Ryder Cup’s ‘Regular Guy’ Wins $100

This is a great story, pure and simple — one any golf fan will love forever.

A heckler during the final practice round for the European stars at the Ryder Cup golf tournament in Chaska, Minnesota, got his shot at fame. On Thursday afternoon Rory McIlroy and Andy Sullivan were repeatedly unable to sink a tough putt on the 6th green. That’s when Henrik Stenson, one of the other European players, noticed a fan hyping up his own putting game in the crowd.

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“So Stenson pulled the heckler, David Johnson, from the gallery and onto the green, where he would have a chance to hole the putt that McIlroy and Sullivan couldn’t,” an article on the Ryder Cup site noted. “With Justin Rose’s $100 bill next to the ball, the American fan was unflappable under pressure and drained the putt, sparking one of the all-time great celebrations.”

“USA!” the crowd chanted. “USA! USA!”

“We played a match against Andy and Rory and they had a putt and Andy didn’t make it, and they tried again to get the right line,” said Stenson. “Someone in the crowd yelled, ‘I could have made that,’ so we let him have a go. All credit to him — Rosie [Justin Rose] put $100 down and the guy drilled it in the center. He would have been chipping if it didn’t go in, but all credit to him for making it.”

Johnson, from Mayville, North Dakota, was hugged by the four good sports from Europe.

Rose added: “I thought it might make it a bit more real for him, but clearly not. The boys were cupping out, missing it low and this guy just got the ball out and ripped it into the middle. Fair play to him and he celebrated in style. It’s fun. We are doing what we should be doing out here — having fun. We are preparing, we are focusing but you have to enjoy it. That’s how you get the most out of it. Even tomorrow you have to enjoy it.”

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The Ryder Cup runs from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 and this year is being held at the Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, southwest of Minneapolis. The tournament is held every two years and pits teams from the U.S. and Europe against each other. The venues alternate between courses here and abroad.

(photo courtesy The Telegraph)