Golf's Search for a New Tiger Woods Seems Desperate

How bout some non Tiger tainted love?

Rory McIlroy put on a show this past weekend at the U.S. Open, winning the tournament by 8 strokes and setting a new record with a 268 total.  It was an impressive way to win your first major.  McIlroy has a great swing that makes driving the ball 300 plus yards down the middle of a fairway seem easy.  He follows that up with an impressive short game.  Add on top of all this that he is extremely likable.  He is young, charismatic, and friendly,  he smiles constantly, and seems genuinely respectful of both the game and the fans.  McIlroy is everything you would want in a super star, there is only one problem, he isn't a superstar yet.

K.J. Choi's Win Unmasks the Racism Still Prevalent in Golf.

This past Sunday, was a beautiful day in Ponte Vedra, Florida.  It was warm, but not hot, and the sporadic cloud cover brought shade throughout the day.  Unlike Saturday, which was rainy, Sunday was a perfect day for a golf tournament.

Attending the Players Championship at Sawgrass has become a yearly ritual for me.   I look forward to attending a practice round with my 6 year old cousin C.J. every year.  I love to see him get excited about a sport I enjoy so much.   The excitement started early this year when I ran into Phil Mickelson waiting in line for coffee at Starbucks.  All of those stories you hear about what a great guy Mickelson is just do not do him justice.  He was extremely nice and talked and joked with all of us in line for coffee.  He commented that the course played great the day before and he was looking forward to the weekend.  The barista at Starbucks wrote him a little message on his cup:  "Good Luck Phil, Go Get Em!"  To top it off, I was already extra excited this year having received a clubhouse pass for the final day of the tournament, now I was ecstatic!

Sunday's golf did not disappoint.  K.J. Choi and David Toms both played amazing golf all day long battling for the tournament lead. If you missed the final moments of this tournament, then you missed a great moment in sports.  Choi came rushing back to take the lead with a birdie on 17, only to see Tom's birdie 18 and force the playoff.  Then, back at 17, Toms missed a 3 foot putt to give Choi and opportunity to win, Choi took it.  After Choi made the putt to win the tournament, most of the crowd erupted in applause and cheers.  It was a great moment that quickly turned sour.

Almost as soon as Choi sunk the final putt, the comments began. "I hate that an American didn't win it," said one spectator.  Wait, what?  Last year, when Caucasian South African, Tim Clark beat out 5 or 6 Americans in the final stretch of the tournament, I didn’t hear a comment like that.  Why would K.J. Choi's win be any different than Tim Clarks?  

There were a lot of comments about "the Asian" or "the Korean."   I have not heard golf fans refer to a golfer by his ethnicity or nationality instead of his name in this tone before.  No one calls white golfers "the white guy."  One girl said, “There is a difference between being Korean and being from Korea."  I don't even understand the point this girl was trying to make—K.J. Choi is Korean and from Korea.  

It was not the fact that people were racist that surprised me; it was that they spoke these comments out loud. Some showed open disdain at a Korean or as they put it "Asian" winning the tournament at all.  The surprising thing was that everyone around seemed to accept the comments.  No one appeared to be angered by the way these people were acting; no one called them on their blatantly racist behavior. 

K.J. Choi is a respected member of the PGA tour.  Choi is a kind and generous individual by all accounts; he lives in Dallas Texas and is a devote Christian.  Choi didn't deserve the treatment he received from the spectators at the Players Championship, whether he was in ear shot or not.  No one deserves to be singled out based on their race or nationality.  To say "that Asian" is to try to dehumanize the winner based on your own insecurities.  "That Asian" didn't win the tournament, K.J. Choi did.

Most of the fans at the tournament were Caucasian upper-middle-class individuals, yuppie suburbanites. They were dressed in their best for the tournament, as it is also the biggest social event in Ponte Vedra, Florida each year. Popped collars and too-short dresses were in abundance; combine that with a lot of beer and wine and I guess they felt insulated among their own and felt they could share their true feelings.  

The PGA has come a long way in getting racism out of golf.  I feel confident in saying that the PGA tour itself is not racist—in any way.  Maybe it’s time for them to take a step toward educating the fans, because, judging from this weekend, golf still has a ways to go.  Early in the week, I saw how golf fans treated Phil Mickelson, I hope one day they treat K.J. Choi the same way.

I am trying to invent an emoticon for the golf clap:  %...%...%

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