CARL PETTERSSON WINS RBC HERITAGE

By mustang6560 on 4/16/12

Carl Pettersson is old school.

In the modern era of golf, the vast majority of professional golfers are athletes first, golfers second. But Carl (and his final round partner Colt Knost) is a golfer first, athlete second. And the Swede proved Sunday at the RBC Heritage that you don't have to follow a strict workout regimen to win on the PGA Tour.

At 5-foot-11 and more than a few calories north of 200 pounds, Carl Pettersson isn't exactly a picture of physical fitness.

"Drink 10 beers and eat a tub of ice cream before you go to bed," Pettersson said when asked how he achieved his current stature.

Carl tried the whole "athlete" thing and lost 30 pounds following the 2008 PGA Tour season, but the thinner figure threw off his timing and as a result his play suffered. He missed 12 cuts in 29 starts during the 2009 PGA Tour season and decided he preferred his XL figure.

"It took a while to get the swing back," says Pettersson, who added that the loss in weight threw his timing off. "Just the last like six months I felt comfortable again."

. . .

"Ultimately it's a hand eye coordination sport," Pettersson said. "Just because you don't look like an athlete doesn't mean you're not an athlete. We're not running marathons; we're just walking 18 holes. It's great to be fit and everything, but I feel like I'm fit enough to get around 18 holes."

I imagine Carl Pettersson fans are similar to John Daly fans, minus the big hitting factor. Both players are not prototypical professional golfers. They look more like the kind of golfers you would see at the local municipal golf course who rate the success of their round by the number of beers they managed to drink over 18 holes.

The good news for Carl (and pot belly golfers everywhere), there is a tartan jacket in his size. It's no green jacket, but the plaid jacket is a good look for the Swede. It may prove to be enough to earn him a spot on the Ryder Cup team as a captain's pick.

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Image via Flickr, Keith Allison


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