The Loop

Zach Johnson continues sacred golf tradition of failed celebratory hand gestures

October 08, 2015

In the continuing "Are golfers athletes?" battle, I'm firmly entrenched in the pro-sport foxholes. That doesn't mean I'm blind to faults of this cause. Chiefly, how golfers celebrate. Or more appropriately, their attempts.

It's the damndest thing. This is a sport that requires its combatants to smack a 1.68-inch ball to a 4.25-inch hole that resides hundreds of yards away, a task these professionals perform in the same cadence as you or I taking out the trash. Yet, when it comes time to mark this feat, golfers transform into helpless uncoordinated souls. Remember what happened to the NBA stars after the monsters stole their mojo in Space Jam? That's golf gesticulations to a T.

Some of the more notable faux pas include Louis Oosthuizen:

And Tiger Woods...

But what Zach Johnson just did at the Presidents Cup to playing partner Phil Mickelson takes the cake:

Sadly, this is not an isolated incident for Johnson, as he infamously left his caddie hanging at St. Andrews this summer.

Now you know why most golfers tip their hats to galleries. God knows what would happen if they tried slapping hands.