Na refuses to get wound up over waggle issue

[Moecat]

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2012/0515/1224316128566.html

 

For all the glitches in Na's take-away, he handled the criticism his preshot routine engendered, writes KAREN CROUSE

 

BEFORE HIS second shot in the final round of The Players championship, Kevin Na took his club back six times without hitting the ball and then backed away. Once he had regrouped, he performed two more waggles before striking the ball.

 

The fans counted each of Na's waggles the way spectators usually keep track of strokes. One month after Bubba Watson steered golf outside the ropes of tradition with his freewheeling victory at the Masters, Na was poised to give the sport another quirky hero: the Unnatural.

 

Na's pre-shot routine calls to mind the high-handicapper rather than someone on the cusp of one of the most prestigious victories in the sport. When he stands over the ball, he has the same comfort level of an actor afflicted with stage fright or a platform diver fighting vertigo. For all his stops and starts, there had been no slowing Na in the first 54 holes. With three consecutive sub-70 rounds, he built a one-stroke lead over the field in what is considered the most prestigious event outside the four majors.

 

As he made his way around TPC Sawgrass on Sunday, Na drew equal numbers of fans and gawkers. Those drawn by the potential spectacle of seeing his game veer wildly off course were easy to spot. They were the ones yelling “Hit it” or “Pull the trigger”. It was a tall order, trying to fight the clutter in his head, gusting winds and a gallery that was tilted heavily in favour of his playing partner, Matt Kuchar, whose fluid, flat swing is reminiscent of Ben Hogan, one of the game's greats.

 

The wall of adversity proved a few bricks too high for Na to scale. An overly aggressive approach shot from the fifth fairway led to the first of six bogeys in a round of four-over-par 76 that dropped him into a tie for seventh.

 

Kuchar, so poised and polished he could be the PGA Tour logo, carded a 70 for a 72-hole total of 13-under 275 and a two-stroke victory over Martin Laird (67), Zach Johnson (68), Rickie Fowler (70) and Ben Curtis (68). A graceful game trumped a gutty one, a reversal from the Masters, where Watson's verve triumphed over Louis Oosthuizen's polish.

 

At the ninth tee, Na backed off his drive after some fans in a hospitality tent heckled him. They eventually fell silent, but their words seemed to ring in Na's ears. After he missed a nine-footer for par on number nine – a distance he had made consistently all week - it was all over but the “Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey, Goodbye” chants. Those surfaced after Na hit his tee shot on the par-three 13th into the water hazard.

 

“You know, when I'm over the ball, it would be nice if it was quiet,” Na said. “But just guys, you can hear them talking, like ‘Pull the trigger, pull the trigger, hit it,' which makes me back off even more. So that part was a bit tough.” He added: “But honestly, part of it, I deserve it. I mean, I'm being honest.”

 

Golf is a mirror that reflects one's character while magnifying flaws: impatience, anger, dishonesty, vanity, arrogance. For all the glitches in Na's take-away, he impeccably handled the inevitable scrutiny and criticism that his preshot routine engendered. He did not blame his coach for his discomfort, as some golfers do. He did not get defensive about his waggles, as the Spaniard Sergio Garcia did when he was singled out for gripping and regripping his clubs during the 2002 US Open at Bethpage Black on Long Island.

 

To the contrary, Na vowed to do better. “It's going to take time, practice and tournaments,” he said, “and I'm going to try to take out the whole waggle. Honestly, it's going to be a battle.”

 

For those who followed his round, there was a lesson in Na's grace under the magnifying glass. His pre-shot routine may be a work in progress, but his perspective is flawless. “The average golfer has no clue how much pressure we're playing under and how tough it is and how much of a fight it is mentally,” Na said. “I honestly think with all that going on, I did pretty well fighting. I had a good fight. I hung in there, so you know what, I just take positives from it.”

 

His history suggests Na will handle his disappointing finish with aplomb. During the first round of a PGA Tour event in San Antonio last year, Na made a 16 on a hole. When he returned to the event this year, he playfully took a chain saw to one of the trees that had contributed to his notorious score.

 

Kuchar was on the 18th green giving his victory speech when Na finished his interviews, the last few of which he conducted while signing a glove and a golf ball. On his way to retrieve his clubs, he stopped to listen to the speech. He applauded and then tossed the glove and the ball to fans. Na's eyes were welling with tears, but he maintained his composure, as he had all afternoon.

 

New York Times

[GolfSpy WD]

In a related story: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2012/05/tiger-woods-joins-chorus-against-slow-play/1#.T7Jwp44uNGA

 

Tiger Woods joins chorus against slow play

 

Of course Tiger Woods would like to play better. That is in his hands. He'd also like to play faster. That is out of his control.

 

While Kevin Na was ridiculed for his incessant waggles during the Players Championship, it seems like the world is getting slower playing golf.

 

Woods, who pointed out that rounds are taking almost five hours on tour, thinks a no-tolerance policy is needed.

 

Woods puts the onus on the young players saying college rounds are sometimes "six hours plus."

 

A player on the tour needs two clock violations to be assessed a stroke. Woods said that "I think it's very simple. If you get a warning, you get a penalty. I think that would speed it up."

 

While a player can get up to a $20,000 fine, Woods says that is pocket change for those who run up the leaderboard and get six figures for their finish. "... That's what people don't realize – that one shot is so valuable out here."

 

 

My take on this is two fold:

 

1) I'm seriously sick of Woods

 

2) Five hours is a really long time, especially for a televised event. There really does need to be something done. Na may own up to it, but there's nothing actually forcing him to live up to what he says.

[JMiller]

I want to say that Kevin Na earned my respect this weekend. He hit the situation on the head and was honest about his struggles.

 

“You know, when I'm over the ball, it would be nice if it was quiet,” Na said. “But just guys, you can hear them talking, like ‘Pull the trigger, pull the trigger, hit it,' which makes me back off even more. So that part was a bit tough.” He added: “But honestly, part of it, I deserve it. I mean, I'm being honest.”

 

This is so true I can not even begin to express this point enough. If you are already uncomfortable over the ball it is really hard to focus with people 'heckle' and 'chatting' around you it just grabs your attention at times especially with other things on your mind, some people are better at blocking out sounds then others. Have you ever heard a load noise in your backswing and flinched and hit a terrible shot? same idea while at address, you need to be able to commit to the swing. Golf is not like all other sports where heckling is acceptable.

 

I want to make the point PGA TOUR events ARE NOT your weekend drink and bulls*** around with your bodies type of events. They play for a lot of money and do this for their income that is their day job. If you want to play them $1000 a stroke straight up, strictly by the USGA rules, from the tips on the same course then you might start to understand the pressure when you owe them probably $132,000 out of your pocket at least from shooting over 200 and they shot around 68. I loved the video of 'the worst avid golfer' that was posted on this site yes that would be most 30+ handicaps playing by the rules of golf unless they got lucky.

 

If you put four 30+ handicaps on the tips and made them play by USGA rules to the letter with no stroke cap, I would speculate that the round would take 8 to 10 hours to complete. 5 hours really isn't that bad for the situation, the most time takes is waiting on rules officials and on putting greens. They don't want to cost themselves even one stroke like Tiger said one stroke can mean the difference in a huge pay gap or winning the tournament.

[RoverRick]

Three cheers for Na. During the Pheonix Open on the 16th, when Na came out the fans started singing, Na, Na, Na, Na, Hey....

 

I thought that was a show of support. I did not watch Sundays tournament yet, it is on in the background right now. Eventhough I know who won, I still like watching it and seeing the shots. I am wondering, when the NaNa song went from a show of support to a form of ridicule.

[JMiller]

Na handled himself with class & grace...His problem is that he cannot make the seamless transition from the left brain(analytical) to right brain(imagery/subconscious) @ address...This is where he has to get...His is obviously one of the "worst case" scenerios, though it's a testament to his skill & talent level that he can even keep the ball in play, much less score three rounds in the 60s...That's unbelievable!...

 

I have never had this occur, however a good friend of mine went through something similar and he was a +4 at the time and he went from finishing 3rd in the Mid-Am & missed going to Augusta by 3 strokes to where he couldn't break 80, once having a 91..It was painful to watch..He put the clubs away for about a month then went through some hypnosis & mental"coaching," & while he eventually got through this, he is currently a +1 and though he still can "go low(two Saturdays ago:68)," he has not gotten back to +4, and that was two summers ago...It's not as easy as some of these announcers are making it seem..I wish him the best..Fairways & Greens 4ever...

 

+1, great explanation of what he is going through. The mental side of the game is just a pain to over come hardest thing to learn IMHO and it is a life time goal to learn some things and be a better approach mentally. Ask Sergio about a poor mental approach.

 

I know he is making changes in his swing just like tiger, Tiger doesn't have the mental block but his old habits pop up here and there on the course, it is almost one or the other for some people. I happen to be doing swing changes and my old habits pop up on the course but no mental block I'm also not playing for a lot of money either lol.

 

I find these things the hardest to correct in a golf swing, at least it is the hardest for me to get into my swing.

~ grip, terrible to break and old grip position for a new one

 

~ balance at address & weight transfer in the swing

--> this is just odd feeling for a long time if say you start at setting up with weight on the balls of your feet then change it to the center of your ankles

--> weight distribution at address changes weight transfer in the backswing and downswing for sequencing, it's strange and hard to get into your swing.

 

~ how the lower & upper body works in sequence in the down swing

--> majority of people are 'casters' the first move in the down swing is the shoulders or hands. That is super hard to correct and let the shoulders and hands be passive on the first move in the down swing, it feels very powerful to get the big muscles going in the chest in the golf swing so it's hard to break.

--> a lot of people will 'cheat' and move their head just before impact (think Annika Sorenstam swing), majority of people can't hit a ball doing that well getting someone to keep the head still for longer into the follow through is a challenge.

[Matt Saternus]

Na handled himself with class & grace...His problem is that he cannot make the seamless transition from the left brain(analytical) to right brain(imagery/subconscious) @ address...This is where he has to get...His is obviously one of the "worst case" scenerios, though it's a testament to his skill & talent level that he can even keep the ball in play, much less score three rounds in the 60s...That's unbelievable!...

 

That was my take as well. I would seriously consider walking off the course if I couldn't get it going and he grinded (ground?) it out and put up a great number. He definitely earned a lot of respect from me for that and for the way he handled the fans and media.

[RoverRick]

As I said earlier this tournament is playing in the background, Na, who is leading the tournament at this point, is on the 6th Tee, and goes up and hits the ball, does not really take too long this time and just after he hits it some a$ yells something, I could not understand it. Na's shot goes left, and it was after he hit but Na turns and looks at hiim while the ball is still bouncing. To me yelling out like this is totally uncalled for.

 

 

The weekend before last, one of our higher handicaps and I were challenged by one of our better players and a middle player to a match after our regular match. I had not done too well that morning, mainly because I had reshafted the clubs the night before and was getting used to the feel. These two were very cocky on the first tee about how much money they were going to win from us. I beat them the first 14 holes. But on the 14th hole, one guy had resorted to honking the horn just as we hit the balls. This really bothered my partner. I ended up with a birdie and won the hole anyway. On the 15th hole, he honked again on my partners shot. So I got up on the tee box and teed my ball up and drop another ball. He said, "Are you going to need two?" I said the other was in case the horn honked again, I was going to hit a ball at it. No more horn honking. But we lost that hole. but we did end up winning 15 of 18.

 

The point is that once someone starts yelling or honking and it startles you, you start to expect it and get prepared for it. So that interfers with the normal thought process. When a fan does it, it is fan interference and I believe the fan should be removed.

 

It is one thing to oooh and aaahhh at a good shot, or cheer or even say something like, Bite or get down.. But that "Get in the hole!" crap or any yelling by fans is strickly uncalled for in my opinion. I think that a certain level of decorum on the golf course is required and if someone yells when not appropriate they should be asked to leave. When someone sinks a 30 footer to win the tournament everyone should yell. But hecklers should be told to leave always.

 

If you want to say something bad about a person or anything there are places for that. But not when it can affect the outcome of the event.

 

 

EDIT: He did not seem to take much longer than Keagan Bradley does sometimes.

[Super Tuna]

A: I'm really quite impressed with how Na handled the whole thing. His grace and composure over the issue is impressive

 

B: The heckling was disgusting especially while he's trying to swing. Such spectator's need to be removed immediately.

[BK in TEXAS]

I'm really quite impressed with how Na handled the whole thing. His grace and composure over the issue is impressive

X2

 

He gained a little respect in my book over the weekend.

[JMiller]

It is one thing to oooh and aaahhh at a good shot, or cheer or even say something like, Bite or get down.. But that "Get in the hole!" crap or any yelling by fans is strickly uncalled for in my opinion. I think that a certain level of decorum on the golf course is required and if someone yells when not appropriate they should be asked to leave. When someone sinks a 30 footer to win the tournament everyone should yell. But hecklers should be told to leave always.

 

If you want to say something bad about a person or anything there are places for that. But not when it can affect the outcome of the event.

 

 

EDIT: He did not seem to take much longer than Keagan Bradley does sometimes.

 

Man you just hit on my number on thing that will get me to insult you. yelling 'get in the hole' off a tee shot or even a putt at the top of your lungs on the course or at a PGA Tour event as a fan. My immediate thought is always 'please do society a favor and not reproduce'. It is 110% uncalled for and rude to everyone else in ear shot of your group or the group you are watching that are playing golf.

 

I have a story about this happening at my home club, I was putting for birdie on 10 green and someone on 18 tee (75 yards to the right from the green) hits a drive and his friend yelled 'get in the hole' I pulled my putt and missed. As you can imagine, if i had lost money on that hole because of that I might have just gone over to that group and asked for my money for being rude and costing me the hole. Dang putt was perfect length had the break read correctly and I flinched and pulled it. In short it has been said so much on TV drunken a$$holes on the golf course are now starting to yell it as well.

 

Have you seen J.B. Holmes play, that dude is SLOW. He is probably one of the worst on tour about peace of play at times.

[Flv02]

X2

 

He gained a little respect in my book over the weekend.

 

Make that X3. I was very impressed with how he was the 54-hole leader with all of those distractions in his head. If I couldn't pull the trigger for over 40 seconds, I would not be even close to hitting in the fairway. He was able to hit it dead center and shoot under par.

 

As far as Tiger's comments..

[Matt Saternus]

I have a story about this happening at my home club, I was putting for birdie on 10 green and someone on 18 tee (75 yards to the right from the green) hits a drive and his friend yelled 'get in the hole' I pulled my putt and missed. As you can imagine, if i had lost money on that hole because of that I might have just gone over to that group and asked for my money for being rude and costing me the hole. Dang putt was perfect length had the break read correctly and I flinched and pulled it. In short it has been said so much on TV drunken a$holes on the golf course are now starting to yell it as well.

 

I used to play in a morning group at a course that was populated by screamers. At any given time someone would be shouting, cheering, jeering, etc at a putt, approach, drive. Total nonsense. As is often said about the excessive touchdown celebrations, "Act like you've been there before."

[Shambles]

I'll agree with the need for instant penalties for slow play. I sometimes refrain from joining tournaments simply because I expect some slow players to be joining them. I most certainly dislike playing with slow players.

 

I do hope Na is able to overcome his problem. It is subjecting him to ridicule only because he has been able to gain prominence despite the problem but if he does not fix it the problem will grow.

 

 

Shambles

[The Artful Duffer]

Now that I have a better understanding of whats going on with him I am very impressed with the way he had handled himself. As for the jack@$$es screamin at him, there is no excuse, ever, under no circumstances on a course. It's a shame that there wasn't swift action taken against the guilty parties. Not just for the golfers but also for the other fans in attendance.

[Tyk]

Props to Kevin Na. He seems like a really honest and genuine person. His interview after the 3rd round was pretty amazing. Its not often these days that a professional athlete is so open and honest about a problem in their game. Anyone that has played competitively at any level should be able to sympathize.

 

I bet he gained alot of fans last week even though he didn't win. I hope he figures his game out, I'd like to watch him win.

[BIG STU]

A: I'm really quite impressed with how Na handled the whole thing. His grace and composure over the issue is impressive

 

B: The heckling was disgusting especially while he's trying to swing. Such spectator's need to be removed immediately.

Tuna I wholeheartly agree with what you wrote. I told my wife I whish I was a wealthy man and had been at that tournament. I would have let those hecklers play Mr Na for whatever they wanted to play for. After all he has qualified for the PGA Tour and has finished quite well and I bet those hecklers couldnt break 90 from the ladies tees on a good day. when I was playing one of the mini tours down here a guy and I played a course that the tour had competed on the previous day. I had played in the tournament the previous day. They had marks on the course for hazards etc and they marked the yardages on par 3s. He wanted to know what all that junk was on the course I explained it to him and he said "oh a bunch of wannabe pro a-holes." I told him I would bet him $100 that he could not break 90 on that course from the markers the day before. Needless to say I was $100 richer at the end of the day he shot 105. Point taken!! Yep Kevin Na is a class act in my book