At press conferences, questions come from all directions, from left and right and up and down — room configurations vary, you know — and from all walks of life. Even from ballplayers. Or at least from folks who play them on screen.
Wednesday, for example, one day ahead of the Players Championship, Justin Thomas had this exchange with Patrick Renna.
Who you may know best as the actor who wonderfully portrayed Ham Porter in the “Sandlot” movie.
Said Renna, from the back of the media center at TPC Sawgrass: “Oh, hey, J.T., handsome, curly haired guy in the back. Big fan. Would you consider, in the offseason, of course, giving like a 15-handicap just, I don’t know, one lesson maybe at TPC? Just play 18 quick, I don’t know. Just spitballing here. You don’t have to answer now. Give it some thought, sleep on it.”
Said Thomas: “OK. Yeah, we can maybe do like a home-and-home, like where you come here, maybe we’ll spend some time on the baseball field, or I don’t know. What do you think?”
Said Renna: “I’ll give you some baseball lessons, you give me some golf lessons you, got it?”
Said Thomas: “My dad’s the coach, by the way, so anything bad that happens, that’s on him.”
Said Renna: “You bring your dad, I’ll bring mine. I’ll see you here, TPC. We’ll talk later. We’ll figure it out.”
Said Thomas: “Perfect.”
Good stuff.
Of course, there’s been heady discussion this week, too, as these are heady times. The future of the PGA Tour’s fight with LIV Golf, now in its third season? The status of a proposed deal struck last June with the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, the backer of LIV? Specific details on how the Tour will spend a billion-plus dollars from its deal with a group of sports owners? How can pros best return these owners’ investment? Is Jay Monahan right for his role as Tour commissioner?
In short, there’s a lot going on, though little of it actually involves the goings-on on the course. All of which spurred a short, toward the end-of-the-press-conference query of Xander Schauffele on Tuesday.
“Xander, I know you said you’ve tried to keep your head in the sand and decouple yourself from what’s going on. That being said, though, given that so much is going on, has it been challenging to find joy coming to work given all these weighty things being discussed?”
Schauffele smiled and nodded, as if to say, yeah, no kidding, man.
But no, it hadn’t been hard. For him, at least.
But he was fully aware of how easily it could be.
“Actually that’s not a terrible question,” Schauffele started.
“I love my job. I love playing golf. So for me to come and work and mess up and then try again or hit a good shot and try and validate it, to me, it’s the best job in the world.
“So if you start poking around and you can’t get any answers, I can imagine you can make your working environment pretty terrible, so I think it’s sort of how you go about it, and fortunately for me, you know, I have trust in some of the people that are leading us and hoping for a good outcome, and in the meantime, just trying to play the best golf I can play.”
At the least, it was one person’s view of things from 10,000 feet, as they say.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
Who is Xander Schauffele?
Xander Schauffele is a professional golfer who has gained recognition on the PGA Tour.
What is the Players Championship?
The Players Championship is a prestigious golf tournament held annually on the PGA Tour.
What is the role of Jay Monahan?
Jay Monahan is the Tour commissioner of the PGA Tour.
What is LIV Golf?
LIV Golf is a professional golf league that has been in a fight with the PGA Tour.
What is the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund?
The Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund is a financial backer of LIV Golf and has been involved in negotiations with the PGA Tour.
Who is the author of this article?
The author of this article is Nick Piastowski.
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