Posted by Jason Sobel
HONOLULU -- It was one of those moments you'll never hear about on TV, never read about in the paper. But since this is an Insider blog and my job is to bring you inside the world of golf, here's a story from today's Sony Open that should provide a laugh and maybe a good anecdote for your friends:
It occurred during Michelle Wie's post-round press conference in the world's coolest interview room, if only because it's entire right side is bordered by windows which provide an exquisite view of the gleaming Pacific just a few feet away.
Wie was answering questions from the media contingent, which packed the small room to hear her comments. She was exceptionally upbeat following her opening round of 8-over 78 and it reflected in her speech. Wie said things like, "I knew if I got the ball in the fairway, I really could have shot low today, because my irons felt really great and my short game felt great and my putting felt great," and, on her wrist injury, "[It] hurts a little bit. It's always in the back of your mind. But, you know, it is what it is and I'm not going to make any excuses."
It was during this bit of verbal soothing that, all of a sudden, a voice called out from the back of the room, bringing Wie to a mid-sentence halt. "Spin doctor! You're a spin doctor!"
As one, we reporters all wheeled around. Not sure about anyone else, but I was expecting to see a rabid PGA Tour loyalist, some overzealous fan who had walked into the right room at the wrong time, shouting insults to the young golfer.
Instead, it was a fellow competitor -- aw, hell, it was tour veteran Paul Goydos -- who was holding the room's back door wide open while yelling, jokingly, to someone else outside. I'm not sure he even knew Wie, or any reporters, were in the interview room at the time. It was simply an unlikely coincidence, unfortunate words at an unfortunate time that made everyone in the room cringe at once.
For you conspiracy theorists out there, let's not start any rumors. I saw Goydos, my eyes caught him as he was yelling the second part of the comment, and there's no way the words were directed, or even referring to, Wie.
Even so, it makes for a pretty good story.
