to get stuck with a slow player. rory is just not feeling the love of his actions. he's gotta live with it. most of the people i hear talking about him, don't have good things to say, but if he doesn't care, good for him.
Rory is a prick. The guys on the Tour don't like him, the fans don't like him, the media doesn't like him, and people at the University of Arizona don't like him. I'm sure you can find a number of people he has NOT pissed off, but that doesn't change the fact that the majority of people think he's a prick. And he's got no one to thank but himself. You act like a prick enough and you shouldn't be surprised when everyone calls you one. The whole "calls-it-like-he-sees-it" line is ********* that people use to describe someone who is basically just a prick.
FIrst off, this is golf. If there isn't some soap opera going on off the course, who cares? I personally like Rory a great deal. Not because he is right, or because he isn't a prig, but because he is. He creates added drama to an otherwise pretty boring and stuffy sport. No one really like T O, but they love to see him play football and run his big mouth, and then laugh at him when he drops passes, which he always does. The bottom line is that sports above all in this country is entertainment, and Rory is VERY entertaining. I could make a long list of prigs in all professional sports that we 'like' because they add entertainment value, not because we think the words they utter are based in reality, or because we think they are good role models.
Yes, the pairing is put on the clock. That means you're given a certain amount of time (I think it's 45 seconds) to hit YOUR shot once it's YOUR turn. You cannot ever be penalized shots in a tournament based on how slow your playing partner is. And there's no way the Tour would ever assess any monetary penalties on guys who are put on the clock due to their playing partners throughout the year. The topper? Rory and Crane WERE NOT ON THE CLOCK when Rory did that. They had been earlier in the round but had caught up to the group ahead. So Rory just did what Rory does, which is act like a prick.
