[PHOTO: Mike Ehrmann]
For the average golfer, one or two drinks over the course of 18 holes isn’t a big deal. That statement comes with a lot of asterisks, but as long as you’re practising moderation, minding your manners and sobering up before you drive home, it’s nobody’s business but your own.
For tour pros, however, it’s another story.
As professional athletes, tour ambassadors and role models for thousands of kids, PGA Tour pros are prohibited from drinking alcohol on the clock. According to nine-year tour veteran Michael Kim, however, some have been known to bend the rules. But they’re not drinking to celebrate like us desk jockeys sneaking a happy-hour beer out of the office fridge – they’re drinking to drown their golf sorrows.
https://twitter.com/Mike_kim714/status/1831006102705537512
Two times in almost 10 seasons on tour is not exactly a trend, but still, it’s hard to imagine pros taking pulls mid-round with national TV cameras and armchair golf cops analysing every blade of grass and every grain of bunker sand. Far more understandable, though, is the urge to dull the pain of a bad round with the pain of a bad hangover. Usually, it’s best to wait until the 19th hole to begin that healing process, but sometimes it’s going so bad you have to get a head start.
Many in the comments were eager to guess the pros Kim was referencing – you probably have some hunches of your own – but to Kim’s credit, he didn’t name names. We’re not condoning this behaviour, but it’s probably good that Kim kept his lips sealed. Bygones are bygones and nobody likes a narc.
