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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Here's a serious question about a not-so-serious guy who isn't so wrapped up in his own ego to make light of himself.
Actually, it's not so much that self-described journeyman Paul Goydos pokes fun at the guy in the mirror. It's not a light jab, it's a roundhouse haymaker.
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| Paul Goydos can tell a good joke -- and he's not half-bad on the course, either. (AP) |
Maybe he's just being brutally honest.
The former substitute schoolteacher admitted that he was "pretty much" shocked that he holds the 54-hole lead at the Players Championship -- which represents a career first entering the final round -- and matches the sentiment of practically everybody eyeballing his improbable name atop the leaderboard.
"You have to go by track record," said Goydos, a wisecracking 43-year-old. "And mine stinks."
Not just on the TPC Sawgrass track, either. True enough, it takes serious game to keep a foothold on the PGA Tour for 16 seasons, but if Goydos can hang on to his one-shot lead, he'd stand as one of the biggest upset winners in event history.
Only Craig Perks, ranked outside the top 200 in the world when he won at Sawgrass in 2002, would stand lower on the global pecking order of past winners than Goydos, who entered the week at No. 169 in the rankings as he took on the deepest field in golf.
In a refreshing change, instead of hiding from his relative obscurity, modest accomplishments and lack of endorsement firepower, he's embracing it, turning his post-round interviews into riffing comedic exchanges. It might be sheer survival instinct, or it might be true, but Goydos has rocked the house after every round whatever the case.
He hasn't done so poorly on the course, either.
After he signed for a 2-under 70 on Saturday, he began reeling off the self-effacing answers as fast as they could be written down. He's been busting out one-liners for most of his career, but this time, he has an actual audience. A global one, at that.
He was asked if he had ever before held the lead heading into the final round and without missing a beat, said, "No, but I've only been on tour for 16 years."
One of the most unassuming figures on tour as far as physique, it was noted that with temperatures at 90 degrees, the top button on his shirt was still fastened shut.
"Because I don’t have any shoulders and this is how the shirt stays on," he said.
It's true. Goydos has raised slouching to a high art. But he is no slouch in the interview room, to be sure. As he watched video highlights of his day, he was asked to add a running commentary.
"Very nice," he said as an early putt rolled in. "Good-looking guy, too."
Goydos played with Sergio Garcia in the third round and watched as the Spaniard, for the second day in a row, played brilliantly from tee to green, yet couldn’t buy a putt. Goydos, meanwhile, has 31 one-putt greens in three rounds, an unholy clip.
"I'm sure he was looking at me and wants to throw up," Goydos said. "The futures market, you decide who you want to take.
As he delivers these whistling shots to his own psyche, Goydos barely smirks, but he's always got that playful glimmer in his eye. The guy could have been a stand-up comedian -- which he was, sort of, when he briefly taught math and science in the gang-infested Long Beach Unified School District while trying to establish a career as a tour player.
That was back in 1992. He changed occupations when he overheard some middle-school kids talking about how they had just killed somebody.
The crowd on tour is only slightly less frightening as it relates to career survival, of course. Goydos has been plying his trade steadily, although five times he has failed to finish in the top 125 in earnings. He has missed his past six cuts at majors, didn’t qualify for the Masters this year and has never played in the British Open.
"I actually think that I'm a better player than I have ever been," he said. "But so is everybody else, which is a problem."
As far as fans go, he's fairly anonymous. Same for the manufacturers. Goydos doesn’t have any corporate logos on his shirt or hat -- he's wearing the cap of his alma mater, Long Beach State, this week. When he was tactfully asked why he wasn't a walking billboard, he interrupted and laughed, "why don’t you just call me fat and ugly?"
The room roared. Actually, that's not far removed from what other players were saying when they spotted his name in the lead. Defending champion Phil Mickelson, who is tied for fourth and five strokes back, was asked if he was surprised at the name atop the board.
"I think that Paul Goydos is one of the nicest guys we have on tour and he's a very solid player," Mickelson said, trying to be diplomatic. "I, as well as all the players, are happy to see him play well."
Then he paused and added as an aside, "Did I do a good job of redirecting that one?"
No worries, Phil, since Goydos was doing a fine job of burying himself, too. A victory today would earn a windfall of $1.71 million, more than Goydos has made in any single season. That was enough to get his attention turned to more serious commentary.
"This is why we play the game, to test yourself, mentally, physically, spiritually," he said.
He might have added comedically.
Folks might want to pull up a chair on Sunday to see of the player who once was characterized as being able to "find the cloud in any silver lining" can deliver the goods. Because if he does, he'll surely deliver the punchlines afterward.