Kevin Na heckled all day at Players Championship, slides down leaderboard in final round

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Kevin Na plans to address his pre-shot problems in the future, but says his issues aren't likely to disappear anytime soon.

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Mark Long

Associated Press

Series: PGA Tour

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Kevin Na was booed, taunted and heckled on nearly every hole.

The 28-year-old South Korean native even had one spectator tell him he "better not choke" because he had money riding on him.

Na dealt with it best he could, and even though he felt rushed at times, he never chastised fans at The Players Championship for his Sunday slide in the final round.

He blamed himself, just as he has all week for his countless waggles and his painfully slow pace.

Na closed with a 4-over 76, falling from first to a three-way tie for seventh and becoming the latest 54-hole leader to falter at the treacherous TPC Sawgrass. The third-round leader hasn't won The Players since it moved from March to May in 2007.

"I deserve it," said Na, who finished at 8-under 280 -- five strokes behind winner Matt Kuchar. "I mean, I'm being honest. But is it fair? No. You put an average guy in between those ropes, trust me, they won't pull it back."

Na faded early, too.

He bogeyed four of final five holes on the front and wasn't much better on the back.

When it was clear he was out of contention, Na hurried between shots in hopes of trying not to slow down playing partner Kuchar.

Some fans showed considerably less respect.

"It is what it is," Na said. "I do need to work on what I need to. I do need to work on my pre-shot routine. I do need to play faster. But the average golfer has no clue how much pressure we're playing under and how tough it is and how much of a fight it is mentally. I honestly think with all that going on, I did pretty well fighting. I had a good fight. I hung in there, so you know what, I just take the positives from it."

Na took hundreds of waggles as he set up over the ball, backed off the shot if he didn't feel comfortable and a couple of times purposely missed so he could start over.

Long known as one of the slowest players on tour, Na attributes his bizarre routine to a swing change. Nonetheless, fans showed little compassion.

Things got really ugly on the par-4 sixth.

"We had a clown on the sixth hole come up and say, after we just made bogey on five, he said, `I've got $2,000; you better not start choking,'" said Na's caddie, Kevin Harms. "This is a game of etiquette. It's not basketball. It's not football. Show come class. There's no reason to do that to anybody.

"It's not like he's doing it on purpose. He feels more bad about it than anyone else, I can promise you that. He's doing everything he can to get faster."

On the par-5 ninth, Na even backed off his tee after hearing some boos. After he pulled his tee shot in the water on the par-3 13th, some fans started singing, "Nah, nah, nah, nah. Nah, nah, nah, nah. Hey, hey, hey, goodbye."

"You know, when I'm over the ball, it would be nice if it was quiet," Na said. "But just guys, you can hear them talking, like, `Pull the trigger, pull the trigger, hit it,' which makes me back off even more. So that part was a bit tough."

Kuchar said he didn't notice the taunts.

"I did not hear as much as heckling," Kuchar said. "We talked a little bit about the Na last name and how many different versions he must here of `nah, nah, nah, nah' or just different plays on his last name. So he said he's pretty much heard everything, had a few giggles at some."

Regardless, Na plans to address his pre-shot problems in the future. But it's not likely to happen anytime soon.

"I'm going to try to take out the whole waggle, no waggle," he said. "I'm going to try to do a little up and down behind the ball, but it's going to take time, practice and tournaments, and I'm going to try to take out the whole waggle. Honestly, it's going to be a battle."

Oliver Wilson stays bogey-free, leads by one after 36 holes at Madeira Islands Open

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Oliver Wilson lost his European Tour card last year, but is showing signs that he is rediscovering his best form through two rounds of the Madeira Islands Open.

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PGA.com news services 

Series: European Tour

MADEIRA, Portugal -- Former Ryder Cup player Oliver Wilson leads a European Tour event for the first time since November 2008 after shooting a 7-under-par 65 in the second round of the Madeira Islands Open on Friday.

The Englishman, who lost his European Tour card after finishing 130th in The Race to Dubai last year, showed signs that he is rediscovering his best form, having not dropped a shot in two rounds at Santo da Serra. He leads by one over Sweden's Magnus A. Carlsson and Joakim Lagergren, who both had two rounds of 66, and England’s Andy Sullivan, who shone with a 64.

Wilson has made eight appearances so far this season -- six as a sponsor’s invitation -- but has made only about $30,000, so he is particularly pleased to be leading the way as he attempts to win his first European Tour title. The last time he was in the lead on the European Tour was after 54 holes of the 2008 Hong Kong Open.

“I played nicely,” said the 31-year-old, who was on the European Team at the 2008 Ryder Cup at Valhalla. “The fact I haven’t had a bogey for two rounds shows I’m playing solidly and sensibly.

“I actually feel like I left a few out there today. I missed three putts from inside six feet. But I made a couple of really good par saves -- not from bad shots, just because the course is tricky.

“There’s a long way to go and the scoring will carry on being low, but I’ll keep pushing on trying to make birdies," he added. "There will inevitably be some mistakes at the weekend but it’s just a question of trying to limit them. You’ve got to be patient.

“The course is playing very differently from how it was yesterday. It’s a lot softer today and the ball is stopping very quickly on the greens, which wasn’t the case yesterday. It was easier hitting into the greens today.”

Wilson, who has finished runner-up nine times in his European Tour career, credited a technical alteration for his better form.

“I changed the loft in my putter and it is working," he explained. "The less I think about the set-up the better, and if you are standing over putts and know they are rolling well, it makes a big difference.”

Sullivan, a Walker Cup player in 2011, also had a bogey-free day and attributed his superb round, which featured six birdies and an eagle, to an improved putting technique.

"It's just great to see the ball rolling into the hole," said the 24-year-old. "It makes a nice change. I saw (putting coach) Phil Kenyon last Friday and we've changed a few things technique-wise, and it seems to be paying off.

"I'm hitting the ball nicely too. It's the first time I've been in this position so I'm just going to take it as it comes and try and enjoy it. The only thing I can do is keep doing what I've been doing, as it's worked so far.

"I'd heard a lot about this event from the other guys -- about how bad the weather can be and the delays -- but it's been excellent so far and I'm enjoying it."

Lagergren is another player who is new to the European Tour, and the 20-year-old Q-School graduate is delighted with the way he is playing.

“My ball striking is the best aspect of my game this week,” said the rookie, whose stepfather is Ola Eliasson, the former European Tour player. “I played really badly in the final round in Seville last week so it is nice to be playing better.

“I hit lots of greens in regulation today and I just played solidly all round. It’s the first time I’ve played this course. It’s a funny course -- very slopey, but that’s not a negative.

“I’ve made four cuts in a row coming here so I’m feeling very confident," he said. "I’m really enjoying my first year on Tour and the other guys are looking after me.”

Ricardo Santos, a graduate from the 2011 Challenge Tour, is the leading Portuguese player at 9 under, while Nuno Henriques delighted the home crowds with an albatross at the par-5 11th, holing his second shot with a 4-iron.

Gary Kubiak Brings New System, Same Philosophy

Posted Jan 28, 2014

Ryan MinkBaltimoreRavens.com Staff Writer@Ravens All Ryan Mink Articles



Gary Kubiak’s stretch-zone run scheme and play-action passing suit the Ravens offensive personnel.



When the Ravens moved from Cam Cameron to Jim Caldwell, Caldwell was adamant that not much was going to change. The hiring of Gary Kubiak on Monday had a different tone.

Change is on the way.

Head Coach John Harbaugh was asked if it feels like a fresh start for the offense.

“Sure. How can you say it doesn’t?” he said.

The Ravens have studied and implemented aspects of Denver and Houston’s stretch-zone run scheme the past couple of years. Kubiak will bring the entire system, changing what quarterback Joe Flacco and others do in the process.

What works well is that Kubiak’s system largely fits the personnel the Ravens have in place, and the philosophy Harbaugh has long held for what a Baltimore offense should be.

“[Kubiak’s system] looks like, in a lot of ways, like we want to look,” Harbaugh said of Kubiak’s offense on Monday.

On a grand scale, Kubiak preaches balance, and the run setting up the pass. It’s something the Ravens and Harbaugh have found works best for them. The Ravens had to get away from that last year, relying heavily on the passing game while the run game struggled.

“We’ve got to be able to run the football to make the rest of it go,” Kubiak said. “Watching John’s group throughout the course of the years, what they’ve done offensively and how they want to move forward, I think it’s a very good fit. It’s up to us as coaches to put it all together.”



First, Kubiak’s stretch-zone run scheme is largely what the Ravens have looked to do in years past, but on a grander scale.

“We were just running partial run scheme,” said Ravens fullbackVonta Leach, who played for Kubiak for five years in Houston. “Now we’re going to have the full zone scheme.”

The Ravens have drafted and signed linemen that fit that style. It moves linemen laterally, requiring them to be flexible and nimble enough to move.

The Ravens have offensive linemen that are known more for their movement than sheer size with guardMarshal Yanda, center Gino Gradkowski and tackles Eugene Monroe and Michael Oher. Monroe and Oher are unrestricted free agents, but Baltimore will likely re-sign one or look for replacements in similar molds.

Kubiak looks for fast, powerful one-cut running backs that find a seam and get downhill fast. He’s got that inRay Rice and especially Bernard Pierce. It’s the ability to plant the foot in the ground and burst through a hole in a moving offensive line.

“If they’ll get downhill, we’ll do fine.” Kubiak said. “[They’ve had] some great running backs here that have been very successful. We told John we think they fit what we do very well. It’s our job now to go teach our system and get them comfortable with it.”

When it comes to the passing game, Flacco will be using more play-action passing with bootlegs and roll outs that are designed to give him more time to set his feet and throw. With Flacco’s big arm, that should help him launch more deep passes with better success.

Play-action passing suits Flacco well, as he showed last year, because he’s athletic and mobile enough to get outside the pocket and either run or throw. Flacco had a 90.7 quarterback rating when using play-action passing last year, compared to 70.3 with no play action.

“It’s our job to find the things that Joe is comfortable with and to make him as successful as we possibly can. And we’ll do that,” Kubiak said.

Kubiak’s system works well for tight ends, because it often utilizes them as pass catchers. Dennis Pitta is currently an unrestricted free agent, but if he’s re-signed, he is very similar to Kubiak’s two-time Pro Bowl tight end Owen Daniels. Both can split out wide to create mismatches.

As far as the wide receivers, Kubiak’s offense requires them to make plays deep and often run crossing patterns to create different passing levels in the play-action game. Torrey Smith has proven effective in both roles. He can get deep, and he can turn short passes into long gains with his legs.

With all that said, a major point that Harbaugh and Kubiak agree on is that the new Ravens offense needs to be physical. That’s what Harbaugh’s teams have hung their hat on over the years, and they got away from it a bit last year when they had to abandon the run game and spread out the offense.

So Kubiak will be blending his offensive schemes with the vision he and Harbaugh shared over the past few days before his hiring. Even though Kubiak is bringing some of his offensive staff from Houston, it will ultimately have a Baltimore flavor.

“It’s not going to be the Texans’ offense or the Broncos’ offense or anybody [else’s] offense. It’s going to be the Ravens’,” Harbaugh said.

“It’s going to be what we build with our players and our coaches. It’s going to look like Baltimore wants it to look. It’s going to be rugged, it’s going to be rough, it’s going to be tough, physical, downhill, precise football – passing game and running game. And that’s what we are looking to become. I think there’s a really good fit here philosophically. We see football from the same perspective, and these guys see football from the perspective of Baltimore’s fans.”

Kubiak nodded his head in agreement. The Texans, like the Ravens, have long been a scrappy team. And Kubiak will bring that to Baltimore.

“Through my conversations with John, the thing that stood out to me from the very beginning is that John talks about being physical – that’s what we want to do,” Kubiak said. “Offensively, that’s where everything starts for us.”