After a grueling, early-to-bed, doughnut-deprived decade on the straight and narrow, trying to keep up with the chiseled and seemingly infallible Tiger Woods, many of the world's top golfers reached back this season to revive one of the sport's oldest techniques for stress management -- party time.
American journeyman Robert Garrigus kicked things off in June when he confessed to Golf Magazine that he and several other golfers used to smoke pot during events on the Nationwide Tour. Then Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland admitted to reporters the day after his British Open victory that he had not been to bed yet and, in fact, had been drinking until 30 minutes before the news conference.
Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez, sauntering around the driving range in Akron, Ohio, at a recent tournament under a cloud of cigar smoke, has waxed poetic to reporters this summer about his favorite Riojas. And after winning the Irish Open last month, England's Simon Dyson wholeheartedly rejected a reporter's suggestion that he might postpone his celebration until after the Bridgestone Invitational the following week.
"I'll have a couple tonight. Got to celebrate it the proper Irish way, haven't you?" Dyson said. "My caddie is getting me a Guinness as we speak, and I'm looking forward to it because I haven't had a drink for about 10 days now."
As Woods and other image-conscious corporate pin-ups fade from the leaderboards, a more varied and relaxed cast of characters has been winning tournaments. Some are just young and carefree, some are practiced bons vivants (with the lovehandles to show for it) and a few are just, well ... Irish.
In any case, drinking, smoking and admitting to it are all back in vogue. "We have a good time -- there is nothing wrong with it as long as you don't break the law," American golfer Dustin Johnson said earlier this month as he strolled off a driving range.
Besides, Johnson added, any potential party fouls a golfer might commit would probably pale in comparison to the shock value of Woods's off-the-course behavior. "We've had some issues that probably overshadow anything you could ever do," he said.
Today's festivities may be tame by historical standards. Jeff Sanders, an event-company owner who played on the PGA Tour from 1980 to 1985, said that there used to be much more of a party atmosphere back then when "guys were not taking care of themselves."
"You'd hit some balls, and you'd go to the bar, not the gym -- there wasn't nearly as much money to play for, and they certainly had more of a social life," he said.
Woods' rise in the late 1990s was a major buzzkill for many golfers, sending them on new diet and fitness regimens that did not allow for empty beer calories or cases of the late-night munchies.
Today, golfers and those who know them best say there is a growing spirit of levity and celebration. Golf agent Ralph Cross said it was Woods' well-publicized indiscretions that finally loosened the players up and made them less fearful of making public blunders. "None of them are afraid of anybody anymore," he said.
American Hunter Mahan, 29, who has three PGA Tour wins, said golfers have some advantages when it comes to cutting loose. For one thing, they are not under a microscope every time they compete. "You check ESPN all the time, and you're never on there," Mahan said.
