Why The R&A Hate Asian Players
First 14 year old Chinese player Guan Tianlang gets picked on by guest R&A referee John Paramor at The Masters and hit with a slow play penalty. Then at The Open, Japanese sensation Hideki Matsuyama, while over a hole ahead of the group behind, is hit with the same penalty; taking over 40 seconds to hit the ball. Notwithstanding the fact that Matsuyama was close to the lead and delayed by having to walk forward to find a line for his shot, he got hammered.
The 21 year old still tied 6th winning $247,809, but without the penalty would have tied third with Scott, Westwood and Poulter and won $391,627.
It seems like the R&A have Asian player’s cards marked as slow players and are worried it might become the culture of the world’s emerging golf market. They’ve chosen public humiliation as the best approach. Video shows that several players including Tiger Woods, Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson took well over 40 seconds (when playing second) to hit difficult shots at The Open. Were they put on the clock or penalized? Hell no. It would be too controversial, it would ruin the event, the players would kick up a fuss; they might not come again.
So why were Tianlang and Matsuyama targeted? Let me put it like this:
You think John Paramor is going to penalize a European Tour player in a Major? A player that he meets week in week out and is on first name terms with? Highly unlikely.
You think the R&A is going to penalize a PGA Tour player in a Major? And risk deepening the chasm between the European and PGA Tours? Highly unlikely.
So who is left? The Asian players, many of whom don’t speak great English, and are accepting by nature.
Johnson Wagner who was playing with Hideki Matsuyama at the time of his penalty said it stinks and he HATES slow play. I HATE slow play even more and think it’s cowardly by the R&A. If they really want to tackle slow play, they need to grow a pair of balls and penalize the BIG players also.
Rant over!
Comments
Post a Comment