I've been reading John Hawkins' columns for years, and have a great deal of respect for his passion for the game and his insider expertise. My one problem with Hawkins is that he is too negative. On ESPNEWS, I found Hawkins to be a little bit more easy going, but since his arrival on the Grey Goose 19th hole on The Golf Channel, he has gone on the offensive, in an uncomfortable way for the viewer.
I like the new crew of Hawkins, Cannizzaro, and Cellini because of their expert analysis. But sometimes, Hawk gets a little too cruel. For example, on this past week's show (April 2), Hawkins spoke about Colin Montgomerie's latest comments about not getting an invitation to this year's Masters...
He’s 75th in the world currently, he’s never won in the United States, he’s blown four majors and won none…Colin Montgomerie is on something man if he thinks he’s going to get invited to Augusta. Dude, this is not England, you are nothing over here. You are winless, and you are not going to the Emerald…
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And before this, he talked about Woody Austin's personality and a conversation he had with him several years ago...
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Woody was just berating himself, killing himself, beating himself up. I remember the first line in my story was ‘Woody Austin is a gutless coward.’ I mean, it was basically, tongue and cheek, paraphrasing Woody himself. I got a letter from Woody’s wife saying, “Woody is a wonderful father.” What does that have to do with anything!? I’m sure he’s a great dad. Competitively, he’s a psycho. He’s got a bi-polar personality.
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I think Hawkins needs to share his opinions and insights in more constructive ways.
