‘I hate this golf course so much’: Pro delivers 1 of rawest interviews
Sean Crocker hits a shot on Friday on the 10th hole at Emirates Golf Club.
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“This is a brutal game.”
“It just always gets me.”
“I [expletive] hate this golf course so much.”
“I can’t figure it out.”
“I got skunked today.”
“I didn’t make one fricking birdie.”
No, Sean Crocker wasn’t happy. But here he was.
He’d just shot rounds of even-par 72 and three-over 75 at Emirates Golf Club, and he missed the weekend cut by three shots at the Dubai Desert Classic. But Crocker cooperated anyway on Friday in something fashioned as the Green Room, a new interview vehicle from the folks at the DP World Tour. On Thursday, Haotong Li sat down in a chair inside the booth. Last week, during the Dubai Invitational, other pros did, including Crocker, and a computerized-sounding voice asked questions.
On Friday, Crocker got just this:
“What do you want to get off your chest today?”
And yes, he was open. Honest. Raw.
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Before we give you his full, 80-second response, please know a few things. The 27-year-old who grew up in California was in the tournament through his victory in 2022 at the Hero Open, his lone win on the DP World Tour since turning pro in 2017. At the Dubai Desert Classic, he’s made two cuts in seven starts, and his results before this year look this way — last year, he shot rounds of 69 and 74 and missed the cut by a shot; in 2022, he shot rounds of 73 and 78 and missed the cut by six shots; in 2021, he shot rounds of 71, 73, 73 and 72 and made the cut by a shot; in 2020, he shot rounds of 72, 72, 75 and 76 and made the cut by three shots; in 2019, he shot rounds of 72 and 70 and missed the cut by a shot; and in 2018, he shot rounds of 69 and 71 and missed the cut by a shot.
One other thing.
The sincerity in a moment of frustration is noted.
Here is the complete exchange, started by Crocker:
“Round two.”
“Welcome back, Sean.”
“Yup.”
“What do you want to get off your chest today?”
“This is a brutal game, isn’t it? Um … [bleeped out],” Crocker began.
“Yeah, it’s a tough one,” he continued. “Like, you have a good first week out and you kinda want to keep it going and there’s just some things about certain courses each year that you just can’t seem to figure out. This is one of them for me. It just always gets me.
“And it feels like I’m always right around that cut line with a few holes to go and it’s either I’ll get a birdie here and just miss this cut here, always, or I’ll push it and like today, I’ll drop one or two more shots and be miles out. And it’s just, I don’t know, like, I want to say these words, but like, I also don’t because I enjoy this golf course, but also I [bleeped out] hate this golf course so much.
“And I don’t know what it is about it — I can’t figure it out. And there’s just — I mean, I think this is my sixth or seventh year playing this golf course, and I think I made only one cut, my first year. And I’ve continued each year after that to miss it by one or two pretty much every year after that. And you come in here, and you kind of have a good mindset, and you want to feel calm, and my game felt like it was in a good place and yeah, I mean, I got skunked today.
“I mean, I lost my pro status technically in 18 holes of golf around this golf course. I didn’t make one fricking birdie.”
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