# Competition movies where the protagonist loses (SPOILERS) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 19, 2005, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/competition-movies-where-the-protagonist-loses-spoilers/300083 "2005-04-19T17:04:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/competition-movies-where-the-protagonist-loses-spoilers/300083/21 "2005-04-20T15:45:34Z")
Oh, I know, but they talk about the closer drop as if he’ll still have to chip over that water. I’ll have to see it again to be sure, but doesn’t his caddy say that he can chip it close and still make par? In reality, wouldn’t he be putting on the green or the fringe? And my other point is bigger. If a low-trajectory shot from a fairway wood rolls off the _front_ of the green, how the hell does any ball stay on it? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/competition-movies-where-the-protagonist-loses-spoilers/300083/22 "2005-04-20T15:49:40Z")
> [@Robot Arm](#): > > Regarding _Tin Cup_, it just seems like there are too many big flaws about how the movie ends. If the green is so sloped that a 250-yard-shot will roll backwards into the creek, what good is it to lay up and hit a short shot? And if you do roll off the green into the water, aren’t you allowed to drop a new ball on far side, where it entered the hazard? That never comes up. The shot is based on an actual incident. According to the IMDB: > [@](#): > > The scene at the end of the movie where Kevin Costner hits the shot into the water hazard again and again was based on an actual event. Gary McCord the commentator with the handlebar mustache in the movie is an actual commentator and former pro. In a tournament he had a similar shot to Costner’s. He needed a birdie to win and went for it. He shot over and over again and finally got it in 15 strokes. In the movie Costner gets it in 12. > [@Robot Arm](#): > > And we learn that Costner’s nickname comes from when he was a catcher on his high school baseball team, but isn’t Costner left handed? Photos on [this page](http://greenvilleonline.com/news/gallery/) show him golfing right handed. Ron Shelton was a pro baseball player and knew better than to make a mistake like that. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/competition-movies-where-the-protagonist-loses-spoilers/300083/23 "2005-04-20T15:51:32Z")
White Men Can’t Jump - Woody and Snipes win the tourney IIRC but lose the girl. Sometimes when you win you really lose…and sometimes when you lose you really win…and sometimes when you win or lose you really tie…and sometimes when you tie you really win or lose… ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/competition-movies-where-the-protagonist-loses-spoilers/300083/24 "2005-04-20T16:05:10Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The shot is based on an actual incident. According to the IMDB: I’ve read that entry before. I don’t mind that it was based on an actual case, but I think the details of how it played out in the movie were done unrealistically to make it more dramatic. See my reply to Gangster Octopus. > [@](#): > > Photos on [this page](http://greenvilleonline.com/news/gallery/) show him golfing right handed. Ron Shelton was a pro baseball player and knew better than to make a mistake like that. And it just now dawns on me that Costner played the catcher in _Bull Durham_ (also written by Shelton), and I know they wouldn’t get it wrong there. So why the hell did I think he was left handed? ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/competition-movies-where-the-protagonist-loses-spoilers/300083/25 "2005-04-20T16:17:47Z")
**Robot Arm** I think Costner would have the option to drop on the far side of the water (but closer than his original shot) in a designated drop zone and not on the fringe/green because that would put his ball closer to the hole than where it lies. And I do agree about the silliness of the shot rolling off the green [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/competition-movies-where-the-protagonist-loses-spoilers/300083.md?page=1)