Thanksgiving brings us golf’s biggest turkeys of the year. Bubba, Phil, Trump and a certain Masters champ’s brother headline the list.
The USGA’s enforcement of a couple of key rulings in their two biggest events of the year is what lands them on this list. In the U.S. Open, eventual champion Dustin Johnson played the majority of his final round unsure if he faced a penalty for causing his ball to move over a putt, and less than a month later at the U.S. Women’s Open, runner-up Anna Norqvist grounded her club in a bunker in the playoff, but wasn’t told about the infraction until halfway through the next hole. Click here for more on the story.
It was USGA president Diana Murphy’s honor to present Brittany Lang with the trophy for winning the U.S. Women’s Open. However, Murphy repeatedly called the first-time major winner “Bethany” during the trophy ceremony despite pleas from the crowd to correct her mistake. Murphy issued an apology later that night. Click here for more on the story.
In response to Colin Montgomerie’s praise of Trump Turnberry in May, the then-presumptive Republican candidate for president responded on Twitter with, “Colin, great to have you at Trump Turnberry. So proud of you and your GREAT playing! You made winning MAJORS look easy!” Montgomerie, quite notably, failed to win a major championship in his Hall of Fame career, finishing runner-up five times.Click here for more on the story.
Muirfield Golf Club failed to reach the two-thirds majority vote needed to allow female membership in May, meaning it would remain an all-male golf club. The R&A responded by booting Muirfield from the Open Championship rotation as long as the policy remains in place.Click here for more on the story.
With afternoon thunderstorms forecast for most of PGA Championship week at Baltusrol, PGA of America officials opted for tradition rather than send threesomes off split tees for Round 3. The result was the leaders never even teeing off on Saturday and a marathon Sunday in which players didn’t re-pair for the final round as they battled though the rain to avoid a Monday finish.Click here for more on the story.
After heckling Ian Poulter at the Valspar Championship in March and then bragging about it on Twitter, Poulter brought the tweets to the attention of the heckler’s employer, leading to the man losing his job. We’re not sure who the bigger turkey is in this situation, but we’d be remiss if we left them off this list. Click here for more on the story.
After a lengthy investigation, Phil Mickelson was not criminally charged, but agreed to repay more than $1 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission for money he made off a stock tip from gambler Billy Walters. Mickelson has said that the PGA Tour has not spoken with him about any possible punishments, but associating with gamblers is strictly prohibited. Click here for more on the story.
Just before the start of the Ryder Cup, U.S. team member Phil Mickelson slammed his former captain, Hal Sutton, saying that he was put ‘in a position to fail’ in 2004 while paired with Tiger Woods. Sutton responded with some harsh words of his own before Mickelson apologized a day later. The U.S. overcame the distraction to win their first Ryder Cup in eight years. Click here for more on the story.
PGA Tour first tee announcers didn’t have their best year in 2016, flubbing a couple of high-profile names. In February at the Honda Classic, a ‘Jimmy Fowler’ was introduced before the third round, while the opening round of the BMW Championship in September brought us a ‘Jordan Day.’ The miscues were rather miniscule and laughed off by the players, but come on announcers, you had one job! Click here for more on the story.
Bubba Watson’s attitude has gotten him in some hot water in the past, and 2016 was no different. Before the start of the Phoenix Open, Watson was asked why he liked the golf course. His answer: ‘I don’t like it. I’m not going to PC it. I don’t like it at all. I just mentioned why I’m here. I’ve got three beautiful sponsors that love it here.’ The comments were met with backlash and he apologized two days later. Click here for more on the story.
Plenty of players, including the top four men in the world - Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy - decided to skip golf’s return to the Olympics in Brazil this summer, many citing health concerns surrounding the Zika virus as the main issue. Golf at the Games went on without them and by all accounts, was a tremendous success. It’s disappointing to think it could’ve been even better. Click here for more on the story.
Zac Blair won’t live this one down for a long time. After missing a birdie putt during Rd. 2 of the Wells Fargo Championship, Blair hit himself in the head with his putter and bent it, then proceeded to putt out for par, a violation Rule 4-3b, using a non-conforming club. Blair was promptly disqualified from the tournament and issued an apology on Twitter. Click here for more on the story.
While at The Open, Rory McIlroy was asked about his decision to not compete in golf’s return to the Olympics. He didn’t mince words. ‘I didn’t get into golf to try and grow the game. I got into golf to win championships,’ said McIlroy. While his comments were refreshingly honest, they were met with plenty of criticism and backlash within the golf community. Click here for more on the story.
Just two days before the Ryder Cup, Masters champ Danny Willett’s brother, Pete, penned an article for National Club Golfer in which he called U.S. fans a ‘baying mob of imbeciles’ and ‘pudgy, basement-dwelling irritants, stuffed on cookie dough and pissy beer,’ among other things. The article fired up the American players and crowd, and caused a distraction that hung over the European team all week. Click here for more on the story.
As mean-spirited as Pete Willett’s article about American Ryder Cup fans was, a small portion of the gallery at Hazeltine proved him right. Some U.S. fans who could be pointed out for shouting inappropriate things to players at inappropriate times were thrown out of the event by officials. Click here for more on the story.
Stealing golf clubs makes you a turkey, but this year we had another turkey confront the alleged equipment thief ... with a gun. When a 59-year-old retired fire marshal saw what he suspected to be a man carrying his golf clubs in the parking lot of a Golf Galaxy in Oklahoma, he drew his handgun and ordered the man carrying the clubs to the ground before police could intervene. Click here for more on the story.
While at Congressional Country Club to promote his Quicken Loans National tournament, an injured Tiger Woods took part in a charity event called Shot for Heroes. After his first shot from 102 yards found the water, he was encouraged by the emcee to hit another, it also found the water. Clearly not taking the hint, Woods was asked to hit a third, which also ended up wet, before he decided he’d had enough, no matter how nicely he was asked. Click here for more on the story.