Back home, you don't get the BBC feed of the British Open, which I fear means you missed one of the all-time great interviews.
Here are the highlights of Boo Weekley's post-round interview Friday. He's doing America proud.
Most of the best stuff is lower down, and I've highlighted it.
BOO WEEKLEY
Q. How are you liking this kind of golf?
BOO WEEKLEY: I like it. It's very similar to how it is back home on the golf course I grew up on. It's a lot shorter than the one I grew up on, but it's firm like this and it plays pretty fast. You can bump it around the greens. You can use any club you want around the greens, which is a good thing. The putting surface here is really excellent. They're a little hard to read sometimes, but they roll real good and they're real flat.
Q. What's your impressions, you've been here a few days of the country, of the golf, of the people?
BOO WEEKLEY: The people are great. I haven't run into too many ‑‑ I'm going to leave that one alone. It's been nice getting to meet some people. The golf course is great. The atmosphere is great. It's a bigger atmosphere than I thought it would be.
Q. In what way?
BOO WEEKLEY: Just a lot more people. It's kind of like the U.S. Open back home. I knew it was the British Open and everything, but I figured the way the weather was going to be there wouldn't be that many people out. But today is a beautiful day, I almost blame them for not coming out today. But yesterday was awful.
Q. What didn't you know about Britain or Scotland before you came here?
BOO WEEKLEY: I would say my family was from here. That's all I knew. I knew it was a long way from where I grew up.
Q. Did they tell you much about it?
BOO WEEKLEY: No.
Q. Any background?
BOO WEEKLEY: No, sir.
Q. Where exactly is your family from?
BOO WEEKLEY: I couldn't tell you that, neither. But I know they're from here, south of here, down south on the border down there, I think. That's all I know. You'll have to ask my aunt.
Q. Did you have a passport before this season?
BOO WEEKLEY: I got one right at Christmas, you know, earlier this week.
Q. A lot of people thought you had to have tattoos out there, you know that?
BOO WEEKLEY: Yeah, I've heard. I mean if I do, I've got them all the way up my leg and my back. I ain't got no tatoos.
Q. What about away from the course, the food, things like that here?
BOO WEEKLEY: It's rough. It's been rough on that food. It's different eating here than it is at the house. Ain't got no sweet tea, and ain't got no fried chicken.
Q. I thought you were a fish guy?
BOO WEEKLEY: I've been eating a lot of fish.
Q. Fried?
BOO WEEKLEY: No, they've got the guy smoking some right over here, probably some of the best you'll ever eat. Yes, sir, it was good.
Q. Arbroath Smokies, you like those?
BOO WEEKLEY: Oh, yes, sir, very good.
Q. Is there anything new that's better than back home?
BOO WEEKLEY: I can't go there. (Laughter). I don't know, sir.
Q. What about driving around, is that putting you off?
BOO WEEKLEY: I ain't driving. I ain't driving nowhere.
Q. Scary?
BOO WEEKLEY: I think so. On the wrong side of the road? Yes, sir.
Q. Rumor had it that you had to smuggle in a few cans of dip because you heard they didn't have it here.
BOO WEEKLEY: I didn't smuggle a few. I brought a bunch. I think about 20‑something and my caddie brought like 30‑something.
Q. You're not going to run out, are you?
BOO WEEKLEY: Nope. Got six more to go.
Q. You have three more days.
BOO WEEKLEY: That's perfect.
Q. How are you liking this kind of golf?
BOO WEEKLEY: I like it. It's very similar to how it is back home on the golf course I grew up on. It's a lot shorter than the one I grew up on, but it's firm like this and it plays pretty fast. You can bump it around the greens. You can use any club you want around the greens, which is a good thing. The putting surface here is really excellent. They're a little hard to read sometimes, but they roll real good and they're real flat.
Q. What's your impressions, you've been here a few days of the country, of the golf, of the people?
BOO WEEKLEY: The people are great. I haven't run into too many ‑‑ I'm going to leave that one alone. It's been nice getting to meet some people. The golf course is great. The atmosphere is great. It's a bigger atmosphere than I thought it would be.
Q. In what way?
BOO WEEKLEY: Just a lot more people. It's kind of like the U.S. Open back home. I knew it was the British Open and everything, but I figured the way the weather was going to be there wouldn't be that many people out. But today is a beautiful day, I almost blame them for not coming out today. But yesterday was awful.
Q. What didn't you know about Britain or Scotland before you came here?
BOO WEEKLEY: I would say my family was from here. That's all I knew. I knew it was a long way from where I grew up.
Q. Did they tell you much about it?
BOO WEEKLEY: No.
Q. Any background?
BOO WEEKLEY: No, sir.
Q. Where exactly is your family from?
BOO WEEKLEY: I couldn't tell you that, neither. But I know they're from here, south of here, down south on the border down there, I think. That's all I know. You'll have to ask my aunt.
Q. Did you have a passport before this season?
BOO WEEKLEY: I got one right at Christmas, you know, earlier this week.
Q. A lot of people thought you had to have tattoos out there, you know that?
BOO WEEKLEY: Yeah, I've heard. I mean if I do, I've got them all the way up my leg and my back. I ain't got no tatoos.
Q. What about away from the course, the food, things like that here?
BOO WEEKLEY: It's rough. It's been rough on that food. It's different eating here than it is at the house. Ain't got no sweet tea, and ain't got no fried chicken.
Q. I thought you were a fish guy?
BOO WEEKLEY: I've been eating a lot of fish.
Q. Fried?
BOO WEEKLEY: No, they've got the guy smoking some right over here, probably some of the best you'll ever eat. Yes, sir, it was good.
Q. Arbroath Smokies, you like those?
BOO WEEKLEY: Oh, yes, sir, very good.
Q. Is there anything new that's better than back home?
BOO WEEKLEY: I can't go there. (Laughter). I don't know, sir.
Q. What about driving around, is that putting you off?
BOO WEEKLEY: I ain't driving. I ain't driving nowhere.
Q. Scary?
BOO WEEKLEY: I think so. On the wrong side of the road? Yes, sir.
Q. Rumor had it that you had to smuggle in a few cans of dip because you heard they didn't have it here.
BOO WEEKLEY: I didn't smuggle a few. I brought a bunch. I think about 20‑something and my caddie brought like 30‑something.
Q. You're not going to run out, are you?
BOO WEEKLEY: Nope. Got six more to go.
Q. You have three more days.
BOO WEEKLEY: That's perfect.
Q. Did you watch any British Opens in the last say 15 years before you came here?
BOO WEEKLEY: No.
Q. On TV, you didn't?
BOO WEEKLEY: If I did it was flicking through it and stopping and wondering who it was or something like that, but I didn't. I don't watch golf. I watch it every now and then when my friends are playing it and stuff like that, but I don't care to watch it.
Q. There wasn't a curiosity how ‑‑ British as opposed to the PGA TOUR?
BOO WEEKLEY: No.
Q. Do you know about the previous Champions and previous great players?
BOO WEEKLEY: No.
Q. Paul Lawrie, you apparently played with him last week?
BOO WEEKLEY: Yeah. I kind of stuck my foot in my mouth there, didn't I (laughter), but I didn't know. If you don't know, you don't know. I hated I said what I said, especially with him just saying what he said a couple of days before that, he don't get no respect. And then I say something like that, you know, it's like, wham, here's a slap in your head (laughter).
Q. Have you watched television here? What do you make of the television over here?
BOO WEEKLEY: I don't watch much TV.
Q. You can't get the race on Sunday?
BOO WEEKLEY: No.
Q. Are you a NASCAR fan?
BOO WEEKLEY: Yes, sir.
Q. Are you going to St. Andrews, the home of golf, when you finish here and have a game of golf? It's only just down the road.
BOO WEEKLEY: I didn't know it was the home of golf. I thought the home of golf was where I was from (laughter).
Q. Have you developed an appetite for being abroad and playing abroad? Would you like to visit other places in Europe?
BOO WEEKLEY: I don't like to visit, I just go and do what I got to do and get home.
Q. Had you been out of the country before you went to Mexico for the Cancún thing?
BOO WEEKLEY: I've been to Canada once, but that ain't really like leaving.
Q. Jim Furyk was out in some of the local pubs last night. Are you thinking about going out with a drink and mixing with some of the locals?
BOO WEEKLEY: No, probably not.
Q. They'd love to meet you.
BOO WEEKLEY: Yeah, I'm pretty sure they would (laughter).
BOO WEEKLEY: No.
Q. On TV, you didn't?
BOO WEEKLEY: If I did it was flicking through it and stopping and wondering who it was or something like that, but I didn't. I don't watch golf. I watch it every now and then when my friends are playing it and stuff like that, but I don't care to watch it.
Q. There wasn't a curiosity how ‑‑ British as opposed to the PGA TOUR?
BOO WEEKLEY: No.
Q. Do you know about the previous Champions and previous great players?
BOO WEEKLEY: No.
Q. Paul Lawrie, you apparently played with him last week?
BOO WEEKLEY: Yeah. I kind of stuck my foot in my mouth there, didn't I (laughter), but I didn't know. If you don't know, you don't know. I hated I said what I said, especially with him just saying what he said a couple of days before that, he don't get no respect. And then I say something like that, you know, it's like, wham, here's a slap in your head (laughter).
Q. Have you watched television here? What do you make of the television over here?
BOO WEEKLEY: I don't watch much TV.
Q. You can't get the race on Sunday?
BOO WEEKLEY: No.
Q. Are you a NASCAR fan?
BOO WEEKLEY: Yes, sir.
Q. Are you going to St. Andrews, the home of golf, when you finish here and have a game of golf? It's only just down the road.
BOO WEEKLEY: I didn't know it was the home of golf. I thought the home of golf was where I was from (laughter).
Q. Have you developed an appetite for being abroad and playing abroad? Would you like to visit other places in Europe?
BOO WEEKLEY: I don't like to visit, I just go and do what I got to do and get home.
Q. Had you been out of the country before you went to Mexico for the Cancún thing?
BOO WEEKLEY: I've been to Canada once, but that ain't really like leaving.
Q. Jim Furyk was out in some of the local pubs last night. Are you thinking about going out with a drink and mixing with some of the locals?
BOO WEEKLEY: No, probably not.
Q. They'd love to meet you.
BOO WEEKLEY: Yeah, I'm pretty sure they would (laughter).
9 comments:
makes John Daly sound like Stephen Hawkings....Mike of Port Richmond
Boo is a down to earth person who does not go in for fanfare. He does not mean to offend anyone. He is actually very refreshing to see and listen to in the world of sports because he's not a phoney; he gets done what he needs to and doesn't pat himself on the back and expect accolades from people. Some of the larger than life, obnoxious sports figures out there should take lessons from him.
the article about sweet tea is as insulting to some southerners as saying african americans like watermelon. My family moved to Kentucky and Georgia in the late 1700s and pre-sweetened tea was never a tradition in our household. We had iced tea with lemon and you could add sugar if you wanted to but it was never as ridiculously syrupy sweet as described in this article. I now live in Seattle and here all of the stereotypes that arise from inaccurate arcticles like this one.
Boo sounds like a good ol boy ~ I like that. I'm southern and I don't like grits, buttermilk, and I never cared for sweet tea [although I add sugar & lemon] ~ but I'd never consider it an insult to read about Southerners liking that. My family [4 sets of grandparents] date back to the 1600's in the South [all arrived in Baltimore & moved to Virginia]. I love Southernisms and the author, a Southern Jew who moved to MA, sound like my kind of guy. Keep it up.
P.S. I still live in the South.
Good [real] old boy
If Boo expects to represent the PGA in the future.. which he will have to do if he ever wins a named tournament. The man must go to an English coach and learn proper English... I have lived in the South for many years and I was appalled when I read his "quoted" interview in our local Southern sports page... I should hope that the golfing public, both in the States and abroad... don't think that that all of us in the South speak as poorly as Boo..
With success comes polish, lets hope that both come to Boo in the future... BB
So what if the man speaks poorly? He is not on the tour for his English speaking talent.
What I like about him is that he is a blue-collar Southerner and sees nothing wrong with it even though others may object. America is all about regionalism, and Boo personifies it.
The man must go to an English coach and learn proper English...
I'm Black and I would like to propose the same thing for all Black athletes. It's even more horrifying in the workplace when I attend meetings and occasionally hear people who should know better (people with advanced degrees) using the same kind of diction and language as guys hanging out on street corners.
awesome post. enjoyed the interview alot
You folks should leave ole Boo alone and don't be so judgemental. He's a great talent, he loves golf, and he's a son of the South. I've been to England and Scotland too and while the golf was fun, it sure felt good to get home and enjoy some grits and drive again.
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