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Justin Thomas is auctioning off his Kobe Bryant-inspired wedges to help other helicopter-crash victims' families
Last week at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Justin Thomas was one of several players to pay tribute to the late Kobe Bryant. He wore Bryant’s high school jersey while playing the par-3 16th, and throughout the week used a specially designed headcover and wedges stamped with various tributes to the Lakers star, who, along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others, died in a helicopter crash near Los Angeles on Jan. 26.
Now Thomas is auctioning off all four of the wedges together, with the proceeds going to the MambaOnThree Fund, which was created to honor and support the families of the seven other victims who perished. The auction will run through Feb. 19. The highest of the 26 bids as of Thursday afternoon at $7,000. You can click here to view the auction.
The Titleist SM8 Raw Tour Issued Custom Vokey wedges carry lofts of 47.5, 52.5, 57 and 60.5 degrees and feature four different stampings — "81 points" for the number of Bryant scored against the Toronto Raptors in 2006; “Mamba Mentality,” a nod to Bryant’s approach to basketball; "Black Mamba" for his nickname; and his full name, “Kobe Bean Bryant.”
“I’ve never cried for another man that I’d never even met before,” Thomas, who tied for third in Phoenix, said of Bryant. “He was my favorite player.”