But when I spoke to Tommy during a break in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) twinbill at the Big Dome last Sunday, he was fuming mad. I’d never seen him that sore. He looked like a fighter who was robbed blind of a decision. That band-aid in the corner of his left eye said it all. Tommy was a wounded man as he related what happened to his Calatagan team in the premier division of the 51st Fil-Am golf championship in Baguio City the day before.
Incidentally, the band-aid was on a cut that Tommy sustained from a stray ball last Friday. It was the freakest of accidents. With still 12 holes in his round, Tommy sat under a tree enjoying the scenery when from nowhere came the missile. Tommy said getting hit was a long shot. It’s rarer than sinking a hole-in-one, that’s for sure.
So what was Tommy’s beef?
Entering the final round, Tommy was confident of Calatagan capturing the title – after all, his team had a comfortable 17-point lead over nearest rival Southwoods. All Calatagan had to do was to protect the margin.
In the end, Tommy’s team had done the job. Scores were distributed to the press and the tallyboard reflected the final standings – Calatagan had won.
Then came the blow that knocked Tommy off his feet. About half an hour after the tally sheets showed Calatagan on top of the heap, organizers announced that Southwoods won by a point. Organizers decided to deduct two points from Calatagan for infractions on the first day of competition and reversed a penalty on Southwoods on the second day to add up a new total.
"It was scandalous – unprecedented in the history of golf," said Tommy. "Golf is sacred to me. It’s my game – it’s in my heart. Through the years, I’ve kept quiet on little things like cheating on the handicap and other such things. But to rearrange the standings after a tournament to accommodate a favored team is unheard of. I couldn’t take it. I had to speak out."
Tommy was so furious that he boycotted the awarding ceremonies. He said players from other teams were as infuriated. A golfer from Wack Wack showed up at the rites and walked to the stage holding up his middle finger in an expression of disgust.
Tommy said he was asked to read a scathing letter of protest at the rites but decided against it. Even in his fit of anger, Tommy declined because the letter was extremely harsh. That’s the kind of guy he is.
Tommy recounted that he approached National Golf Association of the Philippines officials for succor but was turned down. "The officials told me the tournament was unsanctioned – they washed their hands off it," said Tommy. "But they were on the rules committee. Surely, the association could bring up the case to the world governing body for a ruling. On my own, I called up officials from the US Golf Association and Scotland to get their reaction. They were as mad as I was because they felt the integrity of the sport was compromised."
"I’m not questioning the penalties they gave us – it‘s the timing that I’m questioning," he continued. "The penalties were decided after the tournament and the infractions took place days before. And one infraction wasn’t our fault – one of our players teed off late because his caddy was given the wrong directions by the caddymaster."
Tommy tried to contact Southwoods head Bob Sobrepena who is in San Francisco but couldn’t connect. "Bob wouldn’t tolerate this," he said. "It’s not good for Southwoods’ image. He would’ve done something about it."
Tommy said he’s up in arms and outraged not because his team was prejudiced but because the sport was desecrated in a prestigious tournament which had a large player turnout.
In a fighting mood, Tommy said he would form a "grand alliance" among golfers from Calatagan, Wack Wack, Luisita and Canlubang to put Southwoods in its place.
Now, I realize it was providential that Tommy got hit by the stray ball.
"It jolted me," he said.
I think it more than jolted Tommy. It reminded him to champion the cause of the sport he loves. It reminded him to uphold the principles of fair play and to be headstrong in the face of adversity. For Tommy, he’s only just begun to fight.