HOUSTON — Adam Hadwin, Patton Kizzire and Sahith Theegala share at least a few things in common. For one, they’re all PGA Tour winners. For another, they’re all in the field at the Texas Children’s Houston Open this week.
They also share one other decidedly less noble distinction: each threw a highly publicized fit of golfing rage at the Valspar Championship at Innisbrook Resort last week.
In case you missed the viral clips, Kizzire punted his putter high above Copperhead Course’s 15th green; Hadwin slammed a wedge into a sprinkler head just off the 10th green; and Theegala, after a wayward tee shot on the par-3 4th hole, punished his iron by flinging it into the ground.
Each said he has been fined or expects to be fined by the PGA Tour, and, in interviews Wednesday at Memorial Park, each player also expressed varying degrees of remorse for his actions.
“It’s a fine line we tread, and it’s a frustrating game,” Kizzire said. “I went over the line last week.”
Added Theegala of his club chuck: “There should be some consequences for doing things like that; I know I’m feeling the consequences. But what golfer doesn’t feel like doing something like that at times?”
Punts? Tomahawks? Tempers flaring at difficult Valspar Championship
Indeed, anyone who plays golf at any level surely knows what Theegala means. For many players, it doesn’t take much to stir the golf beast within: a topped drive; a chunked chip; a yanked 5-footer. Question is, whether you choose to suppress the beast or let it out.
“I know I’m getting fined for not setting a good example, but what amateur golfer can’t relate to that?” Kizzire said of his putter boot. “I’m not proud of what I did, but I can certainly kick it further than that. I know I can. I held in my emotions in for three weeks out here, but then I really let it out.”
World No. 2 Rory McIlroy, who has had his own share of televised meltdowns, said he can relate to his fellow players’ actions but also that there’s a difference between, say, venting under your breath after a missed putt and turning your club into a projectile.
“It can be relatable, but at the same time you want to try to set a proper example,” McIlroy said. “You don’t want 10-year-old kids punting their putters across the green every time they miss a putt. But at the same time, it shows that we are human.”
No display of emotion at the Valspar was more spectacular than Hadwin’s. When he hammered the sprinkler head, water shot out of the device like a geyser, leaving Hadwin scrambling to repress the flow.
“I didn’t know there was a sprinkler there when I struck the ground, so I was really more embarrassed than anything else,” Hadwin said Wednesday. “Everyone who has ever played golf knows how frustrating it can be, but I have to control myself a little bit more. I’ve got no excuse but to gain control out here.”
