Golf is a frustrating game where every shot matters, which is why it is crucial that you maintain composure throughout your round. Slip ups happen to even the best players though, so take a look at these 10 angry Tour pros who did not handle the pressure well.
Tiger Woods
Woods has probably picked up more fines for foul language than every other member of the PGA Tour combined. During the second round of the 2012 Masters, he hit a poor shot with a nine iron at the 16th.
Before the ball had landed (in a bunker), Woods dropped the offending club to the ground and kicked it, sending it flying backward. “I think we can safely say Tiger has lost his game … and his mind,” said CBS analyst Nick Faldo.When asked about the incident, Woods acted like it hadn’t happened. “Well, it’s a simple nine iron. It’s not that hard,” he told the media. “Just a three-quarter nine iron… it’s a very easy shot.”
When asked about the incident, Woods acted like it hadn’t happened. “Well, it’s a simple nine iron. It’s not that hard,” he told the media. “Just a three-quarter nine iron… it’s a very easy shot.” But the comment that left everybody choking into their notebooks and microphones was the one that came next: “I’ve been around the block for a number of years, and I understand how to be patient.”
Sergio Garcia
Garcia was trailing against South Africa’s Retief Goosen in the 1999 World Match-Play Championship at Wentworth, and, having struck several wayward shots into the trees, he turned away in disgust as his drive at the 15th headed towards more trouble. What happened next defied belief…
The Spaniard took off his shoe and threw it into the gallery! When it was returned to him, Garcia wasn’t keen to put it back on. Instead, he kicked it, and capped it all by angrily tossing his club at his caddy. He was only a kid at the time though, and we all knew that we would grow up.
Craig Stadler
When Stadler holed a birdie putt on the 72nd hole at the 1987 Andy Williams Classic, he thought he had finished in a tie for second place behind George Burns. Moments later, a brave official had to tell him that he had been disqualified for breaking the rules.
Just to rub it in, his “offense” had occurred the day before and was only brought to the PGA Tour’s attention by several TV viewers. While playing the 14th hole, Stadler had hit a shot while on his knees, using a towel to keep his trousers dry. It should have incurred a two-shot penalty, but he had already signed his card, so he was disqualified.
The Walrus blew his top at the official who broke the news, and stormed off, refusing to talk to reporters. Officials later reported that he had taken the news “like a gentleman”. More recently, Spalding chose not to renew his contract. Stadler’s reaction? “They sent my agent a fax exercising a termination clause, the bastards. If they want to terminate me, fine, but to this day I have not gotten a phone call. I had everything with them — ball, shoes, glove, irons, woods, bag, hat. There was no ‘Thanks for 16 years.’ Instead, there’s a f***ing fax — and not even to me. Not even to me!”
Tommy Bolt
Tommy’s temper is a thing of legend. He was known as Thunder Bolt, and was as famous for breaking clubs and swearing as he was for breaking par. During one especially troubled round he walked up to his ball and asked his caddy what club he thought was needed. The bagman handed him a two iron. “That’s far too much for this shot,” Bolt said. “Take it or leave it boss. It’s the only one we’ve got left.” He did have limits though. “Never break your driver and your putter in the same round,“ he said.
Woody Austin
Austin has had several tantrums over the years, but the most memorable came when he broke his putter. Most angry golfers attack a golf bag with the offending club, or bend the shaft over their knee. Not Woody. He broke his putter after beating it against his head a few times after a missed putt. We wonder if he got his name because his head is made of wood?
Ben Crenshaw
Reminds me of when Ben Crenshaw putted with a 1-iron in the 87 Ryder Cup. Think Eamonn Darcy beat him? pic.twitter.com/uJcDujsfrl
— GolfCentralDaily | Doc (@golfcentraldoc) July 5, 2015
Gentle Ben? Whoever came up with that moniker was having a laugh. Crenshaw was and remains a noted student of the game and a joy to be with off the course, but he has struggled throughout his career to control his temper.
During the 1987 Ryder Cup singles, he broke his putter as he came off the 6th green during his match against Eamonn Darcy (well, anyone would be upset at the thought of losing to a player who swings the club the way Darcy does) and was forced to putt for the rest of the round with his sand wedge and one iron – Darcy beat him, and Europe won 15-13.
Charley Hoffman
After missing a tiny putt on the 13th green during the 2008 Players Championship, Hoffman decided he would be better off without his putter and decided to launch the offending club into the water. We are not sure what he used for the remainder of the round, but we guess that he missed a few more putts.
Colin Montgomerie
Famous for his short temper and for permanently looking like he’s just swallowed a wasp, Monty appeared at the British Masters in 2003 and announced he was turning over a new leaf. He said that he now realized how stupid he looked when he blew a fuse on the golf course.
All went well until he hit a tee shot and heard a camera go off. He pursued the poor snapper, describing him and his colleagues as amateurs. Unfortunately, Monty had a club in his hands and should have realized the photographer still had his camera. A picture of a furious and ever so slightly demented Monty appeared in every British newspaper the following day.
He was involved in another incident with a photographer as he slumped to an opening 82 in the 2003 PGA championship. “I told you three times on this hole alone,” Montgomerie was overheard to say coming off the 13th green at Oak Hill. The previous day, a spectator had called him “Mrs. Doubtfire”, a nickname first aimed at him during the 1997 US Open in Washington.
Tom Weiskopf
Nicknamed The Towering Inferno, and you get no prizes for guessing why. Most guys mellow as they get older. Not Weiskopf. At the 1996 Senior US Open at Canterbury County Club he moaned constantly about his partner (the reigning senior amateur champion) using a “shiny” coin to mark his ball.
Golf Digest once described him as “one of the most tormented players of all time, a linear perfectionist who somehow didn’t attain the greatness expected of him.” You sure as heck didn’t want to be anywhere near him the day he ran up a 13 at the 12th hole in The Masters. The player himself said: “I would run out of patience and try to do things that were outside my ability. I would beat myself occasionally.” Amen to that
Henrik Stenson
Always one to wear his heart on his sleeve, the Swede was particularly unhappy about an iron shot he hit during the 2011 US Open, and he decided that the club was to blame (odd how it’s never the player, don’t you think?), so he snapped the shaft in two. The problem was that the club refused to go down without a fight and inflicted some damage to Stenson’s finger. He required medical attention before he could continue. The club needed the last rites.
