Capelle On Golf

Keegan Bradley is the worst thing to happen to golf in the last 20 years.

I felt this way before yesterday’s final round of the Northern Trust based on his win at the PGA last year, but after four hours of watching his disgusting antics at Riviera, he has sealed his position as golf’s Public Enemy #1.

Point #1: He became the first ever to win a major with a belly putter, which strengthened the argument for the retaining the long wand among many, and led to an influx of users on the PGA Tour.

Point #2: His view of the belly runs counter to the tradition of the game, him having said that it “makes the game easier”, but that the older guys may have trouble adopting it. “For a guy that’s 40 years old and has been playing with a short putter for 35 years, they grab that thing and it’s a bizarre feeling.” (Note the troubles that 40+ players Mickelson and Furyk had with the belly, and Els still does.) And that does not give some, including the younger golfers who grew up with them, a competitive advantage?

Point #3: On one shot late on the back nine used 14 mini swings to get ready for the shot. Imagine amateurs adopting that practice. At any rate, his super long pre-shot routine, which includes rocking back and forth and false starts towards the ball, is tough to watch.

Point #4: When lining up putts, he adopts some weird one eyed psychotic stare. Scary stuff!

Point #5: His god-awful swing is no model for juniors, or anyone else -his hands are super low at address, he gets away with swinging so hard on his driver only because of the huge club head (he could have never succeeded in another era), and his faux Arnie follow through makes it look like he misses every shot.

Point #6: Saving the best for last: his relentless spitting while he prepares for a shot – he could give Tiger three a side when it comes to this. Again, this is something no adult fans want to see, or that aspiring youngsters need to witness.

Since he won the PGA in August, Bradley’s best finish was an 11t at the Tour Championship, so we haven’t had to see him at his “best” in the heat of competition. But the pairing with Phil Mickelson yesterday shined the spotlight on this abomination of a golfer.

If golf is lucky, Bradley will recede back into the pack, as he did after the PGA and stay there. And before he manages to grace a leaderboard again, the belly will have been banned and he will have cured himself of his disgusting habit, one that led CBS’ Gary McCord to declare that “I am going to talk to Keegan about the spitting.”