The Open 2019: Legendary golf coach says ‘idiot’ Matt Wallace should be banned

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — Whether you’re his student or not, legendary golf coach Pete Cowen doesn’t mince words. But there’s no denying that his methods work. He’s the coach of multiple major champions, including the short game coach of Brooks Koepka, who lavished praised on Cowen’s methods just yesterday — even after he rated Brooks’ short game just a 4/10.

“Pete’s been probably one of the best things that’s happened to me… It’s fun to be around that generation of coaches. They don’t make them like them anymore, for sure.”

Which brings us to Wednesday when, a day before the 2019 Open Championship, Pete Cowen gave a no-holding-back interview to The Times of London.

The subject was Matt Wallace, who came in for some heavy criticism from golf fans after he was caught berating his caddie during a recent tournament.

I watched him play the 18th and this is the only dialogue with the caddie on my DVR pic.twitter.com/tbPXZReTmS

— Matt Sylla (@mattsylla) June 24, 2019

Cowen came down hard on the Englishman, who said he should be banned because his actions were a form of cheating,

“He is a complete idiot and the European Tour has to do something about it…It’s a form of cheating because you’re putting your opponent off. The best thing would have been if his caddie had dropped his bag — I’d have chucked it in the bloody lake — but that wouldn’t do Dave McNeilly any good.”

It’s some harsh justice there from Cowen, but you have to respect such an accomplished golf coach speaking his mind so candidly.

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