One of the modules covers marketing and what exactly a brand is, and then we turn it into golf and what kind of a brand the individual player wants to show the world.
Not wanting to get into all of the various personality types that the Myers Briggs or the Judgement Index might throw at you, we just put it down into three different categories, as a gentle start for the students. These categories were, as defined by the students themselves, Marmite, Passion and Good Guy (really meaning somebody that would wear a white hat in a western or would be a Jedi in the Star Wars movie).
Under the good guys you had Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland, Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson. The passion category was filled with Ian Poulter, Shane Lowry, Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy. The Marmite players consisted of Tyrell Hatton, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and the perennial villain Patrick Reed. I would have happily put Matt Wallace into the Marmite category, but the other players decided that he would be more in the passion department, so we just left him out.
When the students were asked to consider where they fit in the categories they really all wanted to be somewhere in between the good guys and the passionate players. And they gave good reasoning for why they should be included within those categories.
When being placed into one of these categories you were being judged by how you conducted yourself on the golf course and off it regarding media coverage both at an event and away from an event.
On a Monday we always have a conversation come debrief about the golf that had been watched over the weekend and of course any interesting stories that had come out of the events. If you've been following the criticism which has come out of Jon Rahm’s and Tyrell Hatton’s mouth about the two golf courses they played last week you'll be able to understand why Hatton is firmly in the Marmite category and Rahm has moved from Passion to Marmite.
Rahm was caught on camera, saying “Piece of s**t f*****g set up, putting contest week.” Meaning that the fairways were very wide, the rough very short and the greens very easy. Negating every advantage that John Rahm has over his competitors. One can sympathise a little, but it's not as if he didn't know that that was the golf course he was actually travelling to. If he doesn't like the golf course, stay home. Don't be so petulant as to be caught on camera with a foul-mouthed tirade about the very course which is hosting you.
Then you go to Tyrell Hatton, on the other side of the world, in Abu Dhabi publicly stating that the final hole of the course being played that week was a joke, to quote him, “it must be one of the worst par fives that I've ever played in my life and, over the past two days I've clearly played it as well as it's been designed.”
I didn't have a problem pointing out to the students, that there was no problem with the hole when he birdied it on Thursday. It was only when he made nine on it, that the vociferous comments were blurted out, leaving anybody watching to think that there's got to be some element of sour grapes here, and again a lack of courtesy or respect to the hosts who were looking after the players that week.
Hatton did end up taking home one and a half thousand euros shy of €200,000 in a finish for tied sixth. Leaving the students to wonder how somebody can be in a bad mood when they just made that amount of money for one week’s work.
That's why he is Marmite - for the record I've never liked Marmite.