Sabbatini is quick about complaints
By JASON SCHNEIDER, The Times-Union


Amy Sabbatini's T-shirt said it all: "KEEP UP!"


Rory Sabbatini, Amy's husband, is known for his speedy play and short temper when it comes to slow players.

Sabbatini's group, which included Tour rookie Camilo Villegas and Nick Faldo -- who is a slower player -- was warned once for slow play during the first round of The Players Championship on Thursday. According to Sabbatini, the group was warned twice more on Friday.

Following the second round, Sabbatini, who missed the cut at 9 over, complained about the lack of enforcement when it came to the PGA Tour's pace-of-play policy.

Sabbatini's group played Friday's back nine in 3 hours and finished the round in just over 5 1/2 hours.

"There are certainly some people that could use some help with their pace of play," Sabbatini said. "From my understanding [the rules officials] are not enforcing the rules. ... It's not my job to enforce the rules. You can't tell the players, here's a rule book, go enforce the rules."

Faldo said that Sabbatini called Tour rules official Mark Russell at home Thursday night to complain, and Faldo did not take the high road when asked about Amy Sabbatini's shirt.

"It's very embarrassing to bring their sexual problems to the golf course," Faldo said. "Poor fellow, he has enough problems as it is without her announcing it to the world."

Sabbatini and Villegas were both generally quick to hit their balls, but Faldo, even after he clearly was going to miss the cut took several practice swings before addressing his ball, only to back off, take more practice swings and re-address the ball. Faldo finished 11 over.

Sabbatini appeared to take the slow play in stride and shook Faldo's hand following the round, but indirectly criticized the six-time major championship winner when asked about his group's speed of play.

"Villegas was a complete professional," Sabbatini said. "And I'll leave it at that."

Sabbatini made headlines last year when he hit past notoriously slow-playing Ben Crane at the Booz Allen, a major breach of golf etiquette. Sabbatini apologized and since then he has tried to slow the pace of his game, but still is frustrated at slow play.

The Tour's pace-of-play policy outlines how much time each player and group has to take a shot and play a hole. Groups that are behind time are warned and players can be fined for slow play. Severe violators of the rules can be assessed stroke penalties, though that is incredibly rare.

Haha. Faldo's response is amazing!!!

A quality remark from my fellow Englishman Mr Faldo. I bet no other player would give such a witty answer to Rory's complaint!!

Awesome response by Faldo!

Faldo's brilliant response shows why he's so great in the booth.

Unfortunately, his rounds of 76 & 79 prove that's where he belongs.

Great response by Faldo! Rory seems to get himself into controversy all the time, he needs to learn to shut his mouth or handle situations in a more profesional manner

Faldo did a good job to shake it off and, in the end, defuse what could have been a war of words. Mrs. Sabbatini's shirt was a silly, immature idea, and if Rory knew about it in advance, he should have told her not to wear it.

That said, Faldo's wit and the Sabbatinis obnoxiouxness do not negate the fact that Faldo and plenty of pros do play way too slow and for the good of the game need to address their speed of play.

I agree with Rory's point about slow play, but be professional about it. To have your wife wear that shirt shows a total lack of class. She dresses like she stole his heart in the champagne room. Props to Faldo, that's why I like him better than Miller. He has a great knowledge of the game and a sense of humor too.

Mabye if the officials would actually enforce the rules Sabbitini and his wife wouldn't have to be so vocal. Why was Faldo taking forever when he was clearly, without a doubt going to miss the cut? I don't care how hard the course is, 5 1/2 hours is waaaaaaaay too long.

Faldo's remark was far more classless and crass than the shirt. Besides, how would he know?

Slow play on tour is a big problem for other players, TV broadcasters, and the fans. Instead of brushing it under the rug, the tour should penalize (strokes) players like Langer, Harrington, Crane, and Day. They disrupt the play of other players and make on site and TV viewing tedious.

Faldo's reply was pretty funny. But when you think about it, this is one of those cases that proves why it's better to show some restraint and not just speak your mind. A lot of us wish the robotic tour players would open up a little and wonder why they do not, well now that Faldo did that you can see why it's not often a great idea. It sounds funny at first, but after a bit even Faldo has to regret saying that.

Perhaps the Sabbatinis have some problems, really the tour has serious problems with slow play, but worse as much as I like Faldo, his comments only bring embarrassment to a great player. Is his game in such a sad shape that he has to cover it up with these deflecting snide remarks? I hope not.

When Faldo is in the booth, would he have nothing to say about a player taking proactive swings, lining up, then backing off to take more practice swings over and over? Of course he would, and it would not be all that nice. Faldo, Tirico, and friends are the same guys laughing at Sergio and counting how many times he regripped the club over the ball. Short memories these guys have.

"Faldo's remark was far more classless and crass than the shirt. Besides, how would he know?"

Don't you get the joke in it or something!?

I don't think for one minute that Faldo will regret or retract his words because he has always been a player who says what's on his mind eg his victory speach at Muirfield when he won the Open, thanking the press from the bottom of my.... .... heart of my bottom perhaps!

The Queen should get her a** into gear and knight this great chap. Roll on Sir Nick!!

Faldo has a great sense of humor, that is hilarious. Sabbatini has a point though, slow play by certain players on tour has been around for a long time. The PGA tour has really done very little to address and solve the problem. When a group fell behind all players in that group were on the clock regardless of who was causing the delays. I believe now that they can time individuals within a group which is a better idea, however, until they start assessing 2 stroke penalties on a regular basis the slow play will continue on tour.

I do wish they would enforce the pace issue on tour. It seems like Rory is beating a dead horse. I think Faldo's comment were hysterical. I love this guy. I always have. His dry sense of humor is right up my alley. I really don't think there are going to be any negative ramifications from his comments.

He may have been joking, but just went too far. There is a big difference between a general comment about the press and a very nasty comment about an individual.

As for knighting him, who cares? This is no longer the 18th century and the Royals serve no purpose other than to remind the English when they were the dominant power in the world. What does the Queen do other than spend a lot of money and wave?

I loved Nick's comments. I think they are hilarious. When Rory wins as many majors as Nick then he can call him out. Until then he needs to keep those things between himself and the tour. The only thing Rory accomplishes is making an a$$ out of himself everytime he opens his mouth and everytime his wife is present.

If the tour figures out how to eliminate slow play then they can come down to my nic of the woods.... it is so slow over here on the beach as well.

That's no way to talk about the Canadian Head of State, Her Majesty the Queen of Canada.

I'm on Rory's side. Slow play is bad I hate it very much.

And while I agree with stamping out slow play, Sabbatinis delivery of the the message, and his wifes, was juvenile to say the least. Playground stuff. Sir Nicholas Faldo-in-waiting's response was tongue in cheek.

Nick... you're the greatest. That dry English wit is piercing! Take Rory seriously after he posts his sixth major win, to match your total.

What a comeback by Nick.

I agree that the pace of play should be addressed and strictly enforced. You start to peanalize a few high profile players and the rest will pick up the pace.

Granted Nicks comments are hillarious and Amy's shirt is Hillarious but I think both should use some professional judgement and use some more class in getting thier points accross.

I'm not 100 percent agreeing with Rory, but Nick only proved he is a slow smartass.

I used to think that Sabbatini was a big dick now I am not so sure

Well done Nick. But I understand Rory's concern. That is a long round of golf for 3, especially if they are not waiting on the group in front.

Could Sabbatini's wife be golf's version of Anna Benson--yikes!! And just because you agree with one argument he made doesn't make him any less an a$$...there was a Golf Digest article a few years back asking caddies who had the biggest ego on the tour and guess who won...

i'm sorry but i don't care what RS is able to accomplish or how good of a year he is having---he needs to shut his mouth. the guys are at the player's yearly meeting, maybe he could make his point there. to have his wife (a la vijay's caddie) make his statements for him is ridiculous.

Faldo is an ambassador in my eyes and not someone to be called out. sabbatini admits that he plays too fast in addition to some guys playing too slow. if more tour members agreed with him, don't you think the tour would be more strict with fining? then again, they don't make their fines public so we'll never know.

DITTO THAT. I had a thread in regards to Amy Sabbatini in a previous thread (link below). This just further gives me the impression that she's a classless act. I loved Faldo's response - her public comments are just getting preposterous at this point - I can't imagine why Tim Finchem isn't mentioning this to Rory.

http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=20307

Maybe Rory can get Viagra as a sponsor.

Jesus, I average a 91 and my rounds only take 3 1/2 hours! I doubt another 2 hours would really help me!

That being said, Faldo's comments were awesome! Let's see if Amy Sabb can take it as well as she dishes it out. My guess is she'll cry to the media.

You know what, slow play doesn't bother me at all...why not enjoy being out there in our case, and in the tour player's case, realizing how difficult it even is to attain a card (not to mention keep it), and the dollar to stroke ratio they play for, and I guarantee I (I'll just speak for myself) would make damn sure that I was ready to hit my shot.

sabbatini needs to go jump in a lake. he is worthless as a person, and clearly he chose a wife that is also worthless.

That Faldo is a funny guy. And slow as hell.

Rory definitely suffers from "small-man" disease.

What a jerk. If I was playing with Faldo he could take as long as he wanted over a shot. Rory will be lucky to a career half as good as Nick's. And he should drop his wife back off at the gentlemans club where he found her.

Classic Faldo. I love that. Hey, the guy won 2 masters and was my favorite player for a few years in the 80s and 90s. He probably should speed it up a little, but I have no problems watching Faldo methodically play, the guy is pure , eventhough he might be struggling a bit right now. As long as those guys were not holding up play i say so what.

I agree 100% that slow play should be dealt with. More so on public courses than on the PGA Tour, but yes, on the Tour as well. However, the TPC was playing very difficult this week (as we all know), and Nick isn't a guy to throw in the towel just because he's missing the cut.

As for Rory's comments, and Nick's slow play - if the Tour is serious about speeding up play, they need to ACT serious about it. Serious penalties, no second chances. Until then, what cause is there for a naturally slow player to speed up? No penalty - no problem, from their point of view. Faldo's slow, but so was Jack Nicklaus (I once heard a commentator - "Jack certainly NEVER hit a shot until he was ready...".)

Rory is a prick. It is not his job to police slow play, and if you want to influence people, you DON'T do it by throwing tantrums, walking to the next tee, having your wife wear trash-talking shirts, etc. To say that shows a lack of class is a colassal understatement. If I was Tim Finchem, I believe I'd suspend him or fine him heavily for his behavior. All he has accomplished is the lack of respect of many fans, the irritation of most of his playing partners and their friends, and quite honestly has given fast players a bad name.

Maybe Rory can petition the Tour that he and John Daly tee off FIRST every morning, regardless of their position on the leaderboard. They can finish in 2 1/2 hours, both shoot 80, and go home to their white trash wives! (Okay, that was unnecessary, but so what...)

Faldo is a legend. Sabbatini's wife's shirt was atrocious, and sabatini needs to learn that when you are playing for 1mil. each week, acting like a child is not acceptable. Slow play, however is also not acceptable, but there are other ways that he could have addressed the problem other than throwing a tantrum. Can somebody please screw his head back on?

I went out to my local course today (Whispering Pines in MI), played 18 in 2 hours!! I was not hurrying either. Took my time, dropped an extra ball here and there when I didn't catch one quite right. That is how golf should be played. Granted I was the only person there but still.