Wow the folks at Golfsmith are big risk takers. Read a portion of their press release below, but it basically says that that if you buy one of three TaylorMade drivers from Golfsmith between now and April 11th, you’ll be refunded your money if Sergio Garcia wins the Masters.
It is no secret that I’m critical of Sergio. I lost respect for the guy when he spit in the hole on national TV and then denied it in a post round interview.
I’m also quite confident that Sergio will NOT win the Masters as his putting on the slick Augusta greens will be his downfall. In fact, I’m so confident that Sergio will not win the Masters that I’ll make the following statement.
IF SERGIO GARCIA WINS THE MASTERS, I’LL PLAY THE PAR-5 1ST HOLE OF MY HOME COURSE NAKED.
I have lost a few pounds recently. In fact, I weigh 10 pounds less than I did in high school. So there won’t be any beached whale sightings on the course should Sergio win. That being said, I’m no spring chicken and I don’t exactly have a six pack or abs of steel. 🙂
I’m not alone in my skepticism:
Deadspin piece (read the great comments, except for the Payne Stewart one)
AUSTIN, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Golfsmith International Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOLF) is teaming with PGA TOUR professional Sergio Garcia to launch the golf season in a major way at the very first major of the year.
Starting today and ending April 11, golfers who purchase one of three new TaylorMade drivers at any Golfsmith store or online at www.golfsmith.com – the R9(TM), r7(R) Limited or Burner(R) 09- will have the purchase price of their TaylorMade driver fully refunded by Golfsmith if Sergio wins in Augusta, Georgia, April 9-12.
“We’re excited to combine the No. 1 selling driver brand in golf, TaylorMade, with one of the very best golfers in the world, Sergio Garcia, into one event only at Golfsmith,” said Martin Hanaka, president and CEO of Golfsmith. “TaylorMade’s new R9 driver is the hottest driver in the marketplace, and this promotion will only add to that excitement as we kick off the season in Augusta.”
HOGWire – Golf Industry News
I find it interesting how everyone is so quick to judge Sergio, but Tiger gets a free pass. I think Tiger’s antics with slamming clubs, and dropping “f bombs” (which, incidentally, have been captured on television) and his general surly demeanor are just as “unclassy” as anything Sergio has done. Personally, when I bring my son to a golf tournament to see Tiger play, I don’t need him to be witness to the world’s greatest golfer losing his temper and yelling curse words.
I have met Sergio. Have you? He is a personable, genuine, and affable man who acknowledges his shortcomings. He treats his friends and family with a great deal of respect and blog rants such as yours, based on no personal interaction with the man, only show ignorance and contribute to the anonymous character-smearing of today’s internet age.
If Sergio wins the Masters, you can bet I will fly to Utah to personally witness your naked adventure (which I feel is equally unclassy) and make sure you live up to your end of the deal that you’ve posted here.
Best of luck.
I didn’t mention Tiger in this post and I’m not sure what free pass I gave him if you are referring to to me.
Good point on how equally unclassy golfing naked would be. That did make me think about it for a second. If I were to play golf naked, which as I suspect is very unlikely, I wouldn’t be denying that I did it after someone showed it to me on film.
No I have not met Sergio. If he is such a great person I’d love to know about it. I would love to learn how affable he really is. Until then I have to base my opinions on what I’ve seen so far, which is somebody who blatantly disregarded the players behind him and spit into a golf hole. He then denied doing it, even after being shown his actions on tape. I’m sorry but that doesn’t really fly with me.
The point of this blog post must not be clear. It is not to slam Sergio as good or bad a guy as he may be. My opinion of him is what it is, until I’m given a reason to think otherwise. The point is that Golfsmith isn’t really taking a risk, as I don’t give Garcia more and a slim chance of winning the Masters.
I thank you for your comment and believe it or not, I appreciate hearing your opinion.
It won’t be your abs anyone is looking at if you run naked..I also think stating a Noonish time frame takes any 2am weasleing off the table! That said..it’s always easier to say who won’t win a Masters. Woods’ game hangs on his putting..his fairways and greens hit in reg is probably well below Tour average at this point..
IF..Tiger’s putting deserts him (which simply means coming back to the norm) and Garcias putting starts complimenting his tee to green game there could certainly be a longer term role reversal. It’s amazing how winning improves ones disposition and love comes from every direction. By the way..spitting at things is very much a soccer tradition..it’s practically a skilled practice in Spain.
After playing a very cold round of golf with two pals and the director of golf at the course, I told them of my bet. The D.O.G. laughed and strangely didn’t say no.
I’m feeling pretty safe, especially after watching SG flame out last week.
But if I do somehow lose this bet, I’ve already considered putting a “donate” button on the site to recoup my fines for getting arrested…