The Loop
Good advice from a tour caddie's hat
Ping Golf, Hunter Mahan's equipment benefactor, asked his caddie John Wood if he'd like anything included on the back of his hats, be it his initials or maybe a logo from an endorsement.
"I thought for a bit, and I asked [Ping senior PGA Tour manager] Matt Rollins if they could put the phrase be kind' on them as a request to the world and a reminder to myself," Wood wrote on his Facebook page. Ping complied and Wood wore the hat during the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.
Ping Tour's Instagram account, meanwhile, included a photo of the hat, which generated quite a number of responses from followers interested in buying these hats. They aren't for sale (not yet, anyway).
"But after I saw the requests, I replied to their posts that at the end of each tournament Sunday round, I would give away my hat to the first kid who came up to me and said John, I will try and pay it forward and I promise to be kind.'
"Today, as I walked out of the scoring trailer, a cute little Hawaiian kid walked right up to me and said Mr. Wood, I promise to be kind'…I was so freakin' happy that it happened the first week out I couldn't believe it. I gave it to him of course and he ran back to his Dad waving the hat in the air the whole way. Made my year."