Tour Life
PGA Tour pro sets golfers-are-athletes argument back decades with wild quote about playing in rain
Jonathan Bachman
The golfers-are-athletes movement has made great strides since Tiger Woods burst onto the scene. Until the injuries really started piling up, Tiger carried this torch with his focus on physical fitness. Then there was Dustin Johnson, who, as all of Golf Twitter is well aware, CAN DUNK! And now there's Charley Hull, who seems more concerned about beating her best 5K time than winning a major.
But for all the hard work those trailblazers put in to build golf up as a true sport, it may have been undone by one quote from a PGA Tour pro on Thursday.
Ryan Gerard had a great opening round at the Texas Children's Houston Open, grabbing a share of the Day 1 lead with a five-under-par 65 at Memorial Park Golf Course. Even more impressive was that he recorded that score in rainy conditions. Sounds like a gritty player, right? Well, not so much when you hear his thoughts about playing in such conditions.
"So like I'm weird, I don't like holding the umbrella because I feel like my arms get fatigued and I stand over a shot and I feel like I hit it weird," Gerard said after in a video posted by the PGA Tour. "So I kind of just wear the rain jacket and try and not get the grips wet."
Somewhere, Tom Watson is shaking his head in disgust.
Technically, Gerard has a point. Holding an umbrella would fatigue one's arm more than not holding an umbrella. But . . . yeah . . . that's a tough look.
Anyway, playing in miserable conditions can actually help your golf game so keep that in mind the next time you're stuck out in the rain. In the meantime, Ryan, you might want to hit the gym a little more if holding an umbrella is weighing you down that much. Just saying.