On Friday at Half Moon Bay, Paula Creamer had a bad day. She shot scathing looks at her caddy, jammed her club into her bag, and displayed the worst behavior of any LPGA pro that I've seen.
Then she won the tournament and had tears of joy. I hope part of the reason for the tears wasn't just being sentimental because she won a tournament in front of her local fans. Instead some of those tears should be out of embarrassment for how she acted on the golf course on Friday.
Worst is little girls thinking this is an appropriate way to behave. She apologized to her caddy, but she should also include one to her fans and those who might think of her as a role model. To be clear, I've never held athletes as role models, but unfortunately with our media today kids have no one else to see as potential role models.
Finally, if Creamer can't take responsibility for her bad shots, and instead blames them on her caddy, she has a lot of growing up to do. Let's hope she does it fast.
6 comments:
Unfair assessment. Paula is very aware of her image and is extremely careful about what she says. OK, 99% of the time. She was embarrassed about this. She is a class act, a world class player, a classic beauty and a classy winner. That's four uses of the word class and she deserves them all.
Philosophically I agree with you regarding Paula apologizing to the public. However, you'd have every sport psychologist disagreeing. At that level, they have to believe that it wasn't their fault! Otherwise they'd start 2nd guessing, wondering for each shot, etc. Then they are toast!
But again I completely agree with you philosophically.
Hi wendyu,
Wow...how far does this sport psychology theory of it's not their fault go?
I've never seen or heard of Tiger or Phil chastise their caddies in public. I'm sure they're both, or at least Phil certainly is, working with a sports psychologist.
I believe Paula's behavior are signs of her immaturity and being told not to take responsibility for her bad shots. I hope the latter just applies to what she does on the course only.
I have to completely disagree with anonymous. I think there is a huge difference between a professional golfer and a golf that plays professionally. As someone said before you never see Tiger or others blaming others and the reason is because they know that although instances arise where a particular shot may be disturbed by someone or some thing outside of their control the final score is made up of more than just a single moment or a single stroke. If you don't think that acting like a jerk to those around you won't come back and bite you, ask John Daly how well his chances of landing a spot on the tournament next year are.
I agree with all your points, especially the last one. Paula, take responsibility for your bad shot. I believe the caddy is their to give advise, not to tell you what to do. Whether your a pro or a hacker, the caddy's advise should help YOU make the decision as to what shot to hit.
I believe she really showed her immaturity and a bad side to her personality. If that`s who she really is then she won`t be very popular!
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