The 27-year-old Justine will tell you that though there have been times when she has winced at some of her husband’s comments, she feels he mostly stays within bounds.
"His fiery attitude says how he feels," she suggests. “It’s hard to be that guy because some people are going to approve and some aren’t. Myself, I like it.
"When Patrick made that remark as to how he was now in the top five in the world,” she continued, “he truly believed that that was where he belonged. He’s only young, but more power to him for showing that kind of confidence. I’m a confident person myself.”
Justine made plain that Patrick is nothing if not well-rounded: “He loves all sport, he’s a good cook and he’s willing to try his hand at anything and everything.”
When she dropped her nursing career to caddie for him - something she did for a couple of years - she enjoyed the role all the more in that he brought her in on the decision-making. Patrick would seek her advice on everything from club-selection to reading putts in spite of the fact that she had never been anything more than a happy-go-lucky high school golfer.
"It was because he listened to my opinions that I got better at the job,” she says. “I loved the academic challenges of my nursing career [she completed a dual major in health administration and nursing] and it wasn’t long before I was totally wrapped up in golf’s mental side."
Justine, whose caddying exploits came to a standstill when carrying a 50-pound golf bag had to give way to carrying what would be a seven-pound baby, suggests that she was as well-placed as anyone to keep her husband’s temperament in check.
"If he was being a bit hot-headed I’d tell him to cool down,” she laughed. “I would say exactly what needed to be said."
And she was saying what needed to be said when it came to the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, and Patrick suddenly lost his cool and was captured by the cameras in the process.
He had taken three putts on the first green, his 10th, on the Thursday, and followed up with a short diatribe which included a couple of words beginning with an “F”, both too unlovely to bear repetition.
CNN had picked up very clearly on what he said and made a big thing of it - and soon it was being called 'a homophobic rant’.
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