He does not need the money. Thats the point. His entire schtick is a vanity project and he is taking up major opportunities for actual mid-ams. That fuck boi does not need you white knighting him.
more ridiculous, Jason Days outfit or Bryson going with the head to toe (plus all his gear) "Crushers"? Just not a serious person.
The LIV teams feel like something you would see on Pro Bowl weekend or something, they’re just begging anyone to watch it and trying everything they can. It’s like they used the Backyard Baseball name generator and clip art for the logos. Wearing the gear at the Masters is hilarious
The Hagestead thing is weird to me. He’s just as much of an amateur as top college players. I do get why people hate him though, he seems like a twat.
But he's outplaying those guys to "take up major opportunities" from them. Sounds like they need to play better.
The mid-Amateur category was created exactly for the point you’re making. The normal Amateur category was getting dominated by the college kids basically living the life of pros prior to them declaring pro. So they created the mid Am category for players aged 25+ so it would give those golfers who actually live normal lives and have real jobs compete in their own category. And then Big Stew comes along with his trust fund and “finance job” that allows him to play 320+ days per year. He’s the antithesis to the entire idea of the mid-Am.
Though if we really want to go down the golf version of Stolen Valor rabbit hole, Stew has nothing on Omar Uresti
I still think you’re just making a big deal about nothing. Probably most of the guys in the top 20 are playing golf almost every day. It’s not a bunch of jabronis that just play on the weekends for fun.
agree who was the mid am that was a fireman that popped up a few years back? He was a big barstool fan.
I literally caddied in the US Mid Am last year so I have a decent understanding of the field. The vast majority are working full time jobs, have families, are raising kids, and still playing competitive golf on the side.
Not sure if you're aware but 99% of the players who play in any tournament on the PGA Tour don't "need" the money from that tournaments purse. Those other mid-ams want that opportunity? Then beat him. He wasn't given a hand out.
I at a gummy at the practice round I went to last year. First glimpse of the course was like entering Narnia
Hagestad's problem is that he puts out puff pieces about how hard he works at his "finance" job and acts like he doesn't touch a club for weeks at a time when everyone knows its all an act
My personal take on him is that I’d probably do the exact same thing if I were in his position. It would be extremely difficult not to. So it’s tough to criticize him personally. In thinking that, I also would agree with the assertion that he’s the total antithesis to the mid Am model. A normal person can hold both of those beliefs.
That's weird. So the Masters invite should go to the winner....unless it's him, then it should go to 2nd place? What if they've qualified before too? 3rd place gets it? It's a sport and I'm pretty sure the point to the mid am model is to identify the best mid am. Well....
I just think there’s some serious irony that a lot of the criticism is about him being rich when it’s golf of all sports.
That’s me. I always make a long shot futures bet before I leave chasing the dream that it’s going to hit and I can hop the next plane to Vegas to cash it. Maybe next year!
This. I think 99% of people wouldn’t care if every year there wasn’t a Journal article about how he keeps a pretty serious finance job - working at MSD isn’t a joke - while also being a dominant amateur player as if a) he actually has any real responsibility other than being a golfer and b) he’s not employed by MSD primarily so they can trot him out for business development purposes at elite courses. I actually think he’s been pretty circumspect about his personal situation that allows him to not worry about money he just still wants to be viewed as the same in a golf sense as the guys who do.
Sheffler taking the lead and then leaving mid-round bc his wife went into labor would be fantastic content.