Good thing Scottie Scheffler is in Paris for the Summer Olympics, otherwise my guy withdrawing from the 3M Open and running for the hills in this scenario.
All Scottie unjustified PGA Championship arrest jokes aside, while many of the world’s best golfers are teeing it up overseas, Jhonattan Vegas is fighting for his fourth PGA Tour win and first since 2017. Injuries have derailed Vegas’ promising career, and as he clung to a lead on the back nine of Sunday’s tournament, a wayward drive on the par-5 12th hole wound up in the most peculiar of places: The arm of a police officer.
Jhonattan Vegas was rewarded a drop after his ball landed in the arms of a police officer. pic.twitter.com/QRlr5emqbm
— Golf on CBS ⛳ (@GolfonCBS) July 28, 2024
Thankfully, unlike what was seen in the classic flick Happy Gilmore, Vegas didn’t have to pull a Shooter McGavin and hit it off Frankenstein’s fat foot. Per USGA rules, you can actually get free relief and a drop if your golf ball comes to rest on a human being. Vegas didn’t get the Scottie treatment for assaulting a police officer with his tee shot. In fact, the guy was in good spirits and had a sense of humor about it. Far more than Detective Bryan Gillis would. OK sorry. Low blow.
Vegas capitalized on the free relief and managed to salvage par to stay at even for the day, and one stroke ahead as of this writing. Would love to see him close this victory out. Golf is hard enough. Knowing you have the game to win at the highest level only to have injuries stop you has to be heartbreaking. Props to Vegas for powering through that and working himself to this point. He’s also playing for a spot in the FedEx Cup playoffs, which opens all kinds of doors for the future.
Jhonattan Vegas entered this week ranked 149th in the #FedExCup standings.
With a win today, he would be move No. 67 👀
The top 70 will make it to the #FedExCup playoffs and will be solidified in 2 weeks after @WyndhamChamp. pic.twitter.com/zo1KiDp9f7
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 28, 2024
Perhaps more impressive than anything else in Vegas’ psychological resilience reservoir is his resistance to just succumbing to the coolness of going by “Johnny Vegas.” I respect his insistence on sticking with his very difficult to spell full first name. He’s got swagger in his own way, and that’s OK.
Or is it? Not gonna lie, I’m still waiting for him to embrace a “Johnny Vegas” alter ego, qualify for the Ryder Cup someday using this hopeful win as a springboard, and show up in, like, the loudest red, white, and blue trousers the world has ever seen.
