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“Snap another one!” You find brave people in hospitality areas at golf tournaments. The order came to Li Haotong, moments after his caddie had delivered a broken lob wedge to a bin at the back of the Bay Hill driving range. “Fuck off!” barked Li in immediate reply, with a gesticulation to match. What a scene.
Gaining entry to the Arnold Palmer Invitational at the last minute, as a reserve, was not sufficient to boost Li’s mood. He finished round one horribly, with a double bogey rounding off a 77. Li’s tugged approach to the last (a bad workman etc) was plugged in a greenside bunker, from where he opted to putt. The ball crawled out of the sand, which Li booted in anger. The ranting continued all the way to and on the practice area, much to the amusement of assembled guests. Li’s poor bag man was at the opposite end of a verbal tirade. It was pitiful, embarrassing petulance for which Li should be reprimanded by the PGA Tour.
This further raised the issue of how golfers react in moments of adversity. Li can pretty much do as he pleases; the 71st-ranked golfer in the world, whose major appearances are rare, is anonymous. Not so Shane Lowry, whose painful finish at Sunday’s Cognizant Classic placed him in full glare of the golfing world.
Had Lowry won in South Florida, he would have received nothing close to the level of accolades that arrived in defeat. Lowry cracked two balls into water in successive holes, therefore letting a three-shot lead evaporate. This is a golfer whose talent level and dedication outweigh his CV, Lowry not having won in the US in an individual event since 2015. The stumble was a horrible one not just for Lowry but for those looking on.
Lowry’s response to sporting trauma was to front up. He stood before the media, adding emotion to the scenario by explaining his prime motivation was to lift the Cognizant trophy in front of his four-year-old daughter. Wizened observers gulped. It was wise to let Lowry skip press duties after a 74 to begin at Bay Hill. Europe’s Ryder Cup hero had dropped a shot at the last. “I have been there, it is not great,” said Lowry’s playing partner Xander Schauffele of what transpired days earlier. “You don’t really want to see it.
“Shane told me this is his 18th season. If you’ve been playing the game long enough you’ve kind of done it all. So he has probably finished up really clutch before and unfortunately he didn’t do that. That part of that course there, it’s pretty scary and it’s really rewarding if you’re able to get it done. You need some things to go your way and you need to hit some really good shots. I’m sure he’ll bounce back from it.”
Justin Rose dropped the shoulder in a manner peak Lionel Messi would have been proud off despite a Bay Hill 70; one quick broadcast interview and straight to the range. Rose, like Lowry, is typically obliging but appeared agitated by his game.
It was a year ago here that Collin Morikawa conceded the tournament to Russell Henley, late on Sunday. Morikawa opted not to talk then, which fuelled quite the debate about whether or not golfers owe anything to those who cover the sport. Morikawa believes not; this is a sentiment few people around golf’s current generation are going to contradict.
Morikawa was in loquacious form after his first round of 66 placed him three adrift of the early leader, Daniel Berger. Questions to Morikawa quite naturally diverted back towards 2025. “I’m never going to forget how I played last year,” Morikawa said. “You don’t want to forget about it. I still played solid. But you want to close out events.
“You don’t dwell on it. You learn from it, you move on, you live from it and that’s the biggest thing; how do I take a lot of the good shots I had from last year?” Presumably if Morikawa finds himself in contention on Sunday, his biggest challenge will be in the mind. Li will not be in position to encounter the same problem. Not this week.
