Aussie Marc Leishman had an entire nation rallying for him this morning as he was bidding to become Australia’s first British Open champion since Greg Norman in 1993.
It was a fairytale story that would have defined the 2015 Open – a man who only a few months ago nearly quit the sport after his wife Audrey fought for her life in a coma after being struck down with toxic shock syndrome, a life-threatening respiratory infection that left her unable to breath on her own. Audrey was given a 5 per cent chance of survival and Leishman was all but resigned to becoming a full-time single parent in the most tragic of circumstances.
But Audrey pulled through, with Marc by her side the whole way, and the 31-year-old from Warrnambool in country Victoria returned to the fairways with a new perspective – that golf was just a sport and that life was more precious than ever. It was this new carefree attitude towards his game that helped Leishman make a thrilling three-man playoff with American Zach Johnson and South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen.
And while he fell agonisingly short of lifting the claret jug, Leishman had won the hearts of golf fans worldwide – except the heart of Sports Illustrated senior writer Alan Shipnuck, who tweeted this during the coverage:
Marc Leishman is a nice fellow, and clearly a good player. But with this leaderboard it will be a monumental letdown if he wins this thing.
— Alan Shipnuck (@AlanShipnuck) July 20, 2015
It drew immediate backlash from the Twitter world.
@AlanShipnuck you are a muppet of the highest order!! Talking about a guy who nearly gave it away in April for family reasons #Leish #gutsy
— Jamie Duffy (@jamieduffy23) July 20, 2015
@AlanShipnuck Hard to imagine anybody who writes about golf for a living could say that. Unless you like stories that require no thinking.
— Warren Smith (@WarrenSmithFOX) July 20, 2015
@AlanShipnuck You are kidding. If u think that u r following the wrong sport.
— Paul Gow (@paulgow) July 20, 2015
After copping a well-deserved spray from golf fans, Shipnuck backed up his blooper with this:
So today I was called a cockwomble, muppet, arsehole, knob jockey, malaka, tosser, wanker, flog, mug, roaster & dickhead. Twas a great Open!
— Alan Shipnuck (@AlanShipnuck) July 20, 2015
Leishman was predictability all class after the disappointing finish.
“I’m disappointed right now, but I’m not sour. I played great all week,” he said.
“It would have been nice to win, but that’s golf.”
• WHAT DID YOU MAKE OF ALAN SHIPNUCK’S TWEET? Leave your comments below.
