Fame is hard to comprehend at times. On Thursday, Henrik Stenson, who'd produced one of the greatest finishes to win a Major in his majestic play of Royal Troon to capture the Claret Jug, walked onto the practice putting green here to muted recognition. Mere moments later, a scraggly bearded Englishman followed him onto the green, to be met by a roar of "Beeeeeeeeeeeeefff" and sustained applause from fans gathered in the bleachers behind the first tee who had spied him.
It has seemed as if Andrew Johnston – or Beef as he is known – has had a smile permanently tattooed onto his face these past few days. Earlier in the week, during a practice round, he was followed by a group of men, on a stag do of all things. They were wearing the kind of strap-on beards more akin to a leprechaun fancy dress outfit.
“Nearly [dressed] as me, they turned up in ginger beards,” recalled Johnson after encountering them out the course. “I said to one of them, ‘Who got these beards?’ They all pointed at one guy, and I was like, ‘I hope you’re buying all the drinks, because you’ve had a shocker.’”
Mimicking
Whatever the colour of the beards, the incident is noteworthy for the fact that the mimicking of Beef has started. He’s not exactly your classic clotheshorse, but he’s one of a kind. He’s undergone photoshoots which have had him lying on a green with a large cheeseburger just out of reach, and, capitalising on that love of such cuisine, he’s sponsored by the American hamburger chain Arby’s. He has the company’s logo prominently positioned on his golf shirt.
There's even a song about him, Gotta Love the Beef – set to the tune of Depeche Mode's Just Can't Get Enough – to join the stable of songs brought to us by the Corrigan Brothers, among them There's No One as Irish as Barack O'Bama.
Johnston is quite the character and the danger was that he would become a caricature of himself. For all the grinning he does out the course and the shenanigans off it, which included agreeing to a Wall Street Journal feature last weekend which involved testing gourmet burgers at different New York City restaurants, the Englishman – a big lump of a man – has actually let his golf clubs do the real talking since walking onto the first tee of this US PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club.
An opening round 70 followed up by a 69 has ensured his presence for the weekend and a chance to add to his Ryder Cup points standing.
‘Managing egos’
Not that Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke had yet had Beef measured up for any of the team suits. As Europe's captain observed, "personalities play a big part in [the Ryder Cup], managing egos is part of the captain's job . . . I know someone like Beef, who is a character, he's still quite some way outside the qualification points. I spoke about balancing the team up [with wild card picks] because there are so many rookies. I didn't say I wouldn't pick another rookie, but it would be very difficult for me to do so. I've got to try and balance the team up as best as I see fit."
So, he won’t be a pick, we can take it. Yet, the fact that Johnston and “wild card pick” should even be mentioned in the same breath is an indication of how life has changed for the Londoner since his breakthrough tour win in the Spanish Open – at no less a course than Valderrama – earlier this season. For a player who started the year ranked 220th in the world rankings, the upward graph to a current position of 88th has been impressive.
Duck to water
And for someone who grafted long enough on the Challenge Tour, his taking to life on the main circuit like a duck would to water has, if we’re honest, surprised.
The biggest surprise, though, has been how he has been embraced by the American galleries. The sounds of “Beeeeeeeeeeeeefff” wafting around the course have left those similar chants honouring Kuchar and Donald in the shade.
“I love it. I love it, every hole, man, I get so many nice comments,” said Johnston. “Even after the fifth hole today, when I three-putted it, they are like, ‘Don’t worry, Beef, come on, bounce back, you’ve got this one.’ And it’s just nice, man. It’s a nice atmosphere.”
Swedish golfer Alex Noren was in Johnston's group for the opening two rounds and insisted that all the attention was a distraction.
“[The fans] were all really supportive and very respectful when it’s your turn, so it was no problem at all,” said Noren.
Johnston's demeanour may portray a devil-may-care attitude that would suggest fun and high-fiving the fans and responding to the cheers might be as important as hitting any golf shot. It's not. He's worked too hard to get where he is to let any such fame interfere with where he wants to go, and the PGA Tour in the United States is definitely pulling him in like a piece of iron ore to a magnet.
“You want to play the best tournaments in the world where you can. That’s the goal . . . to play the biggest and best tournaments, and they happen to have a lot of them here [in the USA]. I like coming over and that.
“So obviously if I’m in there more, I’m going to be over more. It’s quite straightforward.”
Behind the comic’s mask, a serious philosophy.
