So as Pro linksters hit the golf courses this weekend we had two different things going on. One was Former NFL star and hall of famer Jerry Rice made his debut on the nationwide golf tour trying to start a career in professional golf at the age of 47. Then we had middle of the pack English golfer Brian Davis on the verge of winning his first PGA event after playing pro golf for 16 year! Both stories seem compelling interesting, and stories you might want to follow. But When sprinkling a few facts about both these stories lets she which one you would still care about and which one is  well, a fraud. First let’s look at Brian Davis did yesterday. He had just finished the last round on the Verizon Heritage classic in a tie for 1st with Jim Furyk. At 13 under par. The two men went into a playoff  After hitting tee shots  Davis’ second shot he went wide left of the hole landing on the beach side of the hole in some reedy like shore line grass. He talked the shot over with his caddy and tournament officials and decided he would try to take the shot without taking a drop. He approached the ball, got his hands ready to swing and then struck a great shot putting the ball up on the green for a decent putt. One problem though. As he went into his back swing, his club head hit a stray weed dangling in his shot. No wait what the heck is wrong with that you say, well as Davis said “It was one of those things I thought I saw movement out of the corner of my eye,” “And I thought we’d check on TV, and indeed there was movement.” And that movement of a twig prior to striking the ball constituted a 2 stroke penalty. He took the penalty, even after no one had actually seen it happen till he (Davis) asked officials to look at it in slow motion replay! Davis then lost what could have been his first win ever on the PGA tour. Yes he lost money and yes you kind of wonder why he did it, but now he’s famous for his honesty and this will probably do more for his career than winning the tournament.

         Now lets’ take Jerry Rice who played in a nationwide series tournament this past weekend. It was his pro debut and he well didn’t play to well. Ok so it was his first time out as a pro, and sure he lots of pressure on him and the media was all over him on the course, but it seemed no matter how bad he played, since he was “JERRY RICE” hall of fame football player no one would criticize his play. He ended up missing the cut tied for 149th. Now if he was so bad and he was that bad folk. You got to wonder how he even qualified to play on the nationwide tour don’t you. Well here’s how he did it. He sponsored the damn tournament himself and then gave himself a sponsorships exemption to be in the tournament! Now don’t get me wrong, I’m sure he’s not the first person to come up with this novel way to deem himself a “pro” golfer. But I guess earning it threw great play and low scores was the way all the other men and women normally would try to make it to the pro level. So when the weekend was over I just wondered which one of these guys can I respect for there “special” moments? Bravo Brian Davis, you had a ton of guts to give up a possible title when you really didn’t have to. And boo on you Jerry Rice, you cheapened the whole idea of hard work paying off to reach a goal you’ve set. I wouldn’t want to carry your bag, but if you gave me an autographed football, well I wouldn’t say no!