Shaking It Up: Ben Crane

January 26, 2011
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Can you pull it off? It's all about confidence.

Ben Crane said it himself: "People think of me as being Christian and a slow player--and both of those are associated with being no fun." Crane, 34, has been on the PGA Tour for nine years. He has three wins and more than $13 million in earnings; his best finish in a major championship is a T-9. Crane lists fly-fishing and Bible study as his two off-course interests. His pace of play is so slow that playing partner Rory Sabbatini left Crane behind toward the end of a competitive round in 2005. Safe to say, he was the definition of a bland tour player. So in October, when Crane released a spoof video in which he does a variety of aerobic exercises while wearing a helmet, tight spandex (too tight), pink socks and swinging his training tool, "the snake shaker," he shocked the golf world. This video, now seen by more than 80,000 people (bencranegolf.com), is hysterical. But the video wouldn't have floated the stream of social media if it didn't get the approval of Crane's toughest critic: his wife, Heather. "There's no courtesy laugh in her," Crane says. "When she said it was funny, we knew we might have something." Before making the exercise video, Crane produced a digital short for a birthday party of a wealthy friend. Another party guest, none other than George Clooney, told Crane, "You made the party." Crane says there are four more videos in the works.

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