Don't let Boo fool you -- he knows his role in golf

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Boo Weekley's stories and personality would make his book a must-read for golf fans.

Boo Weekley is writing a book.

The question is: Will it be translated into English so the rest of us can read and enjoy it?

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Sorry, Boo. Couldn't resist.

The last thing Weekley mentioned during this week's pre-tournament interview session at the Chevron World Challenge is that he is in collaboration to have his story told. Our first reaction is, "Ooh, this should be good."

The book will chronicle Weekley's life and times. There is no title yet, not even a working name. Personally, I'm leaning toward, "Pony Up: Galloping Down Life's Fairways."

"How I got into golf, you know, and what my past has been like ... and the things that I've overcome, just different things like that," Weekley said. "It's just mostly about golf and then I started throwing some other stuff in there."

With that came a mischievous smile, suggesting that "some of the other stuff" will be worth waiting for in any language.

If the PGA TOUR had a post-season award for Breakout Personality of the Year, it would be Weekley hands-down. He matched an outstanding season on the course with an outstanding season outside the lines. He's got personality. That's mostly because whether he's playing golf, hunting or fishing, he knows what he's about -- nothing more, nothing less -- and he has fun.

Beneath that country bumpkin exterior is a bright and thoughtful man. Don't let the hick image fool you. Weekley knows his profession. He knows what's at stake and he understands his role better than most.

Weekley is a terrific interview. Some athletes can fill a notebook with quotes but upon review, there's nothing of substance there worth writing. Others can produce three columns with three quotes. Weekley falls into the latter category and that's why there's no telling where an entire book's worth of Boo thoughts might lead.

If you want to put it another way and say he is uninhibited, that's OK, too. He does and says what he feels. And that segues into some things Weekley said at the Merrill Lynch Shootout a few days earlier. Golf is Weekley's job but he's going to have fun at work. He'd like it just fine if some of the other players did the same.

Why does he care how others approach their job? Because he knows it's for the greater good.

The question was about the PGA TOUR and its golfers offering more entertainment and interacting with those who support the game by coming to tournaments.

"I mean, I'd love to see it happen," Weekley said. "I'd like to see little things change out here just from my looking at it, you know, get the fans more involved.

"I mean, you know, I think you oughta be able to show a little more of the characteristics of what really the person is. I mean, granted, now, if you slam a club or break a club, nobody wants to see that, but to actually walk up to people and communicate with them, talk with them, you know, it's pretty easy."

Some do it easily, without prodding.

"J.B. (Homes) does it," Weekley said of his Ryder Cup teammate and partner. "I've watched him do it at tournaments, too, where he's walked around the side of the rope and say, 'Hey, how you doing?' Just kind of talk to people.

"I wish everybody out here could at least grab that concept because everybody that's out there on the other side of them ropes watching us play, they're paying our bills. You know what I mean? They're paying my electric bill. They're paying for the diapers my little two-year-old kid's got on. And it ain't hard to do. It's real simple. All you gotta do is walk up and say hey to somebody, how is your day?"

See, I told you he's smarter than people may think.

At the same time, Weekley knows that approach can't work for everybody. He's not talking about Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson.

"You got people like Tiger and Phil, it's kind of hard because when they start getting around people, they start mobbing them," Weekley said. "I can understand it from their side. But I'm glad I'm not walking in their shoes when it comes to that, because I'd probably be doing the same thing, I'd stay right in the middle."

Thankfully, we shouldn't have to worry about that. Boo Weekley walking the straight and narrow wouldn't be much fun. For one thing, we wouldn't have seen his pony ride off the first tee at Valhalla Golf Club on Ryder Cup Sunday.

The galleries loved it and the people who watch golf are still talking about it. That's a good thing.

"People congratulate me for doing that," he said. "They kind of say like they need a little more life to the TOUR. I think the atmosphere set up for it. The whole Ryder Cup, it was a great experience. But on top of it, it was kind of like, you know, it was golf, but it wasn't golf. It was kind of like you can go out there and be who you really are as a person and kind of let your emotions blow and show a little more than normal, and that kind of suited me pretty well."

Giddy up.