Which PGA Tour players are cool off the course? Which aren't?

[J_Bisset21]

Think I've mentioned this in another thread, but Sergio Garcia is a really nice guy. Managed to meet him a couple times and is really chilled out and always relatively happy(Mind you, these were usually on the practice days lol). Also Camillo Villegas is a nice guy, Paidraig Harrington sticks out to me aswell for being a really nice genuine guy.

 

To continue about Sergio, my dad had refereed for his group at The Open in 2008 in one of their rounds and then in 2009 my sister was scoreboard carrying for Sergio's group on the first day. So on the Wednesday night my dad was doing a coursewalk just to look over certain areas in terms of rules and any possible scenarios and he'd took my sister with him. On one of the holes Sergio was playing through and they saw each other, so my dad went over and said hello to him, and sergio instantly says "Hey *Dad's name*! Great to see you again etc." so they were chatting bout the course and other general things and my dad then mentions that my sister is scoreboard carrying for his group tomorrow and Sergio says "Oh fantastic! Can't wait to see you tomorrow, hope you have a great time walking round with us." and gives her a kiss on the cheek which was just a dream come true for that point for her haha.

 

I think the thing you gotta remember is that all these guys can get very pissed off and can come across not nice people, ie I've seen Justin Rose swearing tons around the course yet I've also chatted to him and he's been a complete gentlemen. All of them have good or bad moments, basically like every other human!

[Beastmode Broker]

never met a professional athlete ever :(

well maybe a couple Canadian Football dudes, but thats not a sport and I don't even watch football, so it doesn't count ! LOL!

[dmagalhaes]

David Simms is a massive **** 24/7.

 

He also hates old people, children, and dogs.

[Forged4ever]

Expectations......

People on good days and bad days.

I'd never truly judge them(or anyone) on one casual acquaintance.

Absolutely!!

 

Nicely Played :)

 

Fairways & Greens My Friend,

RP

[angler99]

This is all secondary information, so take it with a grain of salt:

 

My buddy was caddying for an amateur in a pro-am in Dallas. The pro in the group was Hunter Mahan. My buddy went up to him before the first tee to introduce himself and Mahan said "Hey champ. I'm just going to need you to not talk to me any more during this round".

 

Now to be fair, I wasn't there to witness this, and my buddy can be a little annoying. I thought it was really funny though. I've never met Hunter Mahan nor have any opinion about him being cool or not off the course.

 

I have another buddy who used to be an assistant pro at a very high end course in Dallas with many PGA tour player members. He said that Justin Leonard and Corey Pavin were super nice dudes.

[chicagolongball]

I worked in the industry for over 10 years. I've met probably 100 tour players and most are pretty nice. The nicest of the bunch that stand out in my mind are----

 

Charles Howell III. A terrific guy, equipment junkie and super knowledgeable about clubs and shafts. Charles is very engaging and friendly. I root for him without fail.

 

Kenny Perry. Probably the most down to earth, happy guy you'll ever meet.

 

Dave Stockton. Always willing to lend a tip or advice, super dry sense of humor which I like, and always very patient.

 

Sergio Garcia. He gets a bad wrap but off the course he's cool as ice. Definitely the type of guy you'd hang out with off the course.

 

Adam Scott. A little shy but once he knows you, he's a funny guy and always very friendly.

 

Thomas Bjorn. Sat and discussed golf clubs with me on the range at a tourney for maybe 10 min, and always addressed me by name after that. Very genuine.

 

The only real a-holes I can recall that stood out were Tiger Woods, who I had several encounters with in more private settings. He was always very aloof, short worded, and generally disinterested in speaking to or even acknowledgeing anyone who isn't a member of his circle. Deliberately rude and dismissive.

 

The other total jerk was Rory Sabatini. If there is a more self absorbed, arrogant, pompous jerk, I'd like to see proof. Just a horrible personality, and pretty much rude to everyone.

 

Come to think of it Duval was much the same way as Tiger. Could be why everything Nike leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Most of their staffers have that high and mighty attitude. I've never met Rory or Tony Finau but those two seem to be changing the trend.

[carn9698]

The Elk. He cracks me up.

[Psyber]

This is all secondary information, so take it with a grain of salt:

 

My buddy was caddying for an amateur in a pro-am in Dallas. The pro in the group was Hunter Mahan. My buddy went up to him before the first tee to introduce himself and Mahan said "Hey champ. I'm just going to need you to not talk to me any more during this round".

 

Now to be fair, I wasn't there to witness this, and my buddy can be a little annoying. I thought it was really funny though. I've never met Hunter Mahan nor have any opinion about him being cool or not off the course.

 

I have another buddy who used to be an assistant pro at a very high end course in Dallas with many PGA tour player members. He said that Justin Leonard and Corey Pavin were super nice dudes.

 

I imagine the PGA would not be happy with attitudes like this considering people pay a lot of money to play in these things.

[angler99]

This is all secondary information, so take it with a grain of salt:

 

My buddy was caddying for an amateur in a pro-am in Dallas. The pro in the group was Hunter Mahan. My buddy went up to him before the first tee to introduce himself and Mahan said "Hey champ. I'm just going to need you to not talk to me any more during this round".

 

Now to be fair, I wasn't there to witness this, and my buddy can be a little annoying. I thought it was really funny though. I've never met Hunter Mahan nor have any opinion about him being cool or not off the course.

 

I have another buddy who used to be an assistant pro at a very high end course in Dallas with many PGA tour player members. He said that Justin Leonard and Corey Pavin were super nice dudes.

 

I imagine the PGA would not be happy with attitudes like this considering people pay a lot of money to play in these things.

Well, my buddy wasn't paying to play with Hunter, but just the assigned caddy for the paying amateur.

[oldschoolrocker]

Played today with a guy from Greenville SC and he was telling me some interesting tales about Sam Snead. Said he ran into him a few time in Greenville and Sam was as advertised. 100% genuine what you see is what you get. Told me that Sam always drove a Lincoln and he always came to Greenville to buy it from the same dealership.

[Afraid2goLow]

Felt like the Top Gear - Cool Wall could be used here nicely.

 

 

[spinnywedge]

Tiger seems like he'd be a great guy if he opened up to the media more

[TheGoo34]

Smylie Kaufman isreally cool outside of the course. I met and chatted with him for abit and he's a really chill guy. Funny and someone you want to be around.

[mizleft]

I realize that these guys are working when inside the ropes but they seem to love the limelight and attention when it suits them,can you have it both ways ?yes mike weir d bag

[donaldp83]

Sergio is the one who always impressed me more than any other player. On multiple occasions he was very kind and went out of his way to be a gentleman. I went into my first interaction strongly disliking him due to his image at the time, but have come away a big fan. Very classy guy.

 

Other fellas who were very nice (in my experiences):

Harrington, DiMarco, Stricker, Boo Weekly come to mind

 

A couple fellas who were not so kind (only in my experiences):

Greg Norman, David Toms, Tom Lehman

[Forged4ever]

Greg Norman is a major jerk-off.....

 

 

Fairways & Greens My Friends,

RP

[mosesgolf]

Hey Bud, how ya doin? I hope that your a gettin to hit the ball and rackin up some more pars :)

 

Let's see, the most fun that I had would be first, Sam Snead, as I had the same Teacher as Maddie and as Sam was his Bro, I got the chance to play quite a few rounds with with him from the early 80's through the early/mid 90's before his health started to slide and he quit traveling north to the Burgh to see his Bro, Pete. He's as good as it gets and funnier than s***. My second would be John Daly. A lot of fun and still stay in touch. Three would be Ernie Els and Luke Donald. Class Class Acts. As Madison says, both are a Gentleman's Gentleman.

 

On the Ladies side, Stacy Lewis, Paula Creamer and Nancy Lopez. Though Stacy has a rep for being grumpy, across 27 holes, lunch, dinner and an evening with myself and my mother, she was a sweetheart.

 

Well, I hope that ya have a great season Bro and keep fighting the good fight :)

 

All the Best,

Richard

 

Richard

 

I nominate you for the "most interesting man in the world". ;)

Keep those cool stories coming.

[duck hook]

Tony Finau is first class in every way, he is the kind of kid that you would be very proud of, if he were your own child

[Forged4ever]

Allenby was the group in front of us in the 84 Lumber Pro-Am and John Daly said "Jake, watch this" and he plants it and sends a drive about 20-25 yards over Allenby's head in the fairway. Allenby knew who it was and he turns around and he flips John off. So we're cracking up and this was on #7 tee and there were no more encounters though I was talkin to John about a month or so later and he asked me if I remembered him driving into Allenby and I said of course and he said that Allenby got a letter from the tour for "unprofessional conduct," lmao. John received nothing and no one from the Tour ever asked him about it, lol.

 

Karma.....

 

It's a B****, hahaha

 

And so is Allenby :)

 

He Norman and Freddie would make a great group, lmao

 

They deserve each other

 

Stay Well My Friends :)

 

Fairways & Greens 4ever,

RP

[Beastmode Broker]

oh man, super disappointing to hear Freddie is a D0uche

he was my fav player growing up

[Forged4ever]

oh man, super disappointing to hear Freddie is a D0uche

he was my fav player growing up

Me too-

 

My Teacher told me some things as did his Bro and they got along with everyone and everyone loved em and then the encounters that I had, well, they say once is an occurrence, twice a trend, three times reality, lol.

 

He's really just a little divaish versus Norman is just rude-

 

I am too(divaish) but only around Maddie and those close to me, lmao

 

Have a Blessed Easter Bro :)

 

Golfingly Yours,

RP

[Titleist 670]

Guys who made good impressions on me (this is totally in passing at a tournament - PGA 2013):

 

Spieth, Justin Rose, Ryan Moore, Stenson (I think he has a big temper, but he has a good sense of humor too)

 

Guys who made a not so great impression:

 

Tom Watson. Two teenage kids asked him for an autograph. There was nobody, and I mean NOBODY around (this was during a practice round). He did not sign. He told him he'd "catch them later" and kept on walking, but we followed him and I don't think he ever did. I was pretty stunned he couldn't take 10 seconds to sign for them. And I'm not kidding - it was literally two people - he was playing alone walking from tee to green. It was early so there was nobody following him.

 

Of course this story does not make the man, and maybe he did catch up to them later, but I found it really, really odd.

[Titleist 670]

Guys who made good impressions on me (this is totally in passing at a tournament - PGA 2013):

 

Spieth, Justin Rose, Ryan Moore, Stenson (I think he has a big temper, but he has a good sense of humor too)

 

Guys who made a not so great impression:

 

Tom Watson. Two teenage kids asked him for an autograph. There was nobody, and I mean NOBODY around (this was during a practice round). He did not sign. He told him he'd "catch them later" and kept on walking, but we followed him and I don't think he ever did. I was pretty stunned he couldn't take 10 seconds to sign for them. And I'm not kidding - it was literally two people - he was playing alone walking from tee to green. It was early so there was nobody following him.

 

Of course this story does not make the man, and maybe he did catch up to them later, but I found it really, really odd.

 

Titleist 670 where was this tournament. My buddy tells me this exact story about Tom Watson from years ago. I swear it is EXACTLY as you described it.

 

It was at Oak Hill in NY. It was a Wednesday practice round - it was the par 3 6th hole if I remember correctly.

 

Tiger was playing with Mahan a group or two ahead, so all the fans were around them. Tom was by himself pretty much - I think he eventually caught up with Streelman's group, but it was as if nobody knew who he was. When I saw him basically blow off the two kids, it was pretty strange!

[larrybud]

Tiger seems like he'd be a great guy if he opened up to the media more

 

Yeah, I wonder why he doesn't do that? lol

[2bGood]

Matt Kutcher we the nicest one I dealt with. I have met lots of them, but Kuch was very cool to me during a practice round.

[EricWGolf]

I can confirm that Rory McIlroy and Brandon Grace have great personalities.

[megrover179]

For someone who is not in the industry and sucks at golf I have been blessed to meet a lot of professional golfers. Got shitfaced with Sam Torrance once. Best storyteller I have ever met. We emptied the bar of Guiness. He told a story about his 1st Masters and playing with a "big name pro" who he would not name. Back in the day before the front 9 was televised. Big name pro hits his ball to the edge of the treeline, then proceeds to walk into the woods. Mr. Torrance hit his ball close to the big name pro, sees the "big name pro's" ball and proceeds to call out to the pro, "Your ball is right here!", thinking he was doing him a favor. Eventually, the "big name pro" turns around and says, "Goddamn it Sam, Can't you see I hit it here so I could take a piss!"

 

Sam Snead......I was working at a resort that hosted a golf tournament. The fact that I had some knowledge of golf out side of the pro shop apparently made me qualified to run the "player hospitality". Well....an honorary starter was Mr. Sneed. There was a frost delay and I decided to sneak out back to smoke a cigarette. As soon as I look up after lighting up I am face to face with this dude who is older than my father (at the time) and built like a linebacker! With a big a** smile on his face he sticks out his hand and says "How do you do son, my name is Sam." At the time I knew who he was but I had no idea of his epic accomplishments......and I wasn't supposed to be smoking. All I knew about him was that every sleezy pawn shop that I had ever been in had a rack full of clubs with his name on them. He was as nice as he could be and all I wanted to do was get out of there. I still kick myself in the a** over that one. A one on one with Sam Snead.......my God, how stupid was I! And he wasn't just trying to be nice, he actually was bored and wanted to talk.

 

Gene Sarazen........just happened to be in the right place at the right time. An acquaintance of mine had met him before and I just so happened to be around when he showed up again. This was probably within a year or less of his passing. Again, at the time I knew who he was but I had no idea of his accomplishments.He had 2 people on each side of him helping him to walk.....pretty much carrying him. And he was small. And I mean tiny. To win a Masters, even back in those days, given his size.......the man must have had game! After a conversation that was probably 20 min. long I became a fan for life. He had a smile that would dissarm Ossama Bin Laden. One of the most charming human beings that I have ever had the privilege to meet.

 

 

to meet.

[KPH808]

Met Ricky Barnes at a NTO event last year and he was super cool, very nice guy.

[PZero]

Matt Kutcher we the nicest one I dealt with. I have met lots of them, but Kuch was very cool to me during a practice round.

 

My experiences around him were much different. IMO, he's a phony.

[awil]

Matt Kutcher we the nicest one I dealt with. I have met lots of them, but Kuch was very cool to me during a practice round.

 

My experiences around him were much different. IMO, he's a phony.

 

Kapalua TOC

Monday practice round on the range anyways kuch rolls up to the range which is like a million yards from the clubhouse and I'm the only fan on the range . He goes wanna bet how many shots in a row I can hit into the water bucket 20 yards out without a warmup

Puts the first 2 in the bucket and I bet him 10$ he can't do it on the bounce for the third time

He bounces one up and it hits the rims and doesn't go in . Then he signed a ball for me . Only thing he could have done in the situation was to have me start chipping lol which is probably 100> forbidden

Will always be a kuch fan