Kevin Na's whiff shot

Anyone just see Kevin Na's whiff on the 15th hole on the PGA Tour. Roe says he stopped, Tommey Gainey called it a whiff in an interview. Other reporter said he had hit tops with the driver earlioer on the range It looked dodgy to me.. Anyone else see it. Also he is turbo slow on the course!!

Sluggers just reviewed it in tv compound and called it ok. Only surprise this time was that it did not involve Padraig!!

matelot,
He DID swing through it but clearly (I thought) lifted his swing a foot away from the ball.
Official explanation needed.
How would Martin Atkinson have ruled? Red card??

This is great viewing. Now he's having a heated debatevwith his caddy. Rob and roey in the studio starting to lose it with Na also. Robs cussing him for taking over 2 mins to pull a 5 iron and hit a shot!! Never thought a really minor PGA tournament could be such compelling viewing!!

Many people have lost it with Kevin Na, Rory Sabbatini included. Slow, inconsiderate, rude, terrible course etiquette, miserable sod.

Golf channel just voted his 'shot/non shot' as 'shot of the day'PMSL. Can't wait till tomorrow night, could be comedy gold when he gets to the back 9 and in contention. Worth subscribing to Sky just to be able to say ' isaw that live. Rob Lee is given him loads of jib now and ripping him to shreads!! Classic

Is this it?

kwinigolfer wrote:matelot,
He DID swing through it but clearly (I thought) lifted his swing a foot away from the ball.
Official explanation needed.
How would Martin Atkinson have ruled? Red card??

Kwini
I agree with you after watching a reply. But real time, the first time I saw it I could have sworn it looked like an air shot!! The slow mo replays do make it more obvious he pulled out at the end. Tommy Gainney who only saw it once at real speed also felt he had made a swing at it on the tee.

I reckon this is something the PGA or R'n'A need to make a better ruling on soon.

Seeing it at full speed it certainly looked like a "whiff". Even on replays it was debatable. Much as I dislike Na I'd be more inclined to give an established pro the benefit of the doubt - but I don't like the precendent it sets for club golfers. I can just imagine the number of higher (and even mid) handicappers trying to explain when they whiff the ball that they pulled out of the shot because a duck quacked somewhere.

I've whiffed a ball once or twice (thankfully not for a couple of years) and wondered if I could get away with saying I "pulled out of the shot". My own conscience wouldn't let me but I've come across one or two players who would try it on if it isn't clamped down soon

kwinigolfer wrote:Many people have lost it with Kevin Na, Rory Sabbatini included. Slow, inconsiderate, rude, terrible course etiquette, miserable sod.

Na is a first class cheat and a-hole.Apparently 90% of the tour caddies can't stand his arrogance.He should be fined by the Tour for cheating.

Mehrts,
I'm taking it you agree with me!?!

Mehrts is god wrote:

kwinigolfer wrote:Many people have lost it with Kevin Na, Rory Sabbatini included. Slow, inconsiderate, rude, terrible course etiquette, miserable sod.

Na is a first class cheat and a-hole.Apparently 90% of the tour caddies can't stand his arrogance.He should be fined by the Tour for cheating.

Maybe instead of a fine he should be constantly taunted about his 16? That'd be worse probably...

30 one-putts through 61 holes!

Did not see this one till tonight, but as far as I can see, he addressed the ball, made a swing and followed through, the fact that he did not contact the ball, means air shot.

When Tiger does it he stops the club before it reaches the ball, no air shot.

I think that the general rule is that you have to make an effort to strike the ball for it to be considered an air shot. Although he addressed it and made a swing, he clearly missed moved the clubhead mid swing and moved himself away in order to miss it.

Big fuss over nothing, even though the guy seems like a tool it would be a harsh penalty.

Has there ever been a legitimate freshie by a professional.

Should have pulled out of the second swing as well...

I accept that he bailed out and did not attempt to really hit the ball, but that's a really dodgy way of doing it and sets a really bad precedent for normal golfers to claim their real air shots were them pulling out of a bad swing.

To be honest, I think a pro should be good enough to go through with the shot once he's committed to the downswing, regardless of any noise, movement etc - indeed, if his concentration is as it should be, such peripheral things should be easy to ignore.

kwinigolfer wrote:Many people have lost it with Kevin Na, Rory Sabbatini included. Slow, inconsiderate, rude, terrible course etiquette, miserable sod.

Kwini - I may have missed it or was there any public incidents of people having a go at Na?

I have to say he does come across as a bit of a nob while playing but his interview after he won was definitely genuine.

Chris,
I've followed him when he's acted like a spoiled child, tossed clubs at his caddie, refused to shake hands with fellow pros, caddies and scorers at the end of his round.
And Sabbataini documented an issue with his slow play in a golf.com profile where he said:
"I was having a real battle with him being as slow as he was. . . . at the end of the day, I said: 'Kevin, I just wanted to let you know that I thought you were extremely slow out there, and maybe it's something you could work on.' As opposed to a few years ago when I blew up at Ben Crane."

Similarly, he was involved in controversy at The Players the year that Stenson won, kept Cabrera and Poulter and others waiting an unconscionable length of time, following which Cabrera and Poulter both misplayed shots.

'Course, who hasn't Sabbatini blown up at?, but even Brandel Chamblee said last night that many players didn't like playing with him.

I don't doubt that there's a part of him that is a good person, it just seems everything has to go his way to see it.

Cheers for the insight Kwini. He seems to have a short fuse alright and appears to make a lot of bad course management decisions because of it. The obvious one being when he took the 16 a few months back.

It'd be interesting to hear Na's version of what Sabbatini said to him! I'd be very surprised if it was as calm and measured as it reads!

If it wasn't a whiff I'm not sure what it was!

That said, I can certainly see the gray area here. (1) When Tiger starts many of his swings that stop suddenly, there is certainly intent at the top. Midway down no intent and doesn't ever seem to even get to the ball. (2) Did Na do the same thing? Intent at the top, but midway down no intent and then intentionally swing over the ball?

At the end of the day, we rely on golfers to call their own. I'll leave it up to Na.

so what happens if you try and pull out of a shot, but top it?

Who knows what Kevin Na is ever thinking?

Ban_bam, Na seemed to imply that a Tour Official, John Brendle who you'll see a lot on TV coverage, told him he could replace his ball but sure that's a misquote. As Brendle was referenced by name, I'm expecting a PGA Tour statement on the subject. Na is due for an interview today at the Fry's.com tournament and wouldn't be surprised if this subject came up, perhaps in conjunction with an official statement.

Until then it's a can of worms.

haven't seen the incident - from skim reading i thought it was a fresh air shot, or did he actually top the ball?

ban_bam wrote:haven't seen the incident - from skim reading i thought it was a fresh air shot, or did he actually top the ball?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTBsxTg-NwE

Hope the PGA confirm that once you have addressed the ball take the club back, swing down and follow through, then it is a stroke whether you hit the ball or not, but knowing the PGA they will I expect them to sit on the fence again.

Ban - That's another great question. My understanding is that the tee box is the only place you can actually touch the ball with your club face and, if no intent to strike, re-tee.

This should be interesting!

Just watched this for the first time, looks like he was pulling out pretty clearly to me, especially in the slow mo. I thought it would be a lot less clear cut to be honest from all the chat.

Digs,
I also think it's clearly a pull-out, but it raises lots of questions and the PGA Tour's silence so far only confuses matters more.
They need to make their position clear.

Fair enough Kwini. I know he's not the most popular chap, wonder if there would have been so much fuss if say a Stricker or Harrington had done it ?
He does seem to like taking a swipe at inanimate objects which arent golf balls.

Digs,
I'm naive enough to believe that Stricker and Harrington, not to mention a couple of hundred others, have too much respect for the game to ever execute a faux swing of such ambiguity.
Your point about swinging at inanimate objects quite apropos don't you think??!! He never seems to miss them.

Apparently this is not uncommon for Na only this time the cameras were there to catch it.

There's no way a tour pro could fresh air a tee ball with a driver and since its only really Na that practices this kind of bail out I dont see what the fuss is about. There is a rule that covers it.

Actually Kwini he does that Tiger thing where he does take a huge swipe and just manages to stop himself....usually. I think if he actually hit everything he took a swipe at he'd cause more damage than a small tornado.

Have only really just read through this and looked at the youtube clip. From the slow mo's I think it's very clear he pulled out of the shot before getting anywhere near the ball.

Whilst it's not a pretty site to watch, then what is about Na. Seems like a lot of fuss over nothing really. Can't say i'd want to spend anytime in his company