Captain Corey Pavin's waterlogged rain jacket
When Tiger Woods showed up on the first tee not wearing a supposedly snazzy team rain jacket, it was announced in ESPN’s coverage that several American players had been complaining about their rain suits being too heavy and not 100% waterproof. It was so bad that officials from the PGA of America rushed to the merchandise tent to snap up as many new ones as possible.
Leading up to the biennial Ryder Cup matches, many commended Captainess Lisa Pavin on picking out fashionable uniforms. Well, big newsflash — functionality is more important than style. The golf world has literally been a-Twitter over this blunder, and for good reason, since everyone knows rain is practically a given in Wales this time of the year.
According to the AP report, PGA spokesman Julius Mason said team officials were disappointed with how the Sun Mountain rain suits worked and the ones they bought were ProQuip. There are no special team USA markings on the new suits, just the generic 2010 Ryder Cup logo.
Ironically, on Sun Mountain’s Facebook page, there’s a picture of Tiger and Stevie in dry conditions with a caption saying, “Check out this photo from a Ryder Cup practice round. That’s a fine looking USA jacket. Weather will most likely be a factor at this year’s event. May the team with the best outerwear win.”
/ROFL
Captain Pavin said on ESPN, “We were disappointed with the performance of them, and you know, we just fixed it. They were not doing what we wanted them to do.”
Winning ’08 Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger called it a “tragic error.” Meanwhile, European Tour player Oliver Wilson, who is reporting on-site, tweeted, “Just seen some US waterproofs up close, they’re terrible! They feel like they retain moisture, not a good quality for waterproofs!”
Ryder Cup Wonder Boy Rookie Rory McIlroy chimed in with a blatant jab, “Just have to say our waterproofs are performing very well!”
No doubt it’s Captain Pavin’s responsibility (even if he had his wife pick them out) to make sure the team’s equipment is working properly. Another question is, why in the world wasn’t the problem fixed prior to the start of the matches (especially if players/caddies had been complaining about them all week)?
What a humiliating debacle. Hopefully the new suits will keep the Americans drier when play resumes, but right now, we’re looking at a Monday finish, which will be the first in the 83 year history of the Ryder Cup. And if the matches aren’t completed by 6:43 on Monday, the results will stand from that time.
*Update: Apparently the US team bags weren’t waterproof, either. The pockets were leaky and weighing down the bags. Fantastic!
[Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images]
October 1st, 2010 on 9:22 am
So was it Pavin who authorised a scramble to purchase new gear from the merchandise tent?
The rain in my part of the UK is torrential and I’m sure any waterproofs would feel the strain but to react so precipitately (boom! boom!) and publicly is just a gift to the Euro team.
Couldn’t it have been handled more quietly, after all I’m sure they all had more than one set of waterproofs.
October 1st, 2010 on 9:42 am
I can’t confirm this, but I heard rumblings about the lavender cardigans missing one sleeve. Should be easy to find matching yarn in Wales.
October 1st, 2010 on 10:53 am
Completely outrageous – living in the Pacific Northwest (and having played in the British Isles often), the “coolest” raingear is the driest, most comfortable, and least restrictive – no comprimise!
I feel bad for the American players, it isn’t fair that they are embarrased by the careless planning of others.
October 1st, 2010 on 11:17 am
Sun Mountain Rain Gear? Is there any serious player that doesn’t use ProQuip or Zero Restriction? (Excludes people paid to wear something else.)
October 1st, 2010 on 11:28 am
Talk about an over-hyped Ryder Cup… every golfer in North America/Europe talking about rain gear today.
Speaking of which, I’m sold. Buying head-to-toe ProQuip as soon as I can. Never heard of them until this morning.
October 1st, 2010 on 12:29 pm
The lettering on the uniforms also shows what an amateurish job this is. Not only is the artsy-fartsy typestyle a joke, whoever typeset it didn’t have a clue what they were doing. (Although I suppose it’s necessary so people don’t get that Mickleson guy and that Woods guy mixed up). It’s like someone typed this in a computer and printed it out on paper and said “Hey, this looks good”. But when you blow up the size any little flaws are greatly magnified. I would say the kerning sucks but there was no kerning. A capital (P) next to a capital (A) needs to be adjusted to close the gap created by the open space below the (P) and above the (A). (A) and (V) together often needs adjusting. The (I) and (N) also needs some manual kerning. If you’re going to put the names on the unis, you would think they could find someone to do a professional job of it. But hey, the fashion guru a Gold Digest said this was cutting edge stuff, and isn’t that what’s really important (Who cares if it works)
October 1st, 2010 on 1:05 pm
The rain gear change is curious. I wonder how the US team would have fared today if play had not been suspended, and they’d completed the morning in the gear they started with? Nearly all low handicap players and pros you see playing in wet weather in Scotland use Galvin Green rain gear. I’ve spent years playing in pouring rain and took some persuading to switch from soggy Proquip to Galvin Greens – no comparison in performance – Galvin Greens like a second skin and you come in dry. Fair enough having players wear team colours for trousers/shirts and tops – but rain gear is a matter of personal preference. Please can we let players make their own choices and dump ludicrous style led equipment choices?
October 1st, 2010 on 4:24 pm
Jwall, You just gave me a headache with that comment…although you’re probably spot on.
October 1st, 2010 on 4:54 pm
Sun Mountain? Really? Lisa Pavin must be on their comp list.
October 1st, 2010 on 5:03 pm
the people at sun mountain just saw their bonuses vanish.
October 1st, 2010 on 5:13 pm
@GilesHam, I am not familar with Galvin Greens. Here in the US of A the market leader among good players is zero restriction.
October 1st, 2010 on 10:10 pm
Sorry RM, I got carried away, probably one of those things only a signmak
er would notice. But I spend half the day on a computer messing with lettering and typestyles and things like that jump out at me. Just trying to point out the amateur manner in which it was done. What a fustercluck.