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Adam Scott's caddie should be suspended immediately by USGA and PGA Tour for going into gallery, fighting fans
Saturday June 14, 2008 | 17:45:01 520 words, 3378 views
LA JOLLA, Calif. (June 14, 2008) - If the true power players at the United States Golf Association had any guts, if PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem wasn’t just an insanely high-paid excuse maker, Adam Scott would have needed to get a new caddie for today’s third round. There is no way that Tony Navarro should be back on the bag in any professional golf event anytime soon. Navarro went into the gallery at the end of Scott’s second round late Friday night California time. He went into the crowd and turned some verbal remarks into a physical confrontation. Navarro rolled around on the ground with one heckling fan at one point before course security and the police had to stop a fight that never should have started. Two fans, father and son no less, were reportedly being loud and borderline obnoxious. That still offers no excuses for Navarro’s actions. There’s never a legitimate reason for a player, let alone a supporting figure like a caddie or an assistant coach, in any sport to leave the field of play and confront a fan. “My belief was they were heckling the caddie or one of the players,” San Diego police Lt. Dan Christman told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “The caddie, I don’t know why, the caddie left the playing field, went outside of the ropes, went nose to nose with the guy. Security then grabbed the person who was arrested with his son and the caddie was pulled back and went back into the field of play. “I have witnesses who say the caddie head-butted the son, but another witness said, no, it wasn’t a head butt, just head in and hit the bill of his cap and popped his cap off. I have witnesses who say that after he was head-butted, his cap was popped off, the son took a swing at the caddie and was grabbed immediately by security guards and the caddie was pulled away.” Notice how even the police can’t figure out why Scott’s hot-headed caddie left the playing field. In truth, Navarro is lucky he wasn’t arrested right along with the two louts. How is this guy still on Scott’s bag today? Talk about ridiculous. Only in the super enabling, we can’t possibly offend a player, world of golf could someone get away with this. Can you imagine if this happened in the NBA? David Stern would have banned Navarro - or any trainer or basketball corresponding secondary worker - from the league for life. And maybe rightly so. How can the powers of golf show such little regard for fan safety and the sanctity of the playing field’s boundaries? Only golf allows secondary figures to treats its fans like dirt. Tiger Woods’ henchmen-of-choice Steve Williams reaching into the stands to take away that camera several years ago was bad enough. Scott’s man went way beyond that and far over any sane line. This U.S. Open just became a joke. Because no one with any power in golf has the will or the sense to stand up to a hot-head who should have lost his right to be out here. 
Comments:
Comment from: Brandon Tucker [Member]
 · http://www.worldgolf.com/blogs/brandon.tucker
Head butting and rolling around on a golf course?
"The Price is wrong, Bob!" 
2008-06-14 @ 18:35
Comment from: Anonymous [Visitor]
You couldn't be more wrong Chris Baldwin. Every single day this week you've written crap about Adam Scott-related things. This just made me want to yell and scream out loud. The fans were DRUNK for goodness sake - yelling abuse and heckling Adam and Tony. Now put your shoes in one of them and how would you react? Tony was being protective and had every right to confront the guy. Your out of your mind Baldwin.
2008-06-14 @ 19:00
Comment from: Chris Baldwin [Member]
Hey, Anonymous - big surprise you wanted to be anonymous too - professional athletes get things yelled at them all the time. Being able to take it is part of being a pro. Only in golf do the players feel like they should be protected from every single, little slight.
And even if you want to be like that, call over security and try and get the fans you think are out of line ejected. There's no excuse for ever leaving the playing boundaries to turn a verbal confrontation physical. And Adam Scott has been involved in a lot of boneheaded things in this Open. He blows off the media for two days straight. He changes his how-I-broke-my-pinky story from slamming a car door on his own hand to having one of his "buddies" do it. And he four putts 18 on Friday by showing all the smarts and discipline of one of Torrey Pines' squirrels. It almost figures that he has the out-of-control caddie too. But you pointed that out first, not me. Are you trying to say Adam Scott creates problems, anonymous? I won't go quite that far. It didn't seem like he had anything to do with Navarro charging off to play Rambo. But interesting theory.
2008-06-14 @ 19:29
Comment from: Paul Farrens [Visitor]
Chris B: It is a falicious argument to compare a golfers efforts to a team players effort.
A golfer has no assistance during his/her shot. A team sport leaves options for involving others to help out. A golf shot is not the same as a free-throw. The entire golf experience is to decide and maintain a complete perception of tying together many physical & mental variables, resulting in a club-head speed of over 100 mph with the appropriate foot position, upper body, lower body and arm/hand movement to execute the proper shot. The only equivilent I can readily think of for the disruption is having a fie alarm going off while having sex.
2008-06-15 @ 02:40
Comment from: Okey Moronu [Visitor]
All I can say is, find yourself another sport to blog. Golf is not your type of game, so get off the bus.
2008-06-15 @ 12:14
Comment from: golf fan [Visitor]
Blog another sport Chris. Clearly you neither understand nor respect the game. Drunken behavior is no excuse and to defend that is just absurd
2008-06-15 @ 22:51
Comment from: Brent [Visitor]
While Navarro could've handled the situation better, all he was doing was his job. A misconception of non-golf people is that the caddie's job is just to carry the clubs - this is wrong. His job is to know the course inside and out and be able to advise his player on strategy, and also to deal with distractions, unruly fans, and anything that might disrupt his players concentration and put him at a disadvantage. So when drunk idiots (Golf is supposed to attract a classy fan, as well, - enjoy the beer, but don't get drunk at a golf event) are heckling his player - it is his JOB to deal with it. That's what he gets PAID for. While there may have been better ways to handle it, all he was doing was his job.
I agree with the other people who have commented - you don't understand the game, so try another sport.
2008-06-16 @ 09:24
Comment from: Sean [Visitor]
I agree with your blog as written. Class is not a one-way street in golf. Sure, the drunken hecklers should have been escorted out by security. But for a caddie to respond to a classless act with another classless act, that's not a part of golf.
2008-06-16 @ 14:12
Comment from: Judge Smails [Visitor]
It's astounding how the moral compasses of these respondents are misfiring. Baldwin is right, and most of the rest of you are making the common mistake of thinking that two wrongs make a right. Yes, the fans were out of order, but the proper recourse is to have security handle it. Instead, the caddy committed his own transgression by physically confronting the individuals.
You have to remember that the fans are customers and the caddies and players are workers/performers. Thus, the latter have an obligation to be professional at all times. If you still disagree, consider this: Is a comedian right to physical confront an audience member who heckles him? Do you think it's OK when an NBA player jumps into the stands and attacks a fan? There's a right way and a wrong way to handle things. Wise up.
2008-06-16 @ 16:40
Comment from: Jim [Visitor]
Chris, did the USGA ever discipline Navarro? My son and I were eye-witnesses, standing about 20 feet away from the incident. My son is still asking me if "golf" said it was OK for the caddy to do that. Really tough lesson to teach your kid not to physically respond to taunts, when they see supposed professionals acting like this.
2008-07-24 @ 11:37 Leave a comment: |
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