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29th Sep 2016

Justin Rose bets heckler $100 he can’t make putt during Ryder Cup practice

Rose put his money where his mouth is - and lost

Rob Burnett

This may well be the most entertaining thing to happen at the Ryder Cup this year – and it hasn’t even started yet.

Now, we may not be diehard golf fans (you could probably tell from the intro), but this is a great story.

Team Europe’s Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson were practicing with Rory McIlroy and Andy Sullivan in front of some American golf fans at Hazeltine National Golf Club near Minneapolis.

Sullivan missed a putt – and Stenson heard a fan in the crowd claiming he could have made the shot. Stenson immediately called him out and invited him to prove he was not just all mouth and no trousers.

Just to spice it up a bit, Rose placed a $100 bill down and the crowd went quiet as the fan – named Dave Johnson – stepped up. They weren’t quiet for long – cheering loudly when Dave made the putt and celebrated wildly.

Henrik Stenson said: “We were playing a match against Andy and Rory. Andy didn’t make the putt and went to try again.

“Someone in the crowd yelled: ‘I could do it’. So we let him have a go. And all credit to him, he drilled it in the centre. He would have been chipping if it hadn’t gone in but fair play to him.”

Justin Rose added: “The guy came on and ripped it in the middle. Fair play to him.”

FFL-NEW