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| Chris Kirk (TravisMathew.com) |
THIS IS KIND OF FUNNY. AND KIND OF DUMB. You would think a pro-am player would know the difference between the pro shop and the locker room. You would also think he might know the difference between a set of rental clubs and a set of tour pro clubs.
In this particular story, though, the answers are no and no.
AP golf writer Doug Ferguson filed this report after the Deutsche Bank Championship:
Turns out an amateur in the afternoon needed rental clubs and was sent to the clubhouse. He went to the locker room instead, and next to his temporary locker—right below [Chris] Kirk’s—was a Callaway staff bag with a full set of clubs, balls, gloves and even a pair of shoes. The words “Chris Kirk” apparently meant nothing to him. He grabbed the bag and headed out to play.
His pro in the group was Merrick, who found it odd that an amateur would have a staff bag belonging to Kirk.
“It takes a hole or two to get your bearings, get the names right,” Merrick said. “I noticed the Chris Kirk bag. I was thinking he got it at an auction or something. Guys get new bags all the time. I didn’t think anything of it. But he hits this drive on No. 2 and popped it up into the trees on the right. He turned the club over and goes, ‘This rental set has a driver that says ‘prototype.’ And I’m thinking, ‘Prototype for a rental set? There’s no way.’
“I asked him where he got the bag and he said, ‘It was next to my locker so I grabbed it.'”
Merrick got a hold of a PGA Tour official to get the confused amateur some clubs and a pair of size 11 shoes. That’s right. He was also wearing Kirk’s golf shoes, the only ones the pro had brought to Boston that week.
Kirk texted Merrick when he learned about the situation.
“He was like, ‘Get that guy out of my shoes,'” Merrick said.
Actually, the amateur didn’t use all of Kirk’s clubs. He apparently didn’t care for Kirk’s driver and a hybrid. So he replaced them with some clubs he found leaning against the locker.
That story is great! One I will repeat to every golfer I know until they tell me to stop.
Thanks!
Great story, had a pro-am at our club one time. One of the members "borrowed" his pro's wedge to hit out of a rock laden ditch. A lot of mouths just hung open…