Rough Ryder

Forget Pacquiao-Mayweather. The new most-anticipated fight of the year is Gray-Pavin.

In what’s become a comical public feud, U.S. Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin and so-called reporter Jim Gray are at odds over whether Tiger Woods already has a spot on the U.S. roster.

First Gray reported that Pavin said he would pick Tiger to the team if he didn’t qualify. Then Pavin Tweeted (seriously, Twitter is out of control) that he was misquoted. Then Pavin had a press conference saying he was misquoted and no decisions on the Ryder Cup team will be made until next month.

Then, allegedly, Gray got all up in Pavin’s grill after said press conference, which led to Pavin trash-Tweeting (because tough guys talk smack on Twitter) about Gray.

There’s only one way to settle this lame case of he said-he said.
In one corner, 50 years old, standing 5 feet, 9 inches and weighing in at 155 pounds, 15-time PGA Tour winner, Corey “The Captain” Pavin.

In the other corner, 49 years old, height: unknown; weight: unknown (astoundingly this information was not readily available online), LeBron’s lackey, Jim “You’re Going Down” Gray.

Put these clowns in the octagon and let them settle their differences like ultimate fighters, instead of nerdy golf guys. Boxing is an option, too, but I think it would be in everyone’s best interest if wrestling, kicking and biting were allowed. For some reason, I just see a Pavin-Gray bout going in that direction.

In all seriousness, I’m inclined to side with Gray on this dispute. Yes, he’s a huge sellout, and to call his journalistic integrity questionable is an understatement. But I have a hard time believing he’s dumb enough to just make up some fake quotes, or take something Pavin said out of context.

Maybe Pavin thought they were off the record. Maybe he let something slip that he shouldn’t have, and blamed Gray for his mistake.

In any case, all this finger-pointing and Tweeting isn’t going to resolve anything. Other sports beefs lead to fights all the time, but has a golf argument ever resulted in fisticuffs? It’s long overdue.