Picture the world’s most famous golfer or golfers. There may be one who comes to mind.
Place him in Brandon Matthews’ shoes and think about the events of a week ago.
Moments after watching an opponent make a dramatic putt to swing the momentum of their playoff, Matthews was w standing over literally the most important putt of a lifetime of putts spent pursuing lofty goals.
Needing that putt and one subsequent playoff hole in which he could outplay Ricardo Celia to land in the British Open and back on the Korn Ferry Tour, the PGA’s top developmental tour, Brandon Matthews had his concentration disrupted by the yell of a fan.
Matthews, the 25-year-old from Dupont who spent most of the summer of 2019 slipping further and further away from his dreams of playing on the PGA Tour and in major professional golf tournaments, was pushed back from the edge with those goals suddenly and amazingly back within his reach.
How Matthews reacted several minutes after missing out on a potential Argentine Open title is well-documented by now. He humbly brushes aside the praise he is receiving for his interactions with the fan, a middle-aged man with Down syndrome, saying his actions are something he thinks most would do.
There may be some truth in Matthews’ assessment of himself and how others might react with a chance to cool down and gain some perspective,
There is one thought, however, in which to stand in strong disagreement with how Matthews now views the events of his runner-up finish in the Argentine Open.
Video of Matthews missing the putt shows disappointment and little else.
Try to imagine what the scene and the ensuing outburst might have looked like if others had missed the putt under the same circumstances with the same rewards at stake.
Matthews remains bothered by the thoughts that went through his head as he missed the playoff putt, ending his hopes of a tournament title, higher tour card and British Open entry.
“You saw some kind of emotion from me, but it’s more of what was going through my mind at the time,” Matthews said in a telephone interview this week. “I thought it was someone who intentionally did it. That’s where I was completely wrong and I had to turn around and make everything right.”
Matthews was able to do so and sincerely make the fan feel better after the incident because he had not created any embarrassing spectacles from which apologies and clean up were necessary.
“When it happened, my first thoughts were that a fan in the crowd had bursted out to try to make me miss the putt,” Matthews said. “When I got into the locker room and the tournament director came over and notified me about the entire situation that the middle-aged man had Down syndrome, I immediately asked to go see him.
“I obviously knew that it was the opposite from intentional, what happened.”
Tournament official Claudio Rivas led Matthews back to the fan.
Matthews was familiar with some of the challenges the fan has faced.
“My mother (Donna) managed group homes at Goodwill Industries through my childhood and one of my best friends growing up, his little sister has Down syndrome,” he said. “I was exposed to it on almost a daily basis. It was around me almost my entire childhood.”
The interaction that followed has been well-covered on ESPN’s SportsCenter, in world-wide golf media and on the editorial pages of the nation’s newspapers.
“It was just something that I felt like I needed to do,” Matthews said. “It wasn’t to gain any recognition. It was solely to try to make the guy feel good. I felt truly terrible about the way I reacted after understanding the full situation.
“As soon as I saw the guy, it was great. He had probably one of the biggest smiles a human can have on his face and he gave me a big hug as soon as I saw him.”
For now, Brandon Matthews does not have a British Open for which to prepare. A third season on the Korn Ferry Tour will have to wait for the time being.
Those events may or may not ever happen, but that reality is not about to dampen the mood of Matthews, who, in the span of a week, has gained more fans around the world than many more successful and previously more famous golfers.
“That truly made my day, weeks, year, life, whatever you want to say,” said Matthews. “It was one of the most special moments I’ve ever had.”
