Chris Gotterup is a betting man, though one of golf’s next big things isn’t a cash-on-the-line, checking-the-odds kinda guy. No, no. That’s forbidden, after all.
But he knows a winner when he sees one.
Take last week, when he was grouped with Scottie Scheffler for rounds one and two of the WM Phoenix Open. After 18 holes, Scheffler was playing most un-Scheffler-like, but Gotterup understood where things stood: The world No. 1’s two-over day was only a hiccup — and money couldn’t leave his wallet fast enough for round two, provided he could do such a thing.
“Everyone has seen it out here,” Gotterup said.
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“If I could bet on golf, I would have put a lot of money on him to come out and play good on Friday.”
OK, OK, so you probably thought the same, and Scheffler did finish eight strokes better. How about this, then? If you really want to hear about a wager, and if you really want a peek at what’s underneath Gotterup’s Nike golf hat, he can tell you about the time his dad promised him he’d take him to Pebble Beach, the cathedral that is the host of this week’s PGA Tour stop, but only when he’d break par — then, when he was 13 or 14, Gotterup went out and shot a two-under 69 at Rumson Country Club in New Jersey. (“I have the scorecard somewhere in my house. … My mom’s like got it framed.”)
And there’s this:
Know that his Masters trip in a couple of months will be his first — but that is by his own choosing. Gotterup’s been invited to the tournament before.
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And he said simply, thanks, but no thanks.
He’s a player. And he’d go when he’d play.
“I haven’t been invited to play, in general,” Gotterup said Wednesday. “But I would go down — one of my sponsors would do a dinner down there every Wednesday before and they would ask if I wanted to go over on Thursday and watch.
“I don’t know, I feel like it would ruin my — like one, I don’t really like watching other people play unless I’m not playing that week. It’s just my, I don’t know, I’m kind of weird in that sense. Like I wanted it to be, like it’s the most hyped-up tournament in the sport and I don’t want to go over there and be a spectator; I want to play.
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“I had faith in myself that I was going to be able to do it as a player. Now that I’m going to be able to, it will be much more rewarding stepping on the first tee there rather than being a fan.”
He’ll go as a favorite, too. Last year, he won the Genesis Scottish Open. This year, he’s won the Sony Open and the WM Phoenix Open. He’s blended power throughout the bag with touch from up close. Those play well at Augusta National.
As does confidence in one self.
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“It’s just one of those tournaments where I think — like here is similar in the fact that I could tell you every hole on that course even if I didn’t step foot on it,” Gotterup said.
“So I’m excited to just kind of be out there and enjoy maybe in one of these off weeks, enjoy, like get the, not the nerves, but like the awe factor of it hopefully away and try to get settled in by the time the tournament comes.
“Just talking to like at the Bridgestone, stuff that we’ve done, talking to Freddie [Couples] and Tiger [Woods] and Jason [Day] and all these guys like about it, it’s just the only tournament that everyone talks about all the time. I don’t know, it’s just exciting.”
David Benavidez is already a fan-favourite due to his fighting style, but to become the ‘face of boxing’, Benavidez has named the three fighters which he believes he must overcome back-to-back.
‘The Mexican Monster’ is a two-division world champion, having become the youngest super-middleweight world champion in boxing history (20) when he trumped Ronald Gavril in 2017 and then being upgraded to WBC light-heavyweight champion last year.
Speaking to The Danza Project, Benavidez revealed plans to return to 175lbs after his showdown with Ramirez, and then next face Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev in back-to-back-to-back blockbuster bouts to assert himself as the ‘face of boxing’.
“I’m going to fight Zurdo Ramirez, then I’m going to make that fight with [Dmitry] Bivol, after that we are fighting [Artur] Beterbiev.
“Those are the three big fights. I’m not going to shy away from no fight. I could go fight Zurdo Ramirez and then go fight another person, then fight Bivol, then fight this person and that person, then Beterbiev, but I just want to go straight into them.
“I feel like I am in the prime of my career, I have a lot of confidence right now. I’m 29 years old, I feel like I have the world in my hands, so I am going to take these challenges.
“Right now, I feel like I am on the cusp of being the face of boxing. The only way that I am going to make that happen is with these big fights, that is why I am trying to get myself the biggest fights possible.
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“I don’t want there to be any doubt that I am the face of boxing when that time comes.”
One key absentee from Benavidez’s hitlist is IBF cruiserweight world champion Jai Opetaia, who continues to demand unification contests in the 200lb division and had hoped Benavidez would provide him with such an opportunity, if he manages to dethrone Ramirez.
Tito Ortiz (R) battles Forrest Griffin during their Light Heavyweight Fight at the UFC 106 in 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada.(2009 Getty Images)
But now, at age 51, with a family, Ortiz believed it was not a feasible place to raise his children.
“I never wanted to leave California. But I left because of the crime, the fraud and the growing threat to the safety of my children. Like millions of other parents, I made the difficult decision to move my family to Florida — not for opportunity, but for protection. No parent should ever be forced to flee their home state to keep their children safe,” Ortiz told Fox News Digital.
Ortiz blames Gov. Gavin Newsom for the conditions that have pushed his family out of the state.
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“Gavin Newsom’s failures didn’t start in Sacramento. He helped devastate San Francisco, then exported those same disastrous policies statewide. The result is undeniable: exploding crime, rampant fraud, lawless streets, unaffordable housing, crushed small businesses and families who no longer feel safe in their own communities,” he added.
“California cannot survive more of the same.”
Newsom’s office has responded to Ortiz’s criticisms in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“We’re not sure who Tito Ortiz is, but we wish him well. Bye!” Newsom’s office said.
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Ortiz, nicknamed “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” is a pioneering UFC Hall of Famer and former light heavyweight champion. He held the UFC light heavyweight championship from April 2000 to September 2003, defending it five times.
He finished his professional MMA career with a 21-12-1 record and had his final fight in 2019.
Now, from afar, he hopes to inspire change in his home state by endorsing Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco for California governor in 2026.
Gov. Gavin Newsom walked back his office’s comments slamming ICE agents during a podcast interview. (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
For Ortiz, the defining trait that inspires his endorsement is Bianco’s handling of the COVID-19 quarantine in 2020, when the sheriff refused to enforce certain lockdown protocols under Newsom’s leadership.
“Sheriff Chad Bianco is not a career politician. He is a proven leader with courage and integrity,” Ortiz said.
“In 2020, when Gavin Newsom ruled by decree and used fear as a weapon, Sheriff Bianco stood up and refused to enforce unconstitutional lockdowns. He defended churches, small businesses and the fundamental rights of Californians.
“Anyone can talk. Sheriff Bianco acted. When it mattered most, he stood with the people, not the political elite. He has earned my vote, my endorsement and my trust. California deserves leadership that will fight back, restore law and order and put families first again.”
“It was kind of a blessing that he didn’t shut everything down as long as we were being responsible with everything. I kind of admired how he handled that whole situation,” Henderson said.
“A lot of business owners would have went out of business, and maybe even worse, as far as losing a lot of the things that they had, had he shut all the business down like the governor wanted. … It was more common sense. He didn’t panic and think the world was going to end.”
Bianco is the frontrunner for the state’s 2026 gubernatorial election in several polls, including January polls from EMC Research and Public Policy Polling.
Bianco’s biggest challenger in the upcoming race appears to be fellow Republican Steve Hilton, who has been at or near the top of recent polls with the sheriff.
Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for Fox News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Jackson’s reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to the enforcement of Title IX, and in legacy media outlets including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Associated Press and ESPN.com.
Nigeria head coach Eric Chelle has been mentioned as a possible candidate for the Olympique de Marseille managerial job following the club’s decision to sack Roberto De Zerbi after a heavy league defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.
Chelle’s name has been discussed internally as Marseille search for a new head coach. However, there has been no formal contact with the Nigerian coach, and the French club is still considering several candidates for the role.
The Super Eagles boss is currently free from international duties, which makes him available if Marseille decide to move quickly. But the club’s sporting director has not yet reached out to him.
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Former Marseille captain Habib Beye is believed to be the leading favourite for the job, while former Algeria coach Djamel Belmadi is also in the race. Both Belmadi and Chelle live close to Marseille, which has added to the speculation.
Chelle is being considered because of his recent success with Nigeria. He led the Super Eagles to a third-place finish at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and guided the team to score 14 goals in six matches, earning praise for their attacking style.
Despite the rumours, Nigeria Football Federation president Ibrahim Gusau has confirmed that Chelle will remain as Super Eagles coach. Gusau said Chelle still has one year left on his contract and is not expected to leave before it expires.
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He added that the coach is happy working with Nigeria and believes he can achieve his ambitions with the Super Eagles.
For now, Chelle is expected to continue his job with Nigeria, even as speculation over a possible move to Marseille continues.
San Francisco 49ers defensive end Keion White is “in great spirits” after surgery for a gunshot wound he suffered early Monday morning in San Francisco.
The team announced Monday White was the victim of a non-life-threatening wound from the shooting.
“Thank you to everyone who has reached out with their prayers and concerns on my behalf. I’ve undergone successful surgery,” White wrote on his Instagram story, via TMZ.
Keion White of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates the team’s 26-8 win over the Cleveland Browns at Huntington Bank Field on Nov. 30, 2025 in Cleveland, Ohio.(Nick Cammett/Diamond Images)
“For those who know me, ya’ll know this won’t stop me from spreading peace and joy to the world. Full steam ahead. I’m in great spirits and ready to make the most of this off-season.”
The San Francisco Police Department released a statement saying at approximately 4:06 a.m., Monday, officers “responded to a business located on the 1700 block of Mission Street regarding a shooting.”
Upon arrival, officers found White suffering from an apparent gunshot wound to his ankle. It was determined to be non-life-threatening, and he was transported to a hospital.
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“A preliminary investigation revealed a verbal altercation occurred between two groups inside a business,” the statement continued. “The victim was injured when shots were fired by an unknown suspect. All information is preliminary at this time, and more information will be provided as it becomes available.”
The incident occurred just hours after the Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, White’s home field.
Keion White of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates after a play against the Philadelphia Eagles during the first quarter of an NFC wild-card playoff game at Lincoln Financial Field Jan. 11, 2026, in Philadelphia.(Elsa/Getty Images)
White was spotted on his Instagram account wearing Patriots gear while attending the Super Bowl. He played five games with the Patriots this season before joining the 49ers in a trade prior to the NFL deadline.
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The 49ers sent a 2026 sixth-round draft pick to the Patriots in exchange for White and a 2026 seventh-round pick.
White recorded 1½ sacks and 12 combined tackles with six quarterback hits over his nine games (two starts) for the 49ers this season. He also recorded a sack and four tackles in two playoff games for San Francisco.
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Philip Rivers (17) passes as San Francisco 49ers defensive lineman Keion White (56) applies pressure during the first half Dec. 22, 2025, in Indianapolis.(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Another 49ers player, wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, was shot in the chest during a robbery attempt in August 2024. Pearsall missed the first six games of his rookie year due to the injury, from which he fully recovered.
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Fox News’ Scott Thompson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
CLEVELAND — James Harden showed in his first two games with the Cleveland Cavaliers that he can come up with the big shot and key defensive play in the clutch.
In his Cleveland home debut, Harden showed that he can be a facilitator as other players on the roster rose to the occasion.
Harden had 13 points and 11 assists in 28 minutes in the Cavaliers’ 138-113 victory over the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night. He was only 1 of 4 from the field, but went 10 of 12 from the foul line.
“Like I told them, I’ll figure it out. We’ll do some adjusting with each other, but for the most part, I’ll play with y’all and do what y’all been doing and I’ll find my way and they’ve been doing that,” Harden said. “So even tonight, I shoot four shots, but we win by 25 points. That’s the most important thing. And Sam gets it going. And I’m just here to win.
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“So whatever that looks like, if I got to go out there and score a lot of points where I got to take four shots and we win, that’s the most important thing for me. And tonight was one of those examples.”
Cleveland fans made Harden immediately feel welcome. The Cavaliers handed out beards on a stick to the sellout crowd and Harden got a standing ovation when he was introduced in pregame warmups.
“The crowd is always crazy. Every time I come here as a visitor, they’re crazy about you know, the Cavs and The Land and very loyal and they show up every single night,” he said. “It’s one of the things that I was mostly excited about. So tonight was no different.”
Harden was traded by the LA Clippers to Cleveland on Feb. 3. In his Cavaliers debut on Feb. 7 at Sacramento, he scored 17 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter of a 132-126 win over the Kings.
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On Monday night at Denver, Harden hit a game-tying three-pointer before Donovan Mitchell made a pair of free throws as the Cavaliers rallied for a 119-117 victory.
Wednesday’s game showed though that Harden can still have a big impact, even when he isn’t taking shots. His 11 assists led to 26 points.
Sam Merrill, who had a career-high 32 points, made six baskets off Harden’s passes, including four three-pointers, for 16 points.
“Most teams run similar stuff, so a lot of it’s just figuring out the wording of it,” Merrill said. “Today we’re watching clips of what we can do offensively and there’s three or four clips, it’s the Clippers and we’re just kind of seeing what James is doing.”
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Harden has two double-doubles in his three games with Cleveland. He had 10 rebounds against the Nuggets.
Even with Harden in the lineup, it hasn’t affected Mitchell’s scoring. The all-star guard has had at least 30 points in three straight games.
“I mean he sees the game at a different level,” Mitchell said. “I didn’t notice he only had four shots, but he’s out here creating, making plays, doing different things and then obviously his gravity, it opens the lane for everybody else and it’s just continuous. And he’s coaching on the bench in huddles and that’s why he’s here.”
The Cavaliers have won five straight and 10 of 11. They are 17-5 since Dec. 29 and have the league’s best winning percentage over that stretch at .773.
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Cleveland has managed to keep rolling despite adding three new players — Harden, Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis — over the past two weeks and not having a practice to get acclimated. Merrill noted that it has mostly been film sessions and optional shootaround sessions due to the compact schedule of games.
Coach Kenny Atkinson said he is looking forward to the upcoming all-star break to have a chance to take a breather while also looking at ways they can improve.
“I haven’t been able to dive as deep as I want to and see how we can use them better. But you know, you can see they have immediate chemistry,” he said. “We ran that one play for Sam, I don’t know, eight times and James was kind of the architect of that and him and Donovan talking. So I’ll try to look at more film, see how we can help him more. But right away we’ve had it. Some guys that really, really understand the game.”
The Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) has punished Wikki Tourists FC after crowd violence during their Matchday 25 game against Katsina United on February 8, 2026.
The league said Wikki Tourists failed to provide proper security at the stadium. Fans invaded restricted areas, threw stones and other objects at players and officials, and caused injuries. Some officials and away players were also held back for hours after the match, and the game was delayed for 18 minutes.
Because of these actions, the NPFL fined Wikki Tourists a total of ₦7.5 million. The club was fined for poor security, injuries to officials, bad behaviour by supporters, throwing dangerous objects, and holding officials and players after the match.
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The league also ordered Wikki Tourists to play their home matches in Jos until further notice. The club must also improve security and crowd control and send a detailed plan to the NPFL within seven working days.
Wikki Tourists have 48 hours to accept the punishment or choose to face a disciplinary panel. The league warned that a weak or failed appeal could lead to more penalties.
The NPFL said the decision shows its strong stand on safety and discipline in Nigerian football.
In this special episode of Confession Cam, WSL presenter Alex Scott and pundits Fara Williams, Ellen White and Steph Houghton make confessions about each other, matchday and reveal who they would sign, bench and sell if they were in a five-a-side team.
Man Utd are not in action this weekend, but Michael Carrick has a simple selection decision to make in the Reds’ next game.
Michael Carrick had not put a foot wrong as Manchester United head coach until he faced West Ham on Tuesday. Carrick showed he was human by getting his team selection wrong.
Despite scoring an injury-time winner against Fulham, Benjamin Sesko missed out on starting against Tottenham, but that was logical with a view to starting Sesko against West Ham.
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It seemed Carrick would put his arm around Sesko before the Spurs game and explain that he would be his man a few days later against West Ham. United were set to play two games in four days, and Sesko deserved a reward for a string of strong performances. Starting him at the London Stadium made sense.
However, Carrick picked an unchanged team for a third game in a row, sticking by the striker-less attack of Amad, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha. The 44-year-old thought ‘why change something if it’s not broken’, but every game is different and West Ham’s shape was difficult to penetrate.
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Amad, Mbeumo and Cunha were hardly involved in the first half. Amad was the worst performer of the trio, and he was the obvious candidate to hook at the interval to introduce Sesko to the game.
Carrick wanted to give his starting XI more time and waited until the 69th minute to introduce Sesko, though. The Slovenian international sat on the bench without a coat – the only substitute to do so – from the beginning of the second half, but had to wait 24 minutes to get onto the pitch.
It was a surprise that it took so long for Sesko to be introduced. Casemiro played a lofted pass to Bruno Fernandes before the hour mark, the kind of ball only a striker can bring down, and perhaps that was the final straw.
Sesko’s spectacular finish in added time was vindication of the pre-game opinion that he should have started. The goal gets better every time you watch. The technique for the volley was exquisite.
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Carrick heaped praise on Sesko, saying: “It’s an unbelievable finish from the angle to generate that, to get it on target, to finish it. It’s some goal from him. He’s capable of that, Ben.
“He’s done it over time. It’s not that he’s just suddenly burst on the scene. He’s been doing it, he’s proven that he can score goals as well. He’s been doing it in training for us as well.
“It’s not surprising, to be honest. I think that’s what he does, it’s what he’s good at. But certainly to actually do it and to feel it. He did it with the last one [against Tottenham], tonight, a little bit different with the emotion of the game, but certainly important and a big moment for him and us.”
One of the arguments for Sesko to start against West Ham was that he deserved a reward for his goals, as it would have been demoralising if he’d continued to score from the bench, only to be overlooked again.
Sesko cannot be overlooked when United play Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on February 23. He has genuine momentum – five goals in six games – and will be miffed there is no game to play this weekend.
United have a 13-day break between games after crashing out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle against Brighton. That break does not do Sesko, who will be chomping at the bit to start, any favours, but he’s been in such strong form that it might not make a difference.
Which forward moves to the bench to make way for Sesko will be the debate in the build-up to Everton, although it should be a choice between Cunha and Amad, given Mbeumo is the leading goalscorer.
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Amad stayed on the pitch at the London Stadium, while Cunha was replaced by Sesko, but Amad’s overhit pass to the backpost as United chased an equaliser summed up his performance.
You have to nitpick to make a case to move either Cunha or Amad to the bench. Having said that, the latter hasn’t been at his best, failing to record a goal involvement since he returned from AFCON.
In the same games, Cunha recorded an assist against Manchester City and scored against Arsenal and Fulham. The Brazilian’s goal at the Emirates sealed a special victory. The numbers and eye test suggest Amad should lose his place in the team to Sesko, who has made himself impossible to ignore.
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Eighteen months ago, on a golden Sunday evening at the Presidents Cup in Montreal, Fluff Cowan’s mustache curled.
“Oh, I don’t know,” the legendary caddie said, his New England accent curdling the trepidation he felt behind a tuft of snow-white facial hair.
He paused, turning the idea over in his head once more. He’d been asked some strange questions in 47 years as one of the most prolific caddies in golf history, but none quite like this one.
How could he capture the entirety of his caddying experience … in a single song?
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“Well, I guess the first one that comes to mind is — in the ways that it ebbed and flowed…”
He paused once more, agonizing.
“I guess I’d have to go with “Truckin’,” he said.
The conversation progressed, but Cowan seemed to linger on that title, pleased with his selection. It captured his spirit, his story, and critically, his favorite band: the Grateful Dead. A few beats later, his face spread into a grin.
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“I was just a drivin’ fool.“
Cowan turned 78 on Saturday, two days before the start of the golf tournament that has also come to feel like the beginning of a new year: the annual AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. But the start of this golf high season in Northern California has lost some of its tie-dyed luminescence in 2026. In early-January, the world learned of the passing of one of Cowan’s heroes: Bob Weir, the legendary Grateful Dead frontman.
Weir’s death has cast a strange pall over Deadheads like Cowan, who often wore a Jerry Garcia t-shirt to caddie for Tiger Woods. To those whose lives centered around the rhythms of Grateful Dead concert schedules and retirement tours (plural), the band was more religion than music. And in the church of the Dead, Weir was the heartbeat.
“In my mind, Bobby embodied the whole culture of the Dead, there’s kindness and there’s love,” Gil Hanse, the golf course architect (and lifelong Deadhead) said. “Obviously [original Dead drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann] are still here, but it feels like the leader of the band has left the stage.”
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Interestingly, Weir’s passing has also cast a strange pall over the golf world, where the Dead has quietly infiltrated many of the sport’s highest chambers.
“The Dead has probably been the soundtrack of 70 percent of the holes I’ve shaped and worked on in my career,” Hanse said. “So yeah, there’s a nice legacy there.”
Perhaps no place speaks to both Deadheads and golf lovers quite like the Bay Area. Pebble Beach is just an hour down the road from Dana Morgan’s Music Shop in Palo Alto, where Garcia and Weir met for the first time as teenagers, and just two hours from Golden Gate Park, where Weir played his last three shows in the summer of 2025 (coincidentally just feet from one of America’s most celebrated muni revival projects). Consciously or subconsciously, golf’s visit to the region this week has presented the sport’s legion of Deadheads with an opportunity to mourn.
“I’ve been feeling pretty upset about it,” Hanse said. “I wasn’t expecting that. It’s been a lot harder than I thought.”
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Of course, there is a deep irony in Weir’s legacy extending over the Monterey Peninsula’s most tidily manicured cliffs. Golf is a sport of well-coiffed stiffs and fetishized cloisteredness, the kind of place where even the appearance of countercultural impulses can cost you a seat at some of the sport’s most reputable tables; Dead concerts feature the kind of individuals who call into open question the timing of their last shower. (It should also be noted that if you were to scientifically engineer the diametric opposite of Shakedown Street — the popular Dead pre-concert tailgate where sun-beaten roadies trade tie-dye T-shirts and psychedelic drugs with startling nonchalance — you might wind up with a place that looks a lot like 17 Mile Drive.)
And yet, like a particularly stubborn case of lice, golf can’t rid itself of the Dead. A flourishing underbelly of rejects and hippies floods the caddie yards and maintenance crews (and, in many cases, membership rolls) of the greatest clubs in America with Dead iconography; while golf’s own (gentle) countercultural moment of the 2020s has helped some clubs bring Touch of Grey greenside.
“Love ’em, need ’em, can’t live without ’em,” Cowan said, capturing the spirit of devotion that promulgates caddie yards across the country with impressive brevity.
From a distance, the correlation might sound trivial, but spend time near golf’s true Deadhead contingent and you’ll realize the sport and the band share a heartbeat. For all of golf’s occasional stuffiness, the sport’s best traits might be lifted verbatim from the central themes of a Dead concert: empathy, tranquility, creativity, artistry. And, hell, is there a better place to discover the wonders of nature than on a particularly psychedelic golf course?
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“Everybody in our band, the Cavemen, we all have a role to play — and there’s sort of a foundation — but then off of that foundation, we can take it in any different direction we want to,” says Hanse. “I think that’s sort of the ethos of the Dead. Every night was different in the way the music was performed and presented. We want creativity to manifest itself in improvisation.”
The core audience helps too. Many of the original Deadheads have now aged into boomerdom, where golf is a national pastime, while many of the diehards responsible for keeping the sport afloat — those deranged enough to pursue a career in golf — have done so precisely for the opportunity to break the shackles of a desk job and a nine-to-five. To this group, the Dead is a siren song.
“I’ve often said what we provide for people is music with a little adventure in it,” Weir said in 2016. “The people who like our music, come to our music, are drawn to our music — they’re people who require a little adventure in their lives.”
Ultimately, the same spirit of adventure carried Weir through to the end. He played his final shows with the Dead at Golden Gate Park in August — part of a 60th anniversary celebration for the band that drew more than 150,000 people to San Francisco. Hanse was among the crowds for all three nights, having hopped “back on the bus” with his wife, Tracey, in the last few years of Weir’s life. Nobody knew it then, but Weir was waving goodbye.
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“The first show was pretty rough, Bobby was obviously not well,” Hanse said, briefly slipping into Deadhead vernacular. “But then Saturday and Sunday night was just … the magic.”
If an anti-establishment bent brought the Dead into golf, memories like these are what have kept them. Beneath the logos and the hippies and the music is a spirit of something much bigger: kindness.
“From the outside, people kind of can draw whatever conclusions they want about golf, but real golfers find the same peace and tranquility when they’re out on the golf course,” Hanse said. “I mean, you had three nights where you had 50,000 people – and there were no crimes, no violence, no nothing. Maybe some people were … chemically altered in the way that they were feeling, but they were there to celebrate something that was pure. And I think we celebrate the game of golf and in the landscapes we play it in for the very similar reasons.”
For many Deadheads, this idea was the hardest part of Weir’s death. If the leader of the band was no more, what would keep the spirit of the Dead from passing with him?
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Thankfully, there have already been signs to the contrary. One arrived on the morning of January 10, the same day news of Weir’s passing reached Hanse at a golf course in New Zealand.
As Hanse found himself confronting an unexpected swell of grief, he received a surprise visitor: His five-year-old granddaughter, Peyton.
Peyton heard that her grandpa was upset, and she’d taken matters into her own hands. She approached Hanse bearing a gift.
“She went outside and picked me some flowers from the little meadow in the backyard,” Hanse said. “And she said, ‘I know you’re sad, so I just want to give you some flowers for your friend.’”
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Hanse cried at the gift. He cried again sharing the story.
They were happy tears. The kind that come after an unusual act of kindness. His old friend Bobby would’ve liked that. He would’ve liked it a lot.
But he would’ve liked most what came after, when Gil Hanse fired up his tractor, and kept on truckin’.
;)
