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Keegan Bradley apologizes for Northern Trust Open spitting incident

Jonathan Wall

Everyone has a nervous tic when they're under a lot of stress and pressure. Some of us bite our nails; others crack their knuckles continuously; and some of us curse like a sailor. Keegan Bradley, on the other hand, has a bit of a spitting problem.

No, we don't mean he's hocking loogies at random members of the gallery. For some reason, the PGA Champion has a tendency to spit during his pre-shot routine. It's not that big of a deal when you think about it, but apparently a bunch of uptight social mediates voiced their displeasure about the act during the final round of the Northern Trust Open.

[ Related: Tiger Woods called out by his opening-round foe ]

The heat got so hot, in fact, that Bradley took to Twitter on Monday night to apologize for spitting. For spitting. You can thank Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia for making this a bigger deal than it really should be.

"Id like to apologize for my spitting," Bradley tweeted. "It's like a reflex, I don't even know I'm doing it, but it's a longtime habit I've got to try to conquer."

Unlike Tiger and Sergio, it's easy to see that Bradley wasn't spitting on purpose; the guy was actually unaware of the nervous tick prior to the final round (I'm going to take his word for it). Make a big deal out of SpitGate if you want, but this pales in comparison to a guy spitting directly into the cup or hocking one on the green.

Plus, Bradley wasn't even the only guy spitting on the course during the final round. As GolfTalk Central's Ryan Ballengee noted, Pat Perez and Dustin Johnson were both spotted spitting on Sunday. If that's indeed the case, then why didn't they apologize?

I know it's a nasty habit and golf is a "gentleman's game," but unless he's hocking loogies all over the green, I don't have a huge problem with it. Regardless, Keegan gets a lot of credit for apologizing quickly and putting an end to this issue. Hopefully this is the last time we have to talk about SpitGate at Riviera.

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