Brian Davis lost a tournament — and upwards of a million dollars — but won the respect of the golfing world for a supreme act of sportsmanship at the Verizon Heritage event at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, on Sunday. The 35-year-old Englishman played superbly to get into a sudden-death play-off with Jim Furyk, only to call a penalty on himself at the first extra hole for inadvertently brushing a reed on his backswing while playing out of a greenside hazard with his third shot.
It cost him any chance of a maiden victory on the PGA Tour in the US — although Furyk looked most likely at that stage to seal victory after hitting his third shot close to the hole. Gary Evans, Davis's coach and former tour player, was full of praise for his fellow Englishman. “Brian has always worn his heart on his sleeve on the golf course,” Evans said. “He’s not the easiest guy in the world to watch. He can get down on himself but I didn’t expect anything else from him. He’s a guy that believes in the game.
“It is appropriate that at a time when the game has been dragged through the mud over the last six months — and understandably so when the sport has been hurt by the actions of certain individuals — that Brian’s behaviour proves the game’s ethos is still intact. I feel gutted for the guy but incredibly proud. It could have cost him $1 million in prize money and bonuses but it has never been about the money for Brian. He won’t give the loss of money a second thought. He wanted to win so badly because he wants to prove himself playing on possibly the strongest tour in the world against the world’s best players.”
Furyk, who won $1 million compared to Davis’s $615,000, said: “To have the tournament come down that way is definitely not the way I wanted to win. It’s obviously a tough loss for him and I respect and admire what he did.” For his part, Davis felt he had no choice but to call the foul on himself. “It was one of those things,” he said. “I thought I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I thought we’d check on TV, and indeed there was movement.”
3 comments:
Not that familiar with golf, can someone please explain the penalty to me? :)
Basically, he touched a twig.
Rule 13.4 forbids players from moving loose impediments in hazards and as the reeds surrounding his ball were not attached to the ground he was not allowed to touch them in the process of making his swing.
"This little twig was sticking out, six inches from behind the ball, but I didn't think I would touch it," said Davis. "I took a big swipe, but it was the weirdest thing. I didn't feel myself touching the twig, but I saw something move. I wasn't sure if my club had made contact or not, but I called Slugger over and asked him to check. The videos showed it had and that was that. End of story."
What a daft rule. You'd have to think that almost have to hit some things laying on the ground.
I'll just stick with rugby.
Post a Comment