Bob Costas: "Ever had a 54-hole lead before?"
Paul Goydos: "No, but I've only been on Tour for 16 years."
Costas: "What were you thinking on the tee on the island hole?"
Goydos: "Land."
Costas: "How'd you sleep last night?"
Goydos: "On my back."
The 44-year-old pro's deadpan delivery on TV at last year's Players Championship turned NBC into Comedy Central — and turned the journeyman in the Long Beach State Dirtbags cap into an everyman. Sergio Garcia won the sudden-dunk playoff after his opponent rinsed his tee shot on 17, but Goydos, with his PBA Tour physique, won the affection of millions.
The single father of two slid into a booth at a favorite hangout, Legends sports bar in his native Long Beach, where his famed cap hangs under glass on the wall (next to Olympian Misty May-Treanor's yellow bikini bottoms). A natural-born barstool philosopher, Goydos ordered a platter of hot wings and waxed sardonic on Tiger, TV, getting better with age — and the true meaning of life.
You've won Bay Hill and the Sony Open.
But you became a star
after finishing second
at the Players last
year. What moment from that
week stays with you?
The ball going in the water on 17. Unfortunately.
It was a great week, but when
we strip away everything, I'm left with
"what ifs." Tiger doesn't "what if." Tiger
just wins.
Some say you were unlucky — that a gust of wind cost you.
That's baloney. That's disrespectful to
Sergio. Unlucky? Let's talk about the
guy who hit it to three feet when he had
to. That's the story. Not a gust of wind.
Your nickname, meant ironically,
is Sunshine. We didn't see that
negative attitude after the loss.
There's humongous disappointment,
sure. But we don't know how this story
turns out. We'll see how I play in
2009. If I don't do much the rest of my
career, it's disappointing. But I've got
two daughters, loads of friends, a good
life, and I make crazy money compared
to most of the six billion people on this
planet. For me to gripe about finishing
second in a golf tournament is disrespectful
to the guy who's busting his
hump to take care of his family.
When were you most nervous — the tee shot on 17 in the playoff?
No, over my 20-incher for par that I
almost missed [on the 71st hole]. That
was nerve-wracking. Thousands of
people hit it in the water on 17. But
nobody misses a 20-incher to give
away the tournament. The whole world
would think, How'd this guy get here?
Was it gimmicky to end the
so-called fifth major on the
island hole in sudden death?
TV is business. You can do a three-hole
playoff, but you'd need 45 minutes, and
you run into the evening news, and
you're screwed. And it's called "sudden
death," not "hit a few shots and see
who wins."
Did you watch the tape of the
tournament?
I thought it was funny that, with Johnny
Miller, I went from a guy who swings
like a caddie to a guy that [Ryder Cup captain Paul] Azinger should look at as
a captain's pick.
Have you gotten offers to do TV?
The BBC asked me to do commentary
for the Ryder Cup, but that's kind of
working for the enemy [laughs]. I have
a lot on my plate: Single parent, pro golfer.
But some day, who knows. Any guy
who says he doesn't have an ego has
the biggest ego of all, and I enjoyed sitting
with Bob Costas in the spotlight. I
remember we were sitting there, and at
first I was just watching the highlights.
And Costas says, "You know, you can
comment." So I said what came to mind.
They showed me making a 30-footer, and I said, "He's a good-looking guy." He asked me why I buttoned my top button on a 90-degree day. "Because I have no shoulders. It keeps my shirt on." That's my personality.
