Lindsay Lastinger Sterry

There are lots of cool little things that happen at The Masters. It might be the most kid friendly event in all of sports. Still, I wanted to share something I caught during the Par 3 contest today with Harris English. English, Brian Harmon and Sepp Straka played the round together to a chorus of “Go Dawgs” cheers. I was working my way around the course backwards and stumbled into a good spot at the #5 tee box, so I sat awhile. There was a special needs gentleman and his father that had gotten there early and grabbed a front row spot with their folding chairs. They sat patiently waiting as all the groups came through. When English got there, he teed off first. Then the dad got up and stood behind his son. Quietly, patiently, he pointed towards his child in the front row. Harris caught sight of the father and without hesitation he walked over. It seemed like Harris had met this young man at a tournament somewhere before. He remembered him. He asked him questions about his golf game. He talked to him about his travel plans and his time at The Masters. He talked to him like a familiar friend. As his playing partners moved down the fairway, English handed the man his glove and said goodbye. The father and son said they would be following English’s rounds and pulling for him from home in the days ahead. There were other big names about to come through. Guys like Rory. But without sitting back down, the pair folded up their chairs and left as soon as the English-Harmon-Straka trio moved past. I had been chatting with some guys seated near them for awhile before English’s group came through. They mentioned that the man and his son had been setup there all day with the hopes of seeing English. Nobody knew the full backstory exactly, but it was about the only thing the son had talked about for the couple hours prior. All of this is to say… One genuine interaction can have a lot of impact on someone.