Who came up with the nickname "The Gauntlet" for The Players? Hint: Me!

I’ve been trying not to write this blog, but an inner voice keeps saying “Good Lord, man, stand up for yourself!” It sounds a little like that drill sergeant in Platoon, or my ex-wife.

Did you happen to catch CBS’ Jimmy Roberts during the Players Championship, in his breathless report on how ex-PGA Tour Commissioner Deane Beman FINALLY came up with a great name for the closing three holes at the TPC?

Honestly, I didn’t know there had been such a gargantuan struggle to name Nos. 16, 17 and 18, but I guess there has been.

Anyway, Roberts came out with it:

“The Gauntlet.”

Then he said some sappy stuff about how appropriate it was that Beman was the man to come up with such a fabulously appropriate name.

New flash: I came up with that years ago.

I was there, right along with Deane-o, when they broke ground at the swamp.

Years later, I came up with the name “Gauntlet” for the closers. I forget when I wrote it, but I remember it clearly. Look it up in the archives, you say? Negative. This was the stone age, before you could had such arcane information at your fingertips.

Anyway, I’ll give credit to Beman, if he wants it, and if the name sticks.

Unless there are royalties. Then the man won’t know what hit him.