Today's round at the WGC Cadillac Match Play saw a dispute between Miguel Angel Jimenez and Keegen Bradley, both very likable, calm, and some of the nicer players on tour. This was the third match for both players, but both had lost their previous two matches, meaning that neither of them had a chance of reaching the round of 16.
It started on the 13th hole, where Jimemez apparently questioned a cart path drop Bradley had made. Whether the questioning was out of curiosity, disapproval, etc. isn't not clear at the moment. Ok, no big deal, Miguel is 1 UP at this point and wants to make sure things are being done right. He does want to win after all.
Things turned for the worse on the 18th. After a wayward tee shot, Bradley was forced to make another drop. Jimenez had again made his way over to where Bradley was and discussions again ensued, with Jimenez voicing his opinion about the drop. Things became heated when Bradley's caddie (Steve AKA Pepsi) interrupted Jimenez, who was having a conversation with the rules official on scene. Pepsi said to Jimenez "do you want to delay us some more?" prompting Jimenez to tell Pepsi to "shut up". An angered Bradley then stepped in, getting up close and personal with Jimenez, telling him not to tell his caddie to shut up and to go back to his ball.
It's tough in this situation to point the finger at who is to blame or at fault for this. Many people are saying different things, some say Jimenez was out of line for being there and saying shut up, some say Pepsi was rude for interrupting, some say the rules official should have done something about it. Here's my opinion, for what it's worth.
This post should be titled "Jimenez vs Pepsi" because that's really where the heated dispute is, and started. You can't blame Jimenez for walking over to Bradley's ball and taking interest. It does, after all, affect him as it could affect Keegen's score on that hole and thus affect the match. Any match player golfer would have probably done the same thing, but probably not as insistent as Jimenez was. You can't blame Bradley for defending his caddie. Players and caddies are really close and most of the times are close friends. He's trying to defend his caddie after all.
So who's to blame?
Both Jimenez and Pepsi. Pepsi probably should not have interrupted Miguel and the rules official. That seems to me like the catalyst in the heated dispute. Likewise Miguel probably should not have told Pepsi to shut up and probably should not have been so accusatory in his opinion about the drop. Now whether Jimenez meant to tell Pepsi to shut up or meant to be so accusatory is a different story. There is after all a slight language barrier with Jimenez.
After the match (which Jimenez ended up winning), the two had apparently calmed down at least in their interviews, citing that they were in the heat of the moment and that what's done is done. But people inside the locker room afterwards are saying that the two and Pepsi had more words for each other and apparently nothing was resolved.
Some people (cough Johnny Miller, cough some Golf Channel experts) are blaming the rules official for not stepping in and "breaking up the confrontation". What I found interesting about this was what Chief Referee Mark Russell has to say about this. Russell defended the rules official saying that issue was between the players and that the rules official acted justly. He added that if things got any worse, the rules official would certainly have stepped in. It's also worth pointing out that although the rules official is a referee of sorts, he/she can't be compared to referees of other sports, where confrontations occur more often. These things just don't happen that often in golf so you wouldn't expect a rules official to step in like we see in other sports.
This is a very interesting story that's sure to develop some more in the next few days. I just hope that this isn't the latest golf rivalry to emerge. Both are great and respected players and hopefully they can resolve these issues.
In other news, the round of 16 has been decided. You can find out who's playing who by clicking here. The only one of our picks to make it to the round of 16 was Rickie Fowler, who will be facing Louis Oosthuizen tomorrow.
What's your opinion on the Jimenez/Bradley issue? Leave us a comment and let us know,
-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews
Jimenez vs Bradley: What's your opinion on it?
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