We’ve seen some awkward celebrations on the golf course over the years (Tiger Woods and Matt Kuchar’s doing the Fresh Prince at the 2013 Presidents Cup comes to mind), but Jordan Spieth may be the first player to injure himself in one of those dangerous, bash brother fetes.
Rumors made their way around the practice range at about 11 a.m. ET — little more than an hour before Spieth’s scheduled Sunday tee time with oft-injured Henrik Stenson — that Spieth would have to pull out of his singles match. Fortunately for the Americans, that bit of gossip proved untrue, but Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis reported that Spieth "tweaked a few of his fingers, kind of just sprained them just a little bit, nothing major."
And how exactly did this embarrassing boo-boo, which is just so golf, land Spieth in the MASH unit?
Jordan Spieth injured his hand exchanging high fives with Patrick Reed yesterday.
— BigSport (@BigSportGB) October 2, 2016
European fans right now:https://t.co/W3c2kiNf5k
"He did it by high-fiving his partner, or low-fiving his partner, Patrick Reed, yesterday," Lewis said.
U-S-A! U-S-A!
— PGA.COM (@PGAcom) September 30, 2016
Spieth/Reed are 3️⃣⬆️ through 7. #GoUSA https://t.co/cNXc59XpBU
Good lord.
Spieth was unsure if he did it during one high-five or "as a series of high-fives," said Lewis, since the fiery Reed was running around celebrating a bunch, thanks to the six birdies and eagle he made in the duo’s 2&1 fourball win over Justin Rose and Stenson.
Lewis’ colleague, Kelly Tilghman, weighed in on this issue, noting that a player’s hand "is one area of the body, a golfer’s body, you do not want to toy with."
Nick Faldo offered an opinion with which many of us would have to agree.
"I know it sounds pathetic," he said about the 15-second celebrations that took place all over Hazeltine on Saturday. "Total overreaction."
Perhaps, as Faldo suggested, the fellas might want to save the fist bumping for extra special moments.
"The way they’re slapping everybody and punching their fists, you don’t do that normally," he said. "Maybe once on the 18th, fine, but it’s happening on the second hole on, all day long."
Well, no worries, golf fans. Spieth may have smacked Reed hard enough to bend a finger, but he had treatment and was "good to go," said Lewis.
Maybe just stick to the Carlton next time, guys.