It has been a week for Happy Gilmore and amusing Twitter golfing posts on both sides of the Atlantic.
Ewen Ferguson takes the prize for our first link with the famous, or should it be infamous, movie starring Adam Sandler about an ice hockey player turned golfer.
While Gilmore had a running rivalry with Shooter McGavin, Ewen had come in for some pretty poor criticism from Chris Thiart, a caddie on the Sunshine Tour.
Thiart took to social media back in May to have a pop at Ewen for swearing in anger in front of the TV cameras after missing a putt at the Soudal Open.
Decrying Ewen was having a “short game on a par with Happy Gilmore” he labelled my fellow Scot a brat and bet £100 he wouldn’t win on tour again.
I hope Thiart has paid up following Ewen’s terrific win at the ISPS Handa World Invitational.
Ewen had clearly kept Thiart’s words close to his heart for the last three months and he did not miss his chance to hit back on Sunday, retweeting Thiart’s comments from May with a tweet of his own “Happy learned how to putt!”
HAPPY LEARNED HOW TO PUTT 🤡🤡 https://t.co/P8QiPJxzdE
— Ewen Ferguson (@EwboF) August 15, 2022
Criticism comes with the territory as a professional golfer but it tends to come from keyboard warriors or internet trolls just hoping for a reaction from you.
What you don’t expect is to be taking pelters from one of your peers on tour as has been the case here between Thiart and Ewen. It shouldn’t be happening in the workplace.
But, having won twice on the DP World Tour this season I think it is fair to say Ewen has firmly had the final say on this one.
What a season he is having too.
Ferguson leading the Scottish charge
Ewen has shot 61 a couple of times this year, won twice and is starting to look the real deal at this level.
He went through a spell last year where he was doing well but not quite closing it out in tournaments but it is clear he has learned from that and come back more experienced and a better player because of it.
To win one is hard enough but to win twice is outstanding.
It has been a good year for the Scottish lads on tour with Richie Ramsay having knocked off a tournament while Connor Syme is also finding momentum after back-to-back runner-up finishes behind Ewen in Northern Ireland and Callum Shinkwin at the Cazoo Open in Wales.
It gives the rest of us hope we can get our name up there in the near future too.
Zalatoris in his happy place after FedEx St Jude win
Thankfully, the second Happy Gilmore reference of the week is a more amusing one with Will Zalatoris receiving congratulations from the man himself after claiming his first PGA Tour win.
Zalatoris’ victory at the FedEx St Jude Championship is long overdue.
He has been runner-up in three majors and it has always felt as if his first win was inevitable.
He is too good a player not to have a trophy in his grasp at some point.
He has had his fair share of critics too with his unusual putting style leading to people doubting him and he could be heard shouting “what are they going to say now” as he holed the putt to win the play-off.
It takes a powerful mindset to play, knowing people are questioning your ability to handle the pressure, and still come through to become a champion.
We all take criticism but only the golfers themselves know the real reason whether something is wrong or they have made an error.
Zalatoris was the personification of digging deep too as he holed an eight-foot putt at the last to force a play-off before beating Sepp Straka at the third extra hole to clinch victory.
As for the Gilmore reference? Well, let’s just say Zalatoris bears an uncanny resemblance to the teenager who caddied for Sandler’s character in the film.
The two have exchanged tweets in the past with Zalatoris playing up his likeness by insisting he will always be available to carry Mr Gilmore’s bag.
It was Sandler’s turn to pay tribute following the American’s win on Sunday when he tweeted: “Congrats Will! I’m happy for you! Happy’s happy for you! Enjoy it all!”
Congrats Will! I’m happy for you! Happy’s happy for you! Enjoy it all! pic.twitter.com/mlfRY2oYmr
— Adam Sandler (@AdamSandler) August 15, 2022
Will Tiger appearance stop the talent drain from the PGA Tour?
On a more serious note, we’re all waiting to see what the next development is going to be in the ongoing LIV Golf quest to take a foothold in the professional game.
Tiger Woods seemingly pitched up at the BMW Championship on Tuesday to discuss the PGA Tour’s fight to keep its star players with the leading golfers themselves in a private meeting.
I don’t know whether he did it of his own volition or at the request of the PGA Tour but I am sure Tiger has been nothing but positive about the merits of staying with the PGA.
Given he reportedly turned down an eyewatering $800million offer to join LIV Golf I think it’s safe to assume he believes the best way to grow the game is for everyone to stay where they are.
