Notes from the tail end of the FedEx Cup run at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro.
I'm of the opinion that if a professional golfer shanks a ball (relatively) to the left or right and hits a fan -- even if the fan should have been smart enough to get out of the way -- that said gallery goer should land some free stuff.
It doesn't have to be as much as a freaking Rolex (Lefty) and it doesn't have to be as little as a glove (Tiger, and actually that's a really awesome thing to hand out) -- anything at all will suffice. A signed Pro-V1? Yeah, that takes all of 30 seconds.
What about for the fan who gets hit by a shanked ball and then incidentally knocks it back into the fairway with his
Willis launched his tee shot to the right on 18 at the Wyndham Saturday and it struck a fan in the shoulder and rolled back onto the fairway. Crowds, murmuring, etc. ensued and when Willis arrived on the scene he said that "someone should get that guy an extra beer". Which was funny but not exactly generous.
And Willis naturally bogeyed out to finish out of the final pairing and six strokes back of leader Carl Pettersson. Now, I'm not demanding that he pull out his wallet and pay the fan for helping him out by accident. But when you shank a ball and it hits a fan, cough it up, dude.
Not because society is litigious or because you're really rich (both of which are true) but because getting hurt with a golf ball hurts really badly. Trust me, I know -- a four iron out of a sandtrap backfired on me Saturday morning.
