Crowd boos as golfer Kevin Na gets waggles

KEVIN Na accepted some of the blame after being cruelly booed and taunted during the US PGA Players Championship final round.

Kevin Na

KEVIN Na accepted some of the blame after being cruelly booed and taunted during the US PGA Players Championship final round.

Beset by a mental block which caused him to constantly repeat waggles and practice swings and back off his shots, the 28-year-old overnight leader was subjected to heckling and shot a miserable four-over 76 to tie for seventh as last group partner Matt Kuchar triumphed.

Not noted for speed at the best of times, Korean-born American Na spent most of the tournament on the officials' clock for slow play exacerbated by his mental issues.

"I knew it wasn't going to be easy,'' said Na. "I don't want to say upset, but I was a little disappointed at the crowd.

"I had a lot of people heckling me out there. Honestly part of it, I deserve it. But is it fair? no.''

Some spectators sang: "Nah, nah, nah, nah. Nah, nah, nah, nah. Hey, hey, hey, goodbye.''

Na says his twitchy routine is due to a swing change he's making and not yet comfortable with, though he certainly played well with it the rest of the week.



Possibly the ugliest moment came on the par-4 sixth.

"We had a clown come up and say, after we just made bogey on five, he said, 'I've got $2,000; you better not start choking'," Na's caddie, Kevin Harms said.

"This is a game of etiquette. It's not basketball. It's not football. Show come class.

"There's no reason to do that to anybody. It's not like he's doing it on purpose. He feels more bad about it than anyone else, I can promise you that. He's doing everything he can to get faster.''

Highly-regarded Australian coach Dale Lynch has been working with Na for the past year and will have a key role in helping him get more comfortable over the ball.

"When Kevin came to Lynchy, before the 2011 Masters, he was lost,'' said Geoff Ogilvy who is also coached by Lynch.

"In 14 months the turnaround has been great because when he does swing it he's been hitting it pure.

Nervous Kuchar wins by two shots

"It's a psychological issue not a physical one because he is swinging it very well and not hitting many bad shots.

"It is almost self-inflicted yips but if you give Lynchy anyone with talent he can do good things.''

Na doubted the average fan would understand the pressure involved in tournament play.

"I do need to work on my pre-shot routine. I do need to play faster,'' he said.

"But you put an average guy in between those ropes, trust me, they won't even pull it back.

"The average golfer has no clue how much pressure we're playing under and how tough it is and how much of a fight it is mentally.

"When I'm over the ball, it would be nice if it was quiet. But you can hear them talking, saying 'pull the trigger', 'hit it', which makes me back off even more. So that part is a bit tough.''