The Players Championship
(Classless sportwriter misses the fairway by a mile)

Any golf enthusiast (those who loves the game and the competition that even percolates on a Sunday afternoon between friends with 15 handicaps) who saw the drama unfold this past weekend in the Players Championship, couldn’t help but appreciate the “game” of Paul Goydos and the story behind his unexpected accent to the top of the leaderboard for most of the weekend. In fact, Goydos’ three bogys in the last five holes and a clutch par saving putt by Sergio Garcia on the 18th, (that was playing to a 4.9 stroke average) made the sudden death return to the famous seventeenth island hole almost anti-climatic.

But surely one thing the sport doesn’t need is a low-life senior sportswriter who decided to inject “class” into the story. According to Cameron Morfit---- Senior Writer, Golf Magazine----a Paul Goydos victory would have some how made the tournament a “classless” or “second-class” event:

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — A gust of wind won the 2008 Players Championship on Sunday. Pete Dye won the Players. And ultimately, to the great relief of everyone who hoped for a first-class winner at the "fifth major," Sergio Garcia won the Players. (Link)

Morfit goes on in his story about the lack of “class” players in the tourney that included top players in the world rankings with talent like Mickelson, Els, Furyk, Olgilvy, and now #10 Garcia. To insinuate that a Goydos victory against this field of world class talent would make the victor some one other that “first class” speaks volumes about the writers solipsism and classless journalism.

On a day where the conditions on the course brought most of the field to its knees, the performance of Paul Goydos was nothing but first class. The only classless performance was committed by Morfit and his pathetic article that failed to see the drama all golfers appreciate----the best in the world and the highest handicappers. Morfit definitely hit this one out of bounds.