THE PGA Tour’s first full-field tournament of the year will not soon be forgotten, although not for the quality of its field or the pedigree of its winner, Johnson Wagner.
The weekend began with Matt Every atop the Sony Open leaderboard and hoping to distance himself from a three-month suspension he served two years ago as a rookie for conduct unbecoming of a professional after an arrest on a misdemeanor drug charge. And it ended with Vijay Singh, a three-time major winner, having to explain allegations of a lapse in professional conduct.
Paired on Sunday with 20-year-old Seung-yul Noh of South Korea, Singh (48) completed a round of two-under-par 68 at Waialae Country Club without incident. The same could not be said of his third-round pairing with Rory Sabbatini, which ended with Sabbatini weighing up whether to file a formal complaint against Singh with the PGA Tour for verbal abuse against Sabbatini’s caddie, Mick Doran.
According to volunteers who said they witnessed the incident, Singh, just after missing a six-foot par putt on the first hole of his third round, swore at Doran for moving while he had lined it up. When Sabbatini spoke up in defence of Doran, Singh swore at him loudly enough for volunteer marshals near the gallery ropes to hear. Singh and Sabbatini continued to jaw at each other. A security volunteer, Alan Awana, said he had never seen anything like it in his more than two decades working on the tournament.
Awana was in a cart following Singh on Sunday as part of a conspicuous security presence. The number of volunteers assigned to shadow Singh, who won this tournament in 2005, was determined before the weekend’s start and was based on the fact that Singh is a perennial fan favorite here.
Mark Russell, the PGA Tour vice president for rules, competition and administration, said Sabbatini complained about Singh’s behaviour. He said he told him to send an email containing “whatever he had to say” to the PGA Tour Competitions department.
After signing for a 69 and a 72-hole score of five-under 275, Sabbatini would not say whether he had acted on Russell’s advice. “That’s between me and the tour,” Sabbatini said. He confirmed the facts of the story provided by the volunteers and said: “The only thing I told Vijay is whatever he was saying to my caddie is inappropriate. I was just sticking up for my caddie, who doesn’t deserve to be talked to in that manner.”
Singh, who closed with a 68 to finish at three-under 277, described what happened as “just some misunderstanding” and said: “That’s it. We’re cool.”
He had left the course by the time Sabbatini finished. Sabbatini made it clear that the matter, in his mind, was not closed. “I feel that Vijay definitely needs to approach my caddie and resolve the situation,” he said.
It was the second time in two weeks that Doran found himself pulled uncomfortably into the public eye. At the Tournament of Champions, Sabbatini was assessed a two-stroke penalty during his second round for a late arrival at the first tee. He was on the practice green putting when his name was called. Doran absorbed the blame, saying his watch was a few minutes slow.
Sabbatini, who has acknowledged that he has to fight his fiery nature to play competitive golf, last year engaged Sean O’Hair in a loud on-course argument during the tour stop in New Orleans. He texted O’Hair afterwards and told him to give him a call, and in the conversation that followed he apologised. The confrontation came on the heels of an episode involving Sabbatini during the tour stop in Los Angeles when he berated a teenage volunteer who was helping him find his lost ball.
Singh has also been known to lash out at volunteers and reporters. “These guys are very competitive players,” Russell said. “They don’t always agree on everything. But it is a gentleman’s sport, and that’s why we’re going to take a look at everything.”
New York TimesService
