Personally, I was pulling for Paul Goydos to win The Players Championship.
I’ve been a sort of closet Goydos fan for about 10 years, ever since we waited out a rain delay together at some tournament somewhere. I don’t even remember what tournament it was; I just remember the skies opened up, I was out at the far end of the golf course, and I ran for the nearest shelter, where, it turned out, Goydos, his caddie and maybe three or four others also had taken refuge.
I also remember Goydos was every bit the wry wit that day as he was on TV with Bob Costas over the weekend at TPC Sawgrass.
At the time, I barely knew who Goydos was. He hadn’t won a tournament yet or otherwise attracted much attention. In fact, he was fighting just to get into tournaments and make enough money to keep his PGA Tour card. I distinctly remember him talking about how he worked as a substitute teacher back home in Long Beach on weeks he didn’t get into tournaments.
Ever since then, I’ve had Goydos pegged as a pretty normal guy, and as someone who will stand there and talk to you and offer thoughtful, honest answers to questions on a wealth of topics. It’s also hard not respect Goydos for surviving out there among the studs and bombers.
The guy is 43, he’s a single dad with two teenage daughters, he’s got a last name that sounds like a growth on your neck and he’s built like a penguin. What's not to like?
You happen to catch his retort on Saturday, after Costas asked him why he kept his top shirt button buttoned in 90-plus heat.
“I’ve got no shoulders,” said Goydos. “It’s the only way my shirt stays on.”
2 comments:
I have to agree, Paul Goydos is a golfer you can't help pulling for. John Feinstein did an excellent job of capturing the true Paul Goydos in his first golf book, "A Good Walk Spoiled." Also, if I remember correctly, I think Goydos may have been sponsored by The Pep Boys not too long ago.
I too have bee following Goydos--ever since, in fact, John Feinstein's book A Good walk Spoiled, where he focused on PG and, as I recall, Brian henninger, as two honest journeymen in a world of prima donnas. He also listed Goydos as perhaps the only card-carrying Democrat in a PGA clubhouse which, if polled [at that time] wpuld have voted overwhelmingly for Pat Buchanan!
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