Do you think the manner in which you win is as important as the winning itself?
Without a doubt. It’s more important. If you win, but you’re miserable to other players and the spectators, then what kind of image do you give? I don’t agree with the saying, ‘winning is everything’. Winning is everything in competition terms, but not at every cost.
Would you agree that the true greats of the game have left their mark as much by the sort of characters that they were as by the titles that they won?
In golf, almost all the guys who have won on the world stage – but for a few exceptions – are to be admired for their dedication and the passion they show and inspire on and off the course. I don’t think there are too many surprises when you see the character of people who win very often for a very long time – they are usually well balanced, very dedicated. They know what it takes and the responsibility they have.
Sometimes, you miss out on other characters if you only focus on winners. That’s what makes golf such an incredible sport, followed and played by so many. Sometimes, we forget to promote the guys in the middle of the pack who do more good for our game than some of the elite players. They give a lot of time to charity, for the crowd, for amateurs in the pro-ams. I understand the top players can't give up every spare minute for this, otherwise they don’t have time to go to the bathroom, but we should always look out for those who are always giving back to the game.
Can you think of a great golfing moment when a golfer’s true character was revealed by something they did – either on or off the course?
Earlier this year, Victor Dubuisson, who’s French, called a penalty on himself when you can’t even see on TV that the ball moved. There’s no evidence, yet he called a penalty on himself and he finished 11th instead of seventh. There are lot of guys out there who know the responsibility of sportsmanship in golf. The people in golf who don’t call penalties on themselves are in a small minority.
