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How a soccer broadcaster’s viral rant ruined the golf trip of a lifetime

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Just $39.99 x News How a soccer broadcaster’s viral rant ruined the golf trip of a lifetime Taylor Twellerman's impassioned takedown of the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team ended up costing him some prime tee times.

In 2017, the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team lost a crucial game to Trinidad and Tobago, eliminating the U.S. from a berth in the following year’s World Cup. It was a shocking loss that ignited significant criticism, and one of the loudest voices in the immediate aftermath was former MLS star turned analyst Taylor Twellman, whose scathing post-game takedown of the the U.S. program went viral.

On this week’s episode of Subpar, Twellman revisited that moment with hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz — and explained the intriguing golf-related backstory that preceded both the game and his comments.

“Four days before this game, U.S. beat Panama 4-0,” Twellman began. “I do the game on ESPN. It’s in Orlando. I get a phone call the next morning. I’m at Orlando airport flying back to Boston.

“‘Hey, would you like to play 18 at Shinnecock, 18 at National, 18 at Sebonack, and we will do 18 at Friar’s Head. It’s gonna be a scratch-only game, and then we’re gonna ask the members to play in the final whatever.’

“And I was like, I didn’t even listen to anything. I said, yes, I’ll be there. When does it start? They go, here’s the date, 10 a.m. first tee at Shinnecock. I go, oh, that’s the day after the U.S. plays Trinidad.

“So, as one would, I packed my car. I got everything set up. I buy my ferry ticket at 5 a.m. I will be getting to Shinnecock at 7:30. I will hit balls. I will have an egg and cheese, English muffin. I will have the time of my life, and I cannot wait because I’m playing in a scratch game. This is great. Awesome.

Former soccer player Landon Donovan plays his shot from the eighth tee during the first round of the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club on January 18, 2024 in Orlando, Florida. — Landon Donovan Q&A: The American soccer star on how his country club ‘ruined’ his life

By: Art Stricklin

“And then the U.S. are down one-nil,” Twellman continued. “And I start thinking in my head: Wait a minute — if the U.S. fails to qualify for the World Cup, I don’t think I’m playing in that scratch game tomorrow.”

Things were tense as the game continued.

“Everyone’s watching the games and everyone’s on their pins and needles because Messi may not be in it, the United States may not be in it. And the whole time I’m sitting there going, do I back out of the golf tournament now or should I wait?

“So the whole time, I am like, there’s no effing way that I don’t get to play in this golf tournament because we cannot beat Trinidad and Tobago in Trinidad, where our roster, the United States Men’s National Team, was worth $194 million and Trinidad’s was worth whatever it was, $24, $25 [million], whatever the number.

“Well, here we are, they lose,” Twellman said. “We’ve got people crying, grown men and women crying in the studio. Max Bretos can’t look at me, can’t figure out. He goes, what are we gonna do? I said, buddy, we’ve got to go out there. We’ve got to do something. Scott Van Pelt’s like, I’ll see you on my show right afterwards. No problem.”

It was then that Twellman delivered the now-viral rant alongside Bretos on ESPN’s SportsCenter.

“The greatest accomplishment until the day I die is the fact that I did not say the F word once in that rant,” Twellman said. “That is 100 percent the truth. Colt and Drew, for anyone that knows me, the F word is just, it’s easy. I did not say the F. And I completely lost my s—. I completely lost it.

“And afterwards, I still, for the record, hadn’t taken myself out of the golf tournament.”

Twellman said that it wasn’t until after the ESPN segment that he took his phone off airplane mode and realized that golf would not be in his future the next day, and he’d have to miss out on one of the most epic itineraries of his life.

“I turned [airplane mode] off, and 10 minutes later, that’s when I knew: you’re not going to be able to get to the island. No, no, I didn’t sleep for 35 hours. I did every show, everything, and honestly I don’t regret it, but I was just like, what the hell just happened? But the whole time I was thinking about a scratch game at those four places.”

For more from Twellman, including how he first got into golf and his experience competing at the recent American Century Classic, check out the full episode of Subpar below.

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As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of female varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everyone on the masthead. She can out-hustle them in the office, too, where she’s primarily responsible for producing both print and online features, and overseeing major special projects, such as GOLF’s inaugural Style Issue, which debuted in February 2018. Her original interview series, “A Round With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in both in the magazine and in video form on GOLF.com.