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© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Poulter calls Matsuyama idiot for damaging green
By DOUG FERGUSON DORAL, Florida©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
17 Comments
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KnowBetter
Not defending the stupid move of slamming the green in anger but since when does a 13mm gash to the green equates to a crater? Oh yeah Matsuyama "buried his putter in the 13th green 5 ft from the hole, Referee had to repair the crater. Because he didn't" "Buried his putter", how did they ever find it?
John Becker
It doesn't sound like much until it's in your putting line, and making or missing a putt can change your income by many thousands of dollars. Aside from the purely pragmatic issue, it's a pretty serious breach of etiquette.
mrkobayashi
Did Ian forget he smashed a tee marker out of frustration and got fined in 2007? Maybe he's just annoyed that a 22 year old is ranked higher than him
paulinusa
"...since when does a 13mm gash to the green equates to a crater?"
KnowBetter, golfers consider a tiny blemish on the green left by shoe cleats a big deal.
USNinJapan2
KnowBetter
You should never even step inside three feet of the hole so as not to leave any marks or indentations. Slamming a putter into the green five feet from the hole where your ball would be traveling slow enough to be significantly affected by even the slightest indentation is really really unprofessional and inexcusable, especially at the PGA level. Golfers often act out of anger/frustration but rarely do anything that will affect other players in the field because that's simply selfish and unsportsmanlike. Matsuyama could have done any number of things to vent his frustration like throwing his club, but the reason Poulter criticized him like this is precisely because golf is a game played on your honor against yourself, not others, and actively doing something to negatively impact a competitor's game is particularly despicable.
ratbert
Poulter has right to be angry, although doing it over twitter rather than seeking out Matsuyama directly might be another issue. Matsuyama admitted his mistake & taking steps to correct it, just another process in his learning curve, following being penalized for slow play at the British (?) Open.
GW
Ha, I say make a bunch of these little obstacles on the greens, make the game more interesting I say!!!
Yardley
Poulter was a bit immature himself choosing to vent over Twitter. It would have been more adult and professional to simply speak to Matsuyama directly.
xyberc
It takes a few seconds to twit while finding Matsuyama to speak to him takes more efforts. It's an electronic world. Some people are now used to twit almost everything on their minds.
realdoll
i wonder if Poulter ever apologized for the "loads of mistakes" he makes.. I doubt it. He seems like a sore looser that finds excuses for everything. Matsuyama manned up and apologized which is hard to do, he is the bigger man.
lostrune2
Both players are right and wrong. Poulter was right to criticize Matsuyama but not so harsh on Twitter. Matsuyama was right to apologize but shouldn't had done it without fixing it in the first place.
oldman_13
Once again Twitter and social media network proving how valuable they are to society.
What a hypocrite and classless boor poulter is.
Matsuyama showed way more class than poulter ever did in his career.
ratpack
I'm guessing the Japanese media would have been up in arms if someone else had of damaged the green with a putter tantram and Matsuyama had of been in the following group and missed a putt because his ball had to roll over the patch that had to be fixed by the rules official. Matsuyama is very lucky he wasn't fined. Anyone who plays golf knows that damaging the green (especially in an event where a missed putt may end up costing you tens of thousands of dollars) is just plain out stupid.
Kimokekahuna Hawaii
Maty ended up beating down the idio-dick Englishman by 6 shots... if you want to call someone out publicly.. you better back it up by beating him on the golf course .... and Poulter is a fool for making it a public outrage when a face to face would have gotten the point across without embarrassment or pompous twitter rage ... Ian Poulter's should worry about how offensive his wardrobe, its dread awful.
Yardley
That's why they call it Twit.
wasabizuki
He's a young man and he'll learn from this. I don't think Poulter's remarks were necessarily unwarranted, but I agree he didn't need to take to social media. It's really an embarassment to both of them because it can't be taken back. If it had been face to face then neither would have been embarassed. Lesson learned.