ANDREW ‘BEEF’ JOHNSTON’S first rocky patch at Baltusrol brought an unexpected response from the American galleries – a loud yell of ‘Beef for President’!
The ever-present smile was in danger of vanishing from Beef’s face as he walked off the eighth green.
A double bogey meant he had ruined a good start to the third round of the US PGA, tossing away four shots in five holes.
But that shout of encouragement definitely raised his spirits, and he raised an arm in salute to show he was battered but not broken.
And it was confirmation of something that anyone who has witnessed New Jersey being gripped by Beef-mania already knew: He is far more popular over here than either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.
A few holes later the players were hauled off the course because of thunderstorms in the area, and Johnston revealed how much the local support meant to him.
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He explained: “I had a great reception on the first tee again, and the crowds were going nuts when I birdied two of the first three holes.
“But it means even more if they get behind you when things are going wrong, and when I had a couple of bogeys there were loads of shouts of ‘Don’t worry Beef, you’ll get it back on the next one’.
“But the funniest had to be that ‘Beef for President’ shout when I made the double on eight. How can you be down when stuff like that is going on?”
Johnston managed to bounce with three straight pars before the delay, which came forty minutes before joint leaders Jimmy Walker and Robert Streb were due to tee off.
That meant he was two over for his round, and one over for the tournament.
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