Eventually, like many top putters, Laffoon couldn’t believe it when a putt failed to drop, and like “Gentle” Ben Crenshaw years later, his temper was such that his fellow pros would give him a wide berth on the course if he missed a makeable one. He began to “blame his tools” and started referring to his putter as “my son-of- a-b—”.
After one particularly bad day on the greens, he drove 400 miles to the next tournament with his putter tied to the rear bumper of his car. The reason? He wanted to "teach it a lesson."Another tale is told of him running off the green and holding the offending club under the surface of a pond, shouting: “drown, you son-of-a-b—, drown!”
At times he turned on himself, with three examples of particular note. On one occasion he hurled the offending flatstick up in the air and positioned himself underneath to head butt it. He was carried off unconscious a few seconds later. At another tournament, he dispensed with the putter and instead decided to punch himself instead. He did so spectacularly well and was again carried off the course insensible. Finally, playing the Sacramento Open he missed a gimmee and in trying to kick the shaft, hit the putter head instead, knocking it off and breaking his toe. He hobbled up to the ball and swung the shaft at it, missing and earning a penalty shot to add to his troubles.
