Opinion & Analysis
Faldo’s ‘commercial’ dig at Rickie Fowler was narcissistic, unfair and hypocritical
This week, Rickie Fowler opened up on his current struggles on the course, describing the enormous frustration he’s going through and the toll it’s even taking on his life at home.
Instead of Fowler being commended for his honesty during the most challenging period of his career to date, he found himself attacked. Not just by some nameless, faceless troll on social media either, but by a six-time major winner turned talking head: Nick Faldo.
Replying to Golf Digest’s article on Fowler, the Englishman decided he’d take a swipe at Fowler’s commercial success, saying:
“Good news is if he misses the Masters he can shoot another six commercials that week!”
He then doubled down on the comment, highlighting his own excellent achievements in the sport while knocking Fowler who is still looking for his maiden major win, posting shortly after: “What would you rather have, a boatload of cash or your name in three green books?”
Had Faldo bothered to read the article in question, then he’d have seen that Fowler is extremely hungry and putting in hours of practice to get back to the heights that saw him once ranked inside the world’s top 5.
If Fowler was content to do commercials instead of grinding away on the course as Faldo suggests, why will this week at Bay Hill mark his 6th appearance in the last seven weeks on the PGA Tour?
That schedule just doesn’t fit Nick’s narrative that Fowler is satisfied with things in his professional life.
Sadly, Faldo’s dig at Rickie had nothing to do with his golf game, nor did it even acknowledge how hard he is trying to turn things around.
It was a petty knock at a universally well-liked player from his peers to fans alike because he happens to do well for himself outside of the course as well as on it.
And let’s not forget how good Fowler has been on it, five PGA Tour wins (including The Players), 2 European Tour wins, and 11 top-ten finishes at majors—and he’s still just 32.
All that the Englishman’s cheap shot at Fowler’s commercial success did was amplify the undercurrent of jealousy within Faldo, who spends the majority of his time on social media plugging and endorsing a golf shoe.
Does anyone really think that Faldo wouldn’t snap up Rickie’s commercial opportunities if they presented themselves to him?
To knock Fowler’s current level of play is fair game, but to suggest he’d be happy to miss the Masters so that he can “shoot another six commercials that week” is out of line and does a disservice to the effort he puts in each day to get better at his craft.
Fowler has demonstrated time and time again that he is a class act, an excellent ambassador for the sport, and he deserves much better than a blindsided attack on Twitter from a prominent figure in golf media.
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19th Hole
Vincenzi’s LIV Golf Singapore betting preview: Course specialist ready to thrive once again
After another strong showing in Australia, LIV Golf will head to Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore looking to build off of what was undoubtedly their best event to date.
Sentosa Golf Club sits on the southern tip of Singapore and is one of the most beautiful courses in the world. The course is more than just incredible scenically; it was also rated 55th in Golf Digest’s top-100 courses in 2022-2023 and has been consistently regarded as one of the best courses in Asia. Prior to being part of the LIV rotation, the course hosted the Singapore Open every year since 2005.
Sentosa Golf Club is a par 71 measuring 7,406 yards. The course will require precise ball striking and some length off the tee. It’s possible to go low due to the pristine conditions, but there are also plenty of hazards and difficult spots on the course that can bring double bogey into play in a hurry. The Bermudagrass greens are perfectly manicured, and the course has spent millions on the sub-air system to keep the greens rolling fast. I spoke to Asian Tour player, Travis Smyth, who described the greens as “the best [he’s] ever played.”
Davis Love III, who competed in a Singapore Open in 2019, also gushed over the condition of the golf course.
“I love the greens. They are fabulous,” the 21-time PGA Tour winner said.
Love III also spoke about other aspects of the golf course.
“The greens are great; the fairways are perfect. It is a wonderful course, and it’s tricky off the tee.”
“It’s a long golf course, and you get some long iron shots. It takes somebody hitting it great to hit every green even though they are big.”
As Love III said, the course can be difficult off the tee due to the length of the course and the trouble looming around every corner. It will take a terrific ball striking week to win at Sentosa Golf Club.
In his pre-tournament press conference last season, Phil Mickelson echoed many of the same sentiments.
“To play Sentosa effectively, you’re going to have a lot of shots from 160 to 210, a lot of full 6-, 7-, 8-iron shots, and you need to hit those really well and you need to drive the ball well.”
Golfers who excel from tee to green and can dial in their longer irons will have a massive advantage this week.
Stat Leaders at LIV Golf Adelaide:
Fairways Hit
1.) Louis Oosthuizen
2.) Anirban Lahiri
3.) Jon Rahm
4.) Brendan Steele
5.) Cameron Tringale
Greens in Regulation
1.) Brooks Koepka
2.) Brendan Steele
3.) Dean Burmester
4.) Cameron Tringale
5.) Anirban Lahiri
Birdies Made
1.) Brendan Steele
2.) Dean Burmester
3.) Thomas Pieters
4.) Patrick Reed
5.) Carlos Ortiz
LIV Golf Individual Standings:
1.) Joaquin Niemann
2.) Jon Rahm
3.) Dean Burmester
4.) Louis Oosthuizen
5.) Abraham Ancer
LIV Golf Team Standings:
1.) Crushers
2.) Legion XIII
3.) Torque
4.) Stinger GC
5.) Ripper GC
LIV Golf Singapore Picks
Sergio Garcia +3000 (DraftKings)
Sergio Garcia is no stranger to Sentosa Golf Club. The Spaniard won the Singapore Open in 2018 by five strokes and lost in a playoff at LIV Singapore last year to scorching hot Talor Gooch. Looking at the course setup, it’s no surprise that a player like Sergio has played incredible golf here. He’s long off the tee and is one of the better long iron players in the world when he’s in form. Garcia is also statistically a much better putter on Bermudagrass than he is on other putting surfaces. He’s putt extremely well on Sentosa’s incredibly pure green complexes.
This season, Garcia has two runner-up finishes, both of them being playoff losses. Both El Camaleon and Doral are courses he’s had success at in his career. The Spaniard is a player who plays well at his tracks, and Sentosa is one of them. I believe Sergio will get himself in the mix this week. Hopefully the third time is a charm in Singapore.
Paul Casey +3300 (FanDuel)
Paul Casey is in the midst of one of his best seasons in the five years or so. The results recently have been up and down, but he’s shown that when he’s on a golf course that suits his game, he’s amongst the contenders.
This season, Casey has finishes of T5 (LIV Las Vegas), T2 (LIV Hong Kong), and a 6th at the Singapore Classic on the DP World Tour. At his best, the Englishman is one of the best long iron players in the world, which makes him a strong fit for Sentosa. Despite being in poor form last season, he was able to fire a Sunday 63, which shows he can low here at the course.
It’s been three years since Casey has won a tournament (Omega Dubai Desert Classic in 2021), but he’s been one of the top players on LIV this season and I think he can get it done at some point this season.
Mito Pereira +5000 (Bet365)
Since Mito Pereira’s unfortunate demise at the 2022 PGA Championship, he’s been extremely inconsistent. However, over the past few months, the Chilean has played well on the International Series as well as his most recent LIV start. Mito finished 8th at LIV Adelaide, which was his best LIV finish this season.
Last year, Pereira finished 5th at LIV Singapore, shooting fantastic rounds of 67-66-66. It makes sense why Mito would like Sentosa, as preeminent ball strikers tend to rise to the challenge of the golf course. He’s a great long iron player who is long and straight off the tee.
Mito has some experience playing in Asia and is one of the most talented players on LIV who’s yet to get in the winner’s circle. I have questions about whether or not he can come through once in contention, but if he gets there, I’m happy to roll the dice.
Andy Ogletree +15000 (DraftKings)
Andy Ogletree is a player I expected to have a strong 2024 but struggled early in his first full season on LIV. After failing to crack the top-25 in any LIV event this year, the former U.S. Amateur champion finally figured things out, finished in a tie for 3rd at LIV Adelaide.
Ogletree should be incredible comfortable playing in Singapore. He won the International Series Qatar last year and finished T3 at the International Series Singapore. The 26-year-old was arguably the best player on the Asian Tour in 2023 and has been fantastic in the continent over the past 18 months.
If Ogletree has indeed found form, he looks to be an amazing value at triple-digit odds.
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In Tampa, there is a golf course that boasts carts that do not work, a water range, and a group of players none of which have any chance to break 80. The course is overseen by a staff of crusty men who have succeeded at nothing in life but ending up at the worst-run course in America. However, this place is no failure. With several other local courses going out of business — and boasting outstanding greens — the place is booked full.
While I came for the great greens, I stayed to watch our resident instructor; a poor-tempered, method teacher who caters to the hopeless. At first, it was simply hilarious. However, after months of listening and watching, something clicked. I realized I had a front-row seat to the worst golf instructor in America.
Here are some of my key takeaways.
Method Teacher
It is widely accepted that there are three types of golf instructors: system teachers, non-system teachers, and method teachers. Method teachers prescribe the same antidote for each student based on a preamble which teachers can learn in a couple day certification.
Method teaching allows anyone to be certified. This process caters to the lowest caliber instructor, creating the illusion of competency. This empowers these underqualified instructors with the moniker of “certified” to prey on the innocent and uninformed.
The Cult of Stack and Jilt
The Stack and Tilt website proudly boasts, “A golfer swings his hands inward in the backswing as opposed to straight back to 1) create power, similar to a field goal kicker moving his leg in an arc and 2) to promote a swing that is in-to-out, which produces a draw (and eliminates a slice).”
Now, let me tell you something, there is this law of the universe which says “energy can either be created or destroyed,” so either these guys are defying physics or they have no idea what they are taking about. Further, the idea that the first move of the backswing determines impact is conjecture with a splash of utter fantasy.
These are the pontifications of a method — a set of prescriptions applied to everyone with the hope of some success through the placebo effect. It is one thing for a naive student to believe, for a golf instructor to drink and then dispel this Kool-Aid is malpractice.
Fooled by Randomness
In flipping a coin, or even a March Madness bet, there is a 50-50 chance of success. In golf, especially for new players, results are asymmetric. Simply put: Anything can happen. The problem is that when bad instructors work with high handicappers, each and every shot gets its own diagnosis and prescription. Soon the student is overwhelmed.
Now here’s the sinister thing: The overwhelming information is by design. In this case, the coach is not trying to make you better, they are trying to make you reliant on them for information. A quasi Stockholm syndrome of codependency.
Practice
One of the most important scientists of the 20th century was Ivan Pavlov. As you might recall, he found that animals, including humans, could be conditioned into biological responses. In golf, the idea of practice has made millions of hackers salivate that they are one lesson or practice session from “the secret.”
Sunk Cost
The idea for the worst golf instructor is to create control and dependency so that clients ignore the sunk cost of not getting better. Instead, they are held hostage by the idea that they are one lesson or tip away from unlocking their potential.
Cliches
Cliches have the effect of terminating thoughts. However, they are the weapon of choice for this instructor. Add some hyperbole and students actually get no information. As a result, these players couldn’t play golf. When they did, they had no real scheme. With no idea what they are doing, they would descend into a spiral of no idea what to do, bad results, lower confidence, and running back to the lesson tee from more cliches.
The fact is that poor instruction is about conditioning players to become reliant members of your cult. To take away autonomy. To use practice as a form of control. To sell more golf lessons not by making people better but through the guise that without the teacher, the student can never reach their full potential. All under the umbrella of being “certified” (in a 2-day course!) and a melee of cliches.
This of course is not just happening at my muni but is a systemic problem around the country and around the world, the consequences of which are giving people a great reason to stop playing golf. But hey, at least it’s selling a lot of golf balls…
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The PGA TOUR heads to New Orleans to play the 2023 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. In a welcome change from the usual stroke play, the Zurich Classic is a team event. On Thursday and Saturday, the teams play best ball, and on Friday and Sunday the teams play alternate shot.
TPC Louisiana is a par 72 that measures 7,425 yards. The course features some short par 4s and plenty of water and bunkers, which makes for a lot of exciting risk/reward scenarios for competitors. Pete Dye designed the course in 2004 specifically for the Zurich Classic, although the event didn’t make its debut until 2007 because of Hurricane Katrina.
Coming off of the Masters and a signature event in consecutive weeks, the field this week is a step down, and understandably so. Many of the world’s top players will be using this time to rest after a busy stretch.
However, there are some interesting teams this season with some stars making surprise appearances in the team event. Some notable teams include Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, Collin Morikawa and Kurt Kitayama, Will Zalatoris and Sahith Theegala as well as a few Canadian teams, Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin and Taylor Pendrith and Corey Conners.
Past Winners at TPC Louisiana
- 2023: Riley/Hardy (-30)
- 2022: Cantlay/Schauffele (-29)
- 2021: Leishman/Smith (-20)
- 2019: Palmer/Rahm (-26)
- 2018: Horschel/Piercy (-22)
- 2017: Blixt/Smith (-27)
2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans Picks
Tom Hoge/Maverick McNealy +2500 (DraftKings)
Tom Hoge is coming off of a solid T18 finish at the RBC Heritage and finished T13 at last year’s Zurich Classic alongside Harris English.
This season, Hoge is having one of his best years on Tour in terms of Strokes Gained: Approach. In his last 24 rounds, the only player to top him on the category is Scottie Scheffler. Hoge has been solid on Pete Dye designs, ranking 28th in the field over his past 36 rounds.
McNealy is also having a solid season. He’s finished T6 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and T9 at the PLAYERS Championship. He recently started working with world renowned swing coach, Butch Harmon, and its seemingly paid dividends in 2024.
Keith Mitchell/Joel Dahmen +4000 (DraftKings)
Keith Mitchell is having a fantastic season, finishing in the top-20 of five of his past seven starts on Tour. Most recently, Mitchell finished T14 at the Valero Texas Open and gained a whopping 6.0 strokes off the tee. He finished 6th at last year’s Zurich Classic.
Joel Dahmen is having a resurgent year and has been dialed in with his irons. He also has a T11 finish at the PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass which is another Pete Dye track. With Mitchell’s length and Dahmen’s ability to put it close with his short irons, the Mitchell/Dahmen combination will be dangerous this week.
Taylor Moore/Matt NeSmith +6500 (DraftKings)
Taylor Moore has quickly developed into one of the more consistent players on Tour. He’s finished in the top-20 in three of his past four starts, including a very impressive showing at The Masters, finishing T20. He’s also finished T4 at this event in consecutive seasons alongside Matt NeSmith.
NeSmith isn’t having a great 2024, but has seemed to elevate his game in this format. He finished T26 at Pete Dye’s TPC Sawgrass, which gives the 30-year-old something to build off of. NeSmith is also a great putter on Bermudagrass, which could help elevate Moore’s ball striking prowess.
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19th Hole2 weeks agoJustin Thomas on the equipment choice of Scottie Scheffler that he thinks is ‘weird’
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19th Hole2 weeks ago‘Absolutely crazy’ – Major champ lays into Patrick Cantlay over his decision on final hole of RBC Heritage
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Paulo
Mar 9, 2021 at 12:03 am
Faldo won more than Rickie. He knows about how to win. I agree with him on this one
Connie
Mar 6, 2021 at 11:46 am
Nick Faldo doesn’t always need to say everything he is thinking, learn to edit.
Mean is never attractive.
Rickie is one of the nicest golfers, always supportive of his fellow players.
dttruman
Mar 6, 2021 at 6:14 am
I respect Faldo a lot for his accomplishments and I also commend him for his objective and sometimes humorous observations when he calls a tournament. But his recent remark about Ricky Fowler isn’t like him at all and I would expect something like that to come from Brandel Chamblee who’s criticism of others always seems to be low class.
juliette91
Mar 8, 2021 at 10:44 am
I like Faldo’s humor–most of the time–and actually thought what he said was funny. No idea how Fowler took those comments but there’s no doubt Fowler is likely the leading commercial success on tour. He’s well liked and emblematic of a younger generation than the one the choose your jet! ads are targeting. I was a vendor to the advertising industry and it’s all about the appeal of the ad–and if you can get someone who is universally loved by the public well then the ad doesn’t even have to be that good for the campaign to be successful.
There is a world of difference between the sense of humor here in the USA and in Europe. Just watch Tommy Fleetwood’s youtube sketches with other Euro pros. They really get after each other and like any real good humor there’s always a measure of reality. Fowler is struggling now and Fowler is on tv more than any other touring pro. He’s fair game.
chip75
Mar 5, 2021 at 9:24 pm
Faldo got slammed when he was having bad Sundays early in his career, he was slammed for changing his swing after a no.1 year and he was slammed for tinkering when playing well. He was saying the incentive to win was getting less and less as prize money increased decades ago. Was it mean what he said? that’s up to Rickie, he seems like a nice guy, so hopefully he’ll have an, “I’ll show them!” attitude. But some folks don’t get Faldo’s humour, it’s pretty dry, I don’t know his relationship with Fowler.
The other issue is the tremendous pressure the media puts on kids like Rickie, they’re always hailed as the “Next!” somebody, they’re never given a chance to bed in and are just lumped with enormous expectations, players progress differently.
Cdub
Mar 5, 2021 at 7:17 pm
Faldo has become a big donkey. Hope Mickelson kicks him out of the booth soon.
matt
Mar 6, 2021 at 12:44 pm
if zinger wasn’t even worse I’d agree.. but yes both need to go
Captain Obvious
Mar 6, 2021 at 3:14 pm
God.. Zinger is the worst. 100 times worse than Faldo. Saying things like that rough is lush, green, thick.. it’s gonna be hard to hit it out of there today.. he should do the hotels.com commercials instead of me.
Luke keefner
Mar 5, 2021 at 5:38 pm
When Fowler was voted most over rated player on tour, he promptly won the players. Maybe this is what he needs….
Jack
Mar 5, 2021 at 5:15 pm
Faldo is arrogant – so what he said is expected from someone like him.
On another note since, this is GOLFWRX, I think it is time Fowler leave Cobra and get retooled with one of the big boys. Clearly their equipment is not working well for him – should go rogue like many others and back to the Pro V1 too.
Rod
Mar 5, 2021 at 3:24 pm
Faldo should stick to pitching Squairz……
well actually he shouldn’t do that either
C Bowen
Mar 5, 2021 at 1:42 pm
Hey Gianni,
Your “commentary” is so typical of the “I got a trophy for just showing up” generation. Faldo was/is correct and my suggestion to you & Ricky: GROW A PAIR!!!
GMatt
Mar 5, 2021 at 1:45 pm
Well said… has anyone figured out if this hack even owns a set of golf clubs? Maybe he should be submitting his articles on another platform
benseattle
Mar 5, 2021 at 11:38 am
I’m certainly no Faldo fanatic (his insistence on relentless puns is fingernails on a chalkboard) but Lil’ Gianni’s horror at a wisecrack just shows that now even golf writers are demonstrating we’re all just as delicate as can be. Sure, Twitter is a cesspool of unthinking, fast-twitch, top-of-mind mistake-makers, but to spend time denouncing Nick for yet a harmless jab is an excursion into pure snowflake territory. Oh, and by the way, thanks to this oh-so-sensitive world we live in, Faldo has now apologized for merely pointing out that Fowler’s bank account vastly exceeds his accomplishments. But I suppose a tender golf scribe has to write about SOMETHING.
C Bowen
Mar 5, 2021 at 1:43 pm
100%
Robert Welsh
Mar 5, 2021 at 11:26 am
Mission accomplished for Faldo – getting people to notice him and talk about him, apparently ascribing to the “no such thing as bad publicity” mantra.
He is a lousy announcer, fond of saying what he does followed by the player doing the exact opposite and playing an excellent shot as a result. Instead of insight he provides worthless blather and so he has to say something spectacularly stupid to gain notice.
Same kind of modus operandi was seen when he tried to generate a tempest over Reed’s drop at Torrey. I play Torrey regularly and know that area just short and left of #10 well (unfortunately). Unless you are on the ground to see it, as were Reed’s playing partners and the Rules Official, you have no business making remarks like “the rest of the world is screaming at that one”.
Most successful pros make far more money with endorsements and commercials than they do in prize money, and it has been this way for a long time, so why the cheap shot at Fowler ?
To generate some publicity for himself at the expense of someone else, that’s why.
silver 76
Mar 5, 2021 at 10:17 am
Anybody who watches golf knows that Nick Faldo is a class “A” jerk!!! Yeah he is a Hypocritic A–Hole!!
drgolfaholic
Mar 5, 2021 at 10:13 am
Could serve as the best motivation that push RF out of his recent slump if he ignores it and continues working hard. Or RF can get caught in the unproductive back and forth spat
George Stevenson
Mar 5, 2021 at 10:13 am
Haaaa. We need more funny.
GMatt
Mar 5, 2021 at 10:02 am
Typical snowflake article, whether Faldo is a sick or not his comment was not only spot on, it was pretty funny. People get so butt hurt these days and can’t take criticism as it’s bullying….toughen up grow some balls. I like Rickie but you can’t argue he hasn’t done much other than winning The Player and a nice run of runner ups in majors
The Dude
Mar 5, 2021 at 10:17 am
Nailed it….
John
Mar 5, 2021 at 9:47 am
Faldo has never had any class. He proved that when he was sneaking behind a fellow professional’s back, having an affair with his wife. Thankfully, we don’t hear too much of him in the UK these days but, it’s clear from these comments that he hasn’t changed.
Gary
Mar 5, 2021 at 9:41 am
When I read narcissistic, hypocritical, and unfair I immediately thought this was a story about a GOP politician…
The dude
Mar 5, 2021 at 10:18 am
Fail….
Team America
Mar 5, 2021 at 10:42 am
Dirka..Durka… you win the internet for the day.
Joe Biden
Mar 5, 2021 at 12:57 pm
That’s just because you actually listen to what the liberal media has to say…. it’s called indoctrination bud
Avrm
Mar 5, 2021 at 9:29 am
Fowler’s financial return is grossly out of proportion to his relatively modest accomplishments. Faldo’s comment was spot on and a nice antidote to the media cheerleaders who have for years over hyped Fowler. We need more, not less, cynicism in media golf commentary.
Ron John Dupraine
Mar 5, 2021 at 9:25 am
Cancel culture….Don’t blame Faldo for sharing his opinion. He is entitled to it, and CBS pays him big bucks to give it. Also I’m a Rickie fan, and who cares what Rickie Fowler wants. Let him live his life, and decide what he wants…. if he wants something I’m sure he’ll give it his all…
Helen Cronin
Mar 5, 2021 at 9:19 am
Faldo is a jealous jerk he also had jealous comments about Tiger when Tiger was struggling. He is a jerk I do not like him as a sports commenter. He should be telling us how hard it is out there to make it instead of knocking the players. He thinks he was great but he had problems too out there. Ricki is a fan favorite and good for golf just like Tiger was, Faldo was not a fan favorite.
Dr Watson
Mar 5, 2021 at 9:30 am
Americans hate Faldo, Europeans love him. He has just as many fans as haters.
Jim
Mar 5, 2021 at 9:50 am
You couldn’t be more wrong. Apart from the English, pretty much no one in Europe cares for him. This is why he now does his pundit in the States. No one over here is interested in anything he has to say.
Bob
Mar 5, 2021 at 10:41 am
Fail
Ricki-is-overrated
Mar 5, 2021 at 9:08 am
So we have found the Fowler fan boy.
Rickie seems like a good kid, but let’s be honest, way over hyped and considering his struggles on the course lately, Faldo isn’t wrong. It’s not a good look.
TG
Mar 5, 2021 at 8:51 am
Faldo can’t be saying this if he’s shooting boat loads of commercials himself. What’s the difference? Rickie could tear down his broadcasting performance; perhaps Faldo would win more broadcasting awards if he wasn’t busy flogging crappy golf shoes?
GodShamgod
Mar 4, 2021 at 7:16 pm
Faldo is definitely a jerk for saying this and kicking a guy while he is down. Even the new nicer version of Faldo is still the same rotten person inside.
But that doesn’t menman he is wrong. Rickie definitely wants to win and succeed. But he also wants to milk his commercial opportunities. There is nothing wrong with that but sometimes it is tough to have both.
It is no coincidence that about half the winners since the new year have not been under an equipment contract. Some of it might be the ability to shop around but don’t underestimate the demands TM, Cway, Cobra etc put on a player. Maybe if Rickie stripped away, Cobra, Puma, Mercedes and State Farm he wouldnt be a thinly stretched.
Geoedgar
Mar 4, 2021 at 7:00 pm
Says the guy getting paid to tell us to buy new golf shoes that will give you extra distance?
BigGG
Mar 5, 2021 at 6:18 am
Say’s Faldo who has won a lot more majors.
Kuuchie Doochie
Mar 5, 2021 at 9:33 am
That is currently his job to give us opinions. CBS pays him a boatload…
Sir Nick
Mar 4, 2021 at 1:14 pm
This was pure sarcasm/dry wit from Faldo (and frankly he’s not wrong). Why does this writer take the position of staunchly defending Fowler’s underperforming career? Did he need to put 250 words together for an article and this was the way to go? I recently played golf for the first time in 3 months with a buddy of mine who never stopped playing during the winter. I beat him and said “man, you played all winter, I would have thought you’d have been better than that”. We laughed and had a beer because HE ISN”T SO DAMN SENSITIVE and can take a joke!
VPL
Mar 4, 2021 at 9:17 am
Sorry, Faldo wins on this one. The articles author is a complete moron making the statement that Faldo is jealous – he won 6 majors and who knows how many other events worldwide, Fowler couldn’t and won’t even carry Faldo’s bag in the history books. Too many players have allowed mediocrity to rule the day. Let’s not forget that very few players win majors, in fact I found that “454 majors have been played. A total of 225 different men have won majors and, of these, 83 have won at least two.” It is golfers themselves that have painted a picture of major wins being the standard by which they will be judged Like in any business, there is no shame in being a success without having become the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. If you ask me Fowler spent a good part of his career developing a persona, using his off course life activities and his childish matching outfits as part of this persona. This brought him attention and endorsment money but he forgot to bring the game. Where did he think he was going in the era of Tiger and DJ? Those guys showed up with game first and took the other benefits later OK, he won The Players but does anyone remember any of the other four?, it’s not like they were “wins for the ages” Finally, never mistake popularity for talent.
David Landig
Mar 4, 2021 at 9:13 am
Typical pompous Faldo. I think his screensaver is a picture of himself.
Big GG
Mar 4, 2021 at 5:36 pm
Funny. Johnny Miller always said things like this. People like you never said a word.
Get Scoobie
Mar 4, 2021 at 9:46 pm
And Johnny Miller is no longer commentating.
Ron Hole
Mar 5, 2021 at 9:38 am
Miller was a pompous ass… face it, these guys are paid to give controversial opinions. Plus Faldo is and was better than Miller on the course, and in the booth..
Jim
Mar 5, 2021 at 10:44 am
This is accurate
K
Mar 4, 2021 at 8:17 am
As someone previously stated. Hopefully Faldo had good intentions trying to fire Rickie up.
If not it shows a complete lack of class on Faldos part. So what if Rickie doesnt make it to Augusta this year? In what universe does that have any effect on Faldos life? Even if Rickie misses The Masters and DOES go shoot 6 commercials so what? Rickie will get paid and with the way Rickie is im sure some charity out there will benefit from that.
Being a 3x past Masters champion and a bit of an ambassador to Augusta and The Masters it seems Nick would demonstrate a bit more class/respect when using their name. Could you imagine Mr. Ridley or any member throwing out comments such as this? Would NEVER happen
Mark
Mar 4, 2021 at 7:47 am
You have an excellent grasp of the twat that is Faldo.
If his ex-wives read this, they would be nodding in agreement.