Maybe it's a sign of the times, or maybe the young Irish lad decided to take a page out of Tiger Woods' not-so-sportsmanlike on-course shenanigans over the years. Or it might even be that since he ditched that Russian tennis player a while back, McIlroy hasn't been "getting any". At any rate, in a show of frustration, the Blarney Boy just pulled a decidely low-class move.
At the Cadillac/Doral Open in Miami, after hitting his tee shot into one of the many lakes, McIlroy "helicoptered" a club into the same lake. Whoop, whoop, whoop, splash. Not cool, though it was semi-impressive how much length he got on his toss.
But unlike baseball, basketball, hockey, and certainly football, professional golf is supposed to be a game played by gentlemen. While participants in the first four sports are always trying to bend the rules, and yes, even cheat if they can get away with it -- golf is supposed to be above that. They've got rules on top of subsections regarding every possible situation and no pro golfer would even consider running afoul of them -- at least not intentionally. It's a game of honor.
In that respect, the IRS could take a clause or 3000 out of the handy-dandy PGA guide book or vice versa. Either way, most everyday average folks don't know what the hell is going on with the fine print, but I digress.
Chances are, Rory's little temper tantrum will soon be forgotten. But it shouldn't be. Yours truly freely admits he is not any more up to snuff with the PGA code than he is with Big Brother's labyrinth of tax rules. Yet I suspect somewhere in the golfer's manual there is a paragraph or three devoted to "unsportsmanlike conduct". And if not, there should be.
Thing is, though, unlike the BBHF sports mentioned above, golf doesn't have any penalties on the books when it comes to such infractions. Even the announcers quiver in their politically correct suits over merely chastising such boorish behavior on the air. This is wrong. If it's supposed to be a gentlemen's game, then why shouldn't a player incur a penalty when he acts like like a spoiled third grader throwing a tantrum on the course?
A few suggestions.
Cursing, even under one's breath, is an automatic one shot penalty.
A player or his caddie being rude to any member of the gallery that paid big bucks to be there would be a two shot penalty.
Pounding a club into the ground after a bad shot would cost them a stroke.
What's up with these guys and their bananas? Allowing them to eat one of those on the course will only get worse. What's next? A Big Mac and fries? Extra crispy chicken from the Colonel? A deep-dish pizza or burying their mugs in a half gallon of Ben and Jerry's? Please. We don't need this. Besides, these guys had all morning to eat breakfast and/or lunch, relieve themselseves, and they're only on the course for about 3 hours. You don't see them running off to the porta-potties during a round -- so they should be able to get by without a snack. Bottom line? Any food that comes out of their golf bag is a two stroke penalty.
That leaves the question about how McIlroy would be punished for his latest childish stunt in a perfect world.
When a professional golfer, much less the #1 player in the world, helicopters a club into a lake during a tournament it should come with consequences. A two stroke penalty is a possibility, but if they're already playing bad and likely won't make the cut anyway, it would seem futile.
So why not suspend them from the next big tournament? Sure, there are always tourneys going on in Europe, Asia, and elsewhere, and a guy like McIlroy could take his talents elsewhere in search of a few bucks against lesser competition.
But if a rule was put in place that if tossing a club into a lake would result in a player being banned from the next MAJOR tournament, which will be the Masters in about a month, methinks Rory might well have maintained the professional decorum that was expected of him in the first place.
If it's supposed to be a gentlemen's game of honor, then the players should act like it, lest golf fall into the cess pool of what so many other sports have become with their "flops", "who me's", and all around disregard of the rules as far as the players think they can get away with.
Sure, from police actions, to politics, to courtrooms, to various other causes, most things have become about winning these days, but truth and honor seem to have been lost in the shuffle.
And that's a shame.
In the world of sports, golf is the last bastion of men and women maintaining a high sense of dignity while they compete. They should continue to be held to the highest standards because, if even the slightest lapses in decorum are overlooked, it will only get worse like the other sports already have. It's just not-so-good human nature.
Again, likely little will be made of Rory McIlroy's gross breach of professional conduct -- but it should.
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