If Nice Guys Finish Last, What Kind of Guy Finishes First?

Today Rory Sabbatini took it to the house. He finished off a nifty third round 62 early this morning and then came out and shot a final round 67 to get into a playoff with Jim Furyk and Bernard Langer. When Sabattini dropped his fifteen footer for birdie on the first extra hole the most arrogant and disliked player on tour won the 477th playing of the Colonial.

Nobody's saying Sabbatini isn't talented. Or that he doesn't have some terrific oversized belt buckles. It's just that the guy has rubbed his fellow pros the wrong way. A few months back Sports Illustrated released a poll that asked tour players who they least like to play with. Twenty-five percent of them answered Sabbatini.

And it's not just the rank-and-file. Sabbatini had a public spat with Tiger when he publicly questioned Tiger's game, saying he was as beatable as ever. Tiger responded by reminding our hero who had won two of the last three majors and nine of the last twelve tour events. Oh, and the previous week's event, when Tiger outplayed Sabbatini in the final round to win the tournament (That's right, Sabbatini called Tiger out four days after getting dusted by him! He's got great big brass ones!)

Not everyone thinks Sabbatini's a bad guy. The Golf Channel and CBS both ran pieces on Sabbatini this weekend spotlighting his practice round with an Iraq War veteran who had been shot in the head. After running the pieces the hosts all commented that Sabbatini was a basically a good guy whose candor is "refreshing", as if the PGA Tour Home Office was writing their cue cards.

I don't know if Sabbatini is or isn't a good guy, but I do know this: he loves RV'ing. Rory and his wife bump around from tour stop to tour stop each year in a gigantic bus specially designed to haul his oversized belts buckles and his oversized ego. Soon they'll have to make room for a bunch of oversized trophies. As much as I hate to admit it, this guy's got oversized talent.

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If Nice Guys Finish Last, What Kind of Guy Finishes First?

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