Sure, Dan Quayle didn’t exactly give the most in-depth interview in our celebrity golfer series. Even if Quayle did find time to blame all his political failings … er, obstacles … on golf. (To read the full story, click here.)

He refused to discuss the Republican candidate he thinks should be the presidential nominee in 2008 for example. And I didn’t just assume this was because Quayle might not know who the potential candidates are. With that steel trap of a mind and all.

Whatever you say about The Murphy Brown Crusader though, he did stop and talk. He’s not close to the No. 1 pompous jerk encountered in a year of celebrity golf.

Having interviewed everyone from Rush Limbaugh to Justin Timberlake to Roger Clemens to Bode Miller on the course, there is one clearcut egomaniac of all egomaniacs.

Take a bow, ESPN SportsCenter czar and self-appointed funny man Dan Patrick.

That’s right, no super talented athlete, pop mega star or political pundit can compare to Patrick in jerk rating.

My encounter with the man obsessed with his own hair came at the American Century Championship in Lake Tahoe over the summer. In dozens of celebrities approached, Patrick was the only one who blew off the idea of an interview.

Yes, sadly the media guy was a hundred times worse than any of the actual celebrities with bad reputations.

Asked after a round if he had a few minutes, Patrick gave the classic athlete blowoff line - “Tell you what. I’ll meet you at the … fill in the blank.” Which in this case happened to be the driving range. Patrick’s excuse for this was he couldn’t talk near the roped off scorer’s tent area because of all the fans.

Ray Romano, Charles Barkley and Ben Roethlisberger were at this tournament. And Dan Patrick’s worried about being mobbed.

Still, Patrick’s a media member (in theory at least). So I still figure it’s fine. He’ll be there. I proceed to the driving range after interviewing some more real celebrities and Patrick waves me off again. It’s another I’ll do it later.

He proceeds to get into a golf lesson/kiss up fest with former Redskins quarterback and current ESPN football commentator Joe Theismann. It’s hard to say who was smooching the other harder, but the two would have been broken up by a high school prom chaperone for their fawning lovefest. The whole time I stand right behind them, clearly in view with my notebook.

And believe me I’m the only reporter there interested in Dan Patrick.

At this point, I was just waiting around so I had a story to tell a number of friends who work - or worked - at ESPN. After 40 minutes, someone motioned me over to watch Barkley get in a putting contest while he chugged Coors Lights. Patrick never gave a second glance.

Look, long vigils for athletes is an unavoidable tenant of sports writing. One of the standard jokes in the business is you “hurry up to wait.” I’ve waited hours for Knicks, Yankees and many others to get prettied up after a game and arrive at their lockers for interviews.

But Dan Patrick, who should know what reporters go through, pulls the same ego trip? That’s just being a jerk to be a jerk.

Give me Dan Quayle instead any day of the week.

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