Aaron Rodgers "sandbagging" draws the ire of the golf world at Pebble Beach.
After multiple weather delays brought the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am to a standstill, tournament organizers decided to shorten the Pro-Am portion to a 54 hole event. After the 3rd round was finished and the scores were tallied, Aaron Rodgers and his professional partner Ben Silverman came out on top at -26.
The term “sandbagger” is not one to be used lightly, but the golf world could not help themselves as Rodgers handicap became the topic of conversation. Ben Silverman, the professional who played with Rodgers missed the cut at +1, and although he did make 13 birdies in 3 rounds, the team score left many questioning Rodger’s handicap.
Keith Mitchell, who would tie for fourth at -14 and played with fellow NFL quarterback Josh Allen, didn’t believe it. “I think Josh and I won. Aaron Rodgers doesn’t count. His handicap was crap.”
Rodgers carries a 3.0 handicap at the Green Bay Country Club, but played off a 10 handicap around the Monterey Peninsula. This could possibly be believable if amateurs played from the same tees as the professionals, but they do not. Theoretically, Rodgers could have maybe played as a 5 handicap, but 10 seems out of the realm of possibility.
Rodgers seemed to build the narrative around being a 10 handicap early in the week where he claimed to shoot 86 at Sherwood Country Club and played horribly at Cypress Point the following day. By Thursday, Rodgers was quoted as saying “something clicked” at Spyglass on Thursday, but the golf world didn’t buy it.
Taking a historical look at this tournament, Bing Crosby, who founded it as the “Clambake” could be turning over in his grave.
Crosby ran the Clambake with an iron fist. All amateur handicaps were tossed aside and Bing himself assessed each player’s game and gave them a handicap. Crosby, who at his best reached a 2 handicap believed in fair play and even though he got to pick his partner, he never rigged the game and only finished within five shots of winning once.
“Sandbaggers” were banished for life when Crosby ran the Clambake. If he was alive today, I wonder what he would think of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Aaron Rodgers handicap debate this week.