Interesting article about Bubba

http://www.golfbytourmiss.com/2011/06/homesick-watson-vows-not-to-return-to-europe/

Shame really if accurate - i think he seemed to be picking up some fans over this side of the pond for his seemingly good attitude...unfortunately this behavior just seem to be reinforcing the stereotype of Americans called Bubba.

Good find Rossa - well worth a read

Blubba has apparently been gaining popularity recently but this article really reinforces the opinion I already had of him

"That big tower"

Massively disappointed by these comments from Bubba. I initially put it down to a bad round but after reading articles like the one above it seems he really is uncomfortable away from home. Was hoping to catch him next week at Castle Stuart as well. Surely he's not gonna head home after this then head back the next week for The Open?

Can't believe he doesnt have the patience to last 5-6 days in another country. Its a big world out there Bubba, dont be afraid of it.

I saw the interview on Sky last night. I quite like the guy but what he said was very disappointing. He knew virtually nothing about one of the great cities of the world, unfortunately came across as a real hillbilly

I quite like that site that the OP links to though. I noticed they don't have a forum of their own so aren't in direct competition to us here. I've asked them if they'd be interested in a linkup with 606v2 so tht we promote each other - they can post links to articles here and the forum here gets used to discuss them. Could be beneficial to both of us

seems a pretty biased report. not very balanced. surely its not that surprising for an american to feel overwhelmed by european city rich with history and culture.

ban_bam

Sadly it's a pretty accurate report, as I say I saw the interview. The guy had no knowledge of some world famous landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Louvre and Palais of Versailles.

Pretty insular I'm afraid, comparable really to any of us not knowing anything about the White House, Empire State building or Statue of Liberty.

wasn't it the empire state that they moved a few blocks in thunderbirds... [!]

i'm not saying its not accurate, its just not a holistic look at the guys character. a snapshot on a bad week.

i'm not saying he's a perfect gent, i've not really followed him at all to be honest. on the surface, it just seems like the journo is giving quite a blinkered account.

Its one story, i'm sure you could find many others showing him in a positive light, hence my suprise to see this one, which is why i posted it.

I guess i expected more from a golfer who i had grown to like watching and i thought could have global appeal and be a big world star.

Comments like those made above will make him a US Ryder Cup favourite, but will not indear him to a global fanbase... if he can't handle Paris for week i'm sure he'd stuggle in Shanghai or the like... Maybe he's not interested in travel or being a world player and maybe he just doesn't like Paris, he wouldn't be the first but his comments are uneccesary in my opinion especially when he's picking up a fat cheque just for turning up...

For every ying the is a yang and Dustin Johnson seems to enjoy travelling and playing around the world, he's in europe for a few weeks playing 3 events and played in Korea earlier in the season...

its an interesting read which gives account of a side of bubba which differs from the general impression given by the media. personally i think its also a bit of a 'lazy' article. surely this is an opportunity that has been missed for a really interesting discursive piece? your posts re. ryder cup favorite / dustin's world tour are fine examples of where this article could have developed into something really interesting.

Maybe knowing the names of monuments in a country thousands of miles away isnt as big a deal to a lot of residents in the southern USA ? To be honest I wonder how many British kids today, who live a few hundred miles away from Paris, would know the names of any of them bar the Eiffel Tower.
How clued up is your average Brit about anything in the States outside of the Empire State and the Statue of Liberty ?

how many british kids know the names of their own monuments!!

my wife taught in dundee for a year and a good few of the kids had no idea whether edinburgh was in scotland or not. the clue was: whether or not you could buy irn bru...

Bam, i agree its a lazy article, it was the actual comments i was bringing peoples attention, i didn't realise it had already been in the news (was it on SSN?)

I think this is lazy "journalism" Bubba is a far more complex character than can be gleaned from a short piece like this, written in my view from a biased standpoint.
He has always had difficulties in usual surroundings. There may even be some medical past involved, but we won't know the whole story.
I recall his comments during the Saturday stoppage in play during the Open last year. Play was called as he finished 17 and was waiting on the tee for 18. He was complimentary about the fans, the opportunity to play a great golf course, and even being able to take that time out with his caddy just to "have a picnic" and take time to take in the view. "Always take time to smell the flowers" Walter Hagen.
I was surprised at yesterdays interview - but we don't know how he has been handled while in France? Leave him alone - or just enjoy his golf. Great advice - if you have nothing good to say, say nothing!!

Interesting article. I never found his image that endearing in the first place but the thing that surprises me is the fact that he'd just come out and say what he said. If you don't know that "that building beginning with 'L' " is, why would you admit your ignorance?
Who was it said something like "It's better to say nothing and have people think you're stupid than open your mouth and confirm it beyond all doubt"? Seems somewhat appropriate to me.

Navy, maybe he is just self aware enough not to be bothered about being judged about whether he knows the name of a building or not ?
He was asked a question and gave an answer, all be it not a particularly scholarly one. Whats the big deal, are we only meant to open our mouths to spout pearls of wisdom ?

Diggers wrote:Navy, maybe he is just self aware enough not to be bothered about being judged about whether he knows the name of a building or not ?
He was asked a question and gave an answer, all be it not a particularly scholarly one. Whats the big deal, are we only meant to open our mouths to spout pearls of wisdom ?

Maybe. I guess if he's not bothered, what's the problem? Still, if I was in the U.S.A., visiting some of their historical buildings/sites etc, I'd make it a point to actually know what I was looking at!

I wonder if he's aware which Nation gave the Statue of Liberty to his Country?

If I had to sit on a plane for 8+ hours to a country I'd never been to before, I would spend a bit of the time reading up or asking about the place so that I at least know something about where I'm going.

But that's just me.......

I wonder if a lot of the British guys on tour know how old the Houses of Parliament are or could name the current Home Secretary. We do have a habit of banging on about the ignorance of Americans but really Im constantly staggered by just how dumb your average Brit is when it comes to that kind of thing.
Simple fact is a lot of people dont care. Bubba wanders around Paris and sees a beautiful city full of lovely buildings which is basically what he told the press. Should he really be bothered about knowing any more about them ?

Diggers

I think you are taking this slightly out of context. We are talking here about world famous landmarks, not more specialist bits of information. I don't know how old the HoP are but I could have a pretty good guess at basic stuff like identifying famous landmarks. We're not talking about school kids here, this is a fully grown adult.

puligny wrote:I was surprised at yesterdays interview - but we don't know how he has been handled while in France?

He been handled by being given $200,000.

puligny wrote:Great advice - if you have nothing good to say, say nothing!!

Is this directed at the journo? If so it is equally apt advice for Bubba.

Diggers wrote:I wonder if a lot of the British guys on tour know how old the Houses of Parliament are or could name the current Home Secretary. We do have a habit of banging on about the ignorance of Americans but really Im conbstantly staggered by just how dumb your average Brit is when it comes to that kind of thing.
Simple fact is a lot of people dont care. Bubba wanders around Paris and sees a beautiful city full of lovely buildings which is basically what he told the press. Should he really be bothered about knowing anymore about them ?

Fair point. There's certainly plenty of thick Brits about!

I don't think it's any loss to the game over here, plus there are more than enough mullets in Germany and the Czech Republic without another one coming over.
He's a bit of a one trick pony anyway.

Yeah, a fully grown adult who was born and bred thousands of miles away who would have been taught a completely different curriculum at school and college.

Diggers wrote:Yeah, a fully grown adult who was born and bred thousands of miles away who would have been taught a completely different curriculum at school and college.

Usually taught that there isn't anything outside the borders of the US of A

super_realist wrote:

Diggers wrote:Yeah, a fully grown adult who was born and bred thousands of miles away who would have been taught a completely different curriculum at school and college.

Usually taught that there isn't anything outside the borders of the US of A

Yep, nuff said!

navyblueshorts wrote:

Diggers wrote:I wonder if a lot of the British guys on tour know how old the Houses of Parliament are or could name the current Home Secretary. We do have a habit of banging on about the ignorance of Americans but really Im conbstantly staggered by just how dumb your average Brit is when it comes to that kind of thing.
Simple fact is a lot of people dont care. Bubba wanders around Paris and sees a beautiful city full of lovely buildings which is basically what he told the press. Should he really be bothered about knowing anymore about them ?

Fair point. There's certainly plenty of thick Brits about!

I'm not aware of many thick Brits that are paid $200,000 to play golf in a foreign country (irrespective of thier performance) and behave in the way that Bubba is reported to have done and said the things that Bubba has reported to have...

Lets keep some perspective here, nobody forced the cheque into his hand and brought him over to France against his will. The article is poor, but i found the link on an American golf website (golfobserver.com) , nobody seems to be disputing the facts and this is not just being reported in Europe. Given the countless positive stories about his good conduct and friendly nature, I was suprised to see this and expected better from him. And i'm not really interested in his lack knowledge about french landmarks, its the way in which he has reportedly conducted himself at an event which has paid a handsome sum for him to be there.

I don't see the issue with what he said, he was being honest afterall.

Fair play to him for giving it a go, more than can be said for a lot of the Americans, and he has said what he really thinks rather than saying how great everything is, the Europen Tour is great and then never to be seen again.

He's tried it and didn't like it.....fair enough in my book.

Im not talking about how he has handled himself Rossa, thats your beef with him, I havent even mentioned it. Im just pointing out there is usually a degree of hypocrisy involved when Brits like to have a go at dumb Americans not knowing the names of anything outside the States.
And quite frankly if someone is stupid enough to pay somebody $200,000 to get them just to pay in a golf tournament then I have very little sympathy with them.

I agree Diggers that there are many Brits of equal ignorance, although I think it is generally accepted that your average Brit is better informed about the rest of the world than your average American, it's nothing personal, just the insular nature of their education system and I've heard as much from the many Americans I meet in St.Andrews. I can't blame them personally, although I do think it odd/funny when they ask stuff like "why did they build Edinburgh Castle next to a railway line" or something along those lines, so they deserve a sarcastic retort.

Rossa - I saw the interview on TV yesterday. I didn't hear Bubba say anything disrespectful or nasty. He said France was great he had seen some great things in Paris, but he was really missing his home. Now what advice are you offering him exactly?

I'm pretty sure that i read an article about Bubba having ADHD which explains his variety of shotmaking on the course because he gets bored of 5 hour rounds. Doesn't really excuse him but if that is really the case then he probably does feel very uncomfortable outside of the comfort zone of the US.

Also, it's easy for us on an island with a great history of shipping and exploring other countries to criticise Americans for their lack of travelling but realistically the variety that America offers is enough to never leave. If you want skiing you've got the rockies, for beaches it's Florida or California, for fun it's Vegas/Atlanta/Disney, for cities it's NY/Chicago/Washington/San Francisco, for golf it's pretty much anywhere, theres loads of national parks and natural beauty. Worst case you want something exotic then The Caribbean is on your doorstep or if thats too scary the Hawaii. They are also a much more patriotic nation than us Brits so are told and believe that the US is the best country in the world in all respects - there must be some comfort in that rather than living in the UK and believing that the grass is always greener elsewhere.

Harrison, I agree that you could say that America has virtually everything you need, but travel broadens the mind. It's an excuse not to leave the States but not really a reason, after all we could say the same about Europe, but in general we're better travelled than our fat, tartan trouser wearing mullet sporting colonial brethren.

Diggers wrote:Im not talking about how he has handled himself Rossa, thats your beef with him, I havent even mentioned it. Im just pointing out there is usually a degree of hypocrisy involved when Brits like to have a go at dumb Americans not knowing the names of anything outside the States.
And quite frankly if someone is stupid enough to pay somebody $200,000 to get them just to pay in a golf tournament then I have very little sympathy with them.

Yeah ok, its a sad state of affairs though when someone is lucky enough to earn that much money simply for conducting themselves in affable manner and doing your bit for the sponsors that they don't really bother.
I assume you do not treat your clients with the same attitude, "if there stupid enough to pay me for a service, thats their look out, just don't expect me much from me". Whether agree with the sum involved or not, its a two way street and Bubba would do well to remember how much money sponsors but into the game and he think he has fallen short on the players responsibility here.

On the hypocrisy thing, Do we see Rose, Donald, McIlroy, Westwood et al coming out with this kind of stuff...? I haven't heard them... simply saying we have thickos here as well isn't an argument justifying for Bubba's ignorance in this case.

The vast majority of Brits who travel just go to a a little imitaion of the UK with sunnier weather. They go to wonderful places like Spain, Portugal, Goa and Bubbas home town Miami and will just look for a pub that sells a pint and does a fry up and a Sunday roast.

Diggers wrote:The vast majority of Brits who travel just go to a a little imitaion of the UK with sunnier weather. They go to wonderful places like Spain, Portugal, Goa and Bubbas home town Miami and will just look for a pub that sells a pint and does a fry up and a Sunday roast.

What an over-generalization that is!

Rossa, have you ever seen an interview when any of those guys was asked details about the city they were playing in ?
Do you actually know how good Westwoods geography is or are you just making an assumption that all the English guys are more learned because there hasnt been a recent press article about them ?

Well I suppose there is an element of truth in that and that's something I despise in a resort and the British and so the bombing of Irish pubs and poisoning of Egg and Chips would not be a bad thing. However it's hard to deny that Americans are a more insular nation than the UK and have a poorer grasp of global geography than us in this country.

As an example we've got a young prospect from my club doing his golf scholarship in the States, bearing in mind that his peers are at university he's often asked if they have things like ipods, TV, McDonalds, mobile phones etc in his country.

super_realist wrote:

As an example we've got a young prospect from my club doing his golf scholarship in the States, bearing in mind that his peers are at university he's often asked if they have things like ipods, TV, McDonalds, mobile phones etc in his country.

Dare he admit that they don't?

puligny wrote:Rossa - I saw the interview on TV yesterday. I didn't hear Bubba say anything disrespectful or nasty. He said France was great he had seen some great things in Paris, but he was really missing his home. Now what advice are you offering him exactly?

If someone gives you $200,000 for playing golf for a week, be a bit gracious and avoid comments like "i'm not coming to Europe again"...

Not in my experience Davie.

super_realist wrote:Harrison, I agree that you could say that America has virtually everything you need, but travel broadens the mind. It's an excuse not to leave the States but not really a reason, after all we could say the same about Europe, but in general we're better travelled than our fat, tartan trouser wearing mullet sporting colonial brethren.

I completely agree that travel broadens the mind and personally enjoy experiencing other cultures. On my trips to the US I enjoy their culture of believing that the US is the best country in the world and surely part of travelling to experience cultures like this is to respect them and appreciate them for what they are. Without doing this then you are not really broadening your mind but rather thinking that everyone else should live like us. The UK has a far more established and historical culture than the US and a big part of that is due to us being on an island and having to travel because we do not have enough on our shores to suffice. Outside of the big cities, the US has a rather limited variety of media so essentially believe what they read in their local post/times/daily. This is the opposite to the UK where we have an information overload and I think that their "ignorance is bliss" lifestyle is something that should not be sniffed at.

they've just interviewed him and he's clearly unsettled by the lack of strict organisation that you find on pga tour events. was talking about the number of phones and cameras being used around the tee despite the signs banning them and that no-one, ie officials, seemed bothered.

also the "casual" walks between holes. it does seem when watching pga events that it's all very clearly marked out, even constructed. here, you just wander across from green to next tee.

he's also clearly generally uncomfortable, seemed nervous and jittery almost. he's off sightseeing this afternoon and will be back for the open "because it's a major". however, didn't discount entirely playing at the scandinavian masters, "we'll see".

just seems completely out of his comfort zone. i remember talking to an american colleague who put it this way... when you've got a country so large with such a variety of landscapes and climates, why travel, there's more than a lifetime's sights to see. and all in the comfort bubble of known situations.

we in europe have to experience alien cultures if we want to see anything beyond british shores, ie language, traditions, cultures, habits. so it's more natural to us.

i hope he gets over it but it's just not for some people and at the moment, it clearly freaks him out a bit.

Diggers wrote:Rossa, have you ever seen an interview when any of those guys was asked details about the city they were playing in ?
Do you actually know how good Westwoods geography is or are you just making an assumption that all the English guys are more learned because there hasnt been a recent press article about them ?

I am assuming they have been asked such questions in the US but the answers wern't really newsworthy as they didn't say daft things?

Rossa - Ian Poulter did say he would never play in France again after someone clicked a camera at the France open a year or so ago. I am sure there was more to it, and I admire Poulter for his determination and the way he has maximised his talent. But this is one of the oldest golf tournaments on the planet and I found that a bit disrespectful coming from a European Tour player. I hope hie still around for the Ryder Cup at this venue, makes the team and plays.

I can just imagine Westy or perhaps Poulter visiting San Francisco and saying "well I've had a jolly good time today and went to visit this big bridge. Not sure what it was called but it was a sort of golden colour and formed some sort of gateway. Then in the harbour there was a weird looking island. Not sure what it was but it would make a great prison"

Or the NYC scenario

"my tour guide took me to what is supposed to be the biggest tourist attraction in the city but I was very disppointed - all it seemed to be was a big hole in the ground...."

Here we are as an Island surrounded by lots of different countries with different cultures...and how many languages can your average Brit speak....just the one of course. The rest of Europe puts us to shame in that respect. Its rare to even go to Spain and find a British ex pat that can speak Spanish.

Like I say Graeme, having a diverse country is a reason not to travel but not really an excuse.

puligny wrote:Rossa - Ian Poulter did say he would never play in France again after someone clicked a camera at the France open a year or so ago. I am sure there was more to it, and I admire Poulter for his determination and the way he has maximised his talent. But this is one of the oldest golf tournaments on the planet and I found that a bit disrespectful coming from a European Tour player. I hope hie still around for the Ryder Cup at this venue, makes the team and plays.

I like Poulter but that was stupid comment... its not like its a French Open problem is it? One plum taking a photo...

Davie, Poulter would probably be too busy shopping or having his hair highlighted to even go site seeing.