Teen DQ’d for bathroom break (and other unusual tales)
By Alex Perry
Hello. Welcome to the Slam where I attempt to wrap up the week’s news you may have missed. In this edition, another ridiculous golf rules drama, Phil being Phil, a scorecard that needs to be seen to be believed, and Tiger Woods is coming to Ireland. Actually, let’s start there…
To the Manor
The JP McManus Pro-Am is coming back! If, like me, you’d completely forgotten about it, it’s a celeb-filled knees-up around future Ryder Cup host venue Adare Manor that has been played every five years since 1990 – although it was missed in 2015 for whatever reason, so this will be the sixth edition of the two-day event that’s raised almost €100 million for charity.
Tiger Woods, who played in the last three, will return to the Emerald Isle, where he will be joined by best mate/worst enemy Phil Mickelson, as well as fellow golf superstars Rory McIlroy and Niall Horan.
The four biggest names in golf in one tournament. What a coup.
Also signed up for the event that will take place in July 2020 are Sergio Garcia, Jon Rahm, Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose, Paul Casey, Shane Lowry and Ryder Cup captains Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley, while Mark Wahlberg, Hugh Grant and Jamie Dornan join the celebrity line-up.
Looking forward to finding out who, out of Woods and Horan, will attract more of their “Adareing” fans. (“Adareing”, like “adoring” but playing on Adare because it’s at Adare Manor. OH FORGET IT.)
Dropping bombs to dropping mics
Phil Mickelson has somewhat reinvented himself since becoming Public Enemy No. 1 at last year’s US Open.
If you don’t follow Lefty on social media, sort that out.
This week he did this:
From dropping bombs 💣 to dropping the mic 🎤
Dropping hole-in-ones on Pebble Beach #7 (in Nantz’s yard) is how I get ready for the US Open! #KARMA #sidesauce pic.twitter.com/IyvuyUWFtH
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) June 5, 2019
Keep being you, Phil.
Mickelson will tee up at the real Pebble Beach next week for a sixth attempt at completing the Grand Slam and – PLUG ALERT – you can follow it all right here on our dedicated US Open website.
For Fox sake
Oh good, more golf rules drama that show the game in a horrible light.
According to Golfweek, a player was disqualified midway through a 36-hole US Open sectional qualifier in Maryland for taking a toilet break.
Obviously there is more to it than that.
Skyler Fox – as if that’s the name of a promising young golfer and not the protagonist in a crappy US cop show – was apparently struggling with a headache on the back nine of his opening round.
After walking off 18, Fox nipped to his car to fetch some medicine and then to the bathroom to take it.
That decision meant he violated Rule 3.3b (2) which says players must head to the scorer’s hut “promptly” after finishing a round.
According to the USGA, Fox took 15 minutes from walking off 18 to reaching the scorer to sign for his 78 and there was no mention of illness, which rules director Craig Winter said might have changed the ruling.
But this is golf, so obviously once a decision has been made it can’t be reversed.
“They told me I was disqualified because I didn’t get to the scoring table in time, which made no sense,” Fox, who is SIXTEEN, by the way, told Golfweek. “I was pretty upset. I mean, there was a good chance I wasn’t going to make it. I was going to have to shoot really low. But I wanted to go out there and put a respectable score up.”
His dad, Joe, who had been involved in a blazing row with the officials, added: “You’ve got to take life’s bumps as they come, I guess.”
But this is a bump that really could have been avoided and one we’re still seeing on a far too regular basis.
Ross on a roll
In cheerier news, there was a 57 in a tournament this week.
Alex Ross carded the miraculous score during the third round of the Dogwood Invitational, an amateur tournament played annually at Druid Hills in Atlanta.
Ross, who attends Davidson University in North Carolina, had carded rounds of 75 and 73 before setting foot on the 1st tee on Thursday.
He then went birdie, par, birdie, birdie, birdie, par, birdie, par, birdie to go out in 30, before coming home in 27 that read birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie, par, birdie.
It still wasn’t enough to win the tournament.
Marc Mitchell, who was caddying for Ross, tweeted:
“I was just telling him to hit good shots, talking through distances, showing him where the pins were. I didn’t read a single putt. He was on lock all day.
“Today we played 36 holes. First 18, he shot 73. We went back out with a guns blazing approach — fire at every flag, break the course record. Hit almost every shot perfectly, read every putt correctly.”
Let’s hope he got to the scorer’s hut in time…
Right, that’s enough from me. Enjoy your weekend. Here are some posts on National Club Golfer dot com you should read next…
Alex Perry
Alex has been the editor of National Club Golfer since 2017. A Devonian who enjoys wittering on about his south west roots, Alex moved north to join NCG after more than a decade in London, the last five of which were with ESPN. Away from golf, Alex follows Torquay United and spends too much time playing his PlayStation or his guitar and not enough time practising his short game.
