BEEF GREETER
Andrew makes proud mum cry as he keeps up with the big guns
Cult hero Andrew Johnston almost burst into tears last night as he maintained his incredible Open charge.
The Englishman, known on Tour as ‘Beef’, has been adopted by the Royal Troon crowds, who have warmed to his largerthan-life character.
Johnston repaid the support by moving into the top four in the Championship – and few deserve success more than the cheerful 27-year- old.
Three years ago Johnston was ready to quit the game of golf because he didn’ t have enough money to buy Christmas presents.
Last night, though, on the biggest stage of all, he got a standing ovation as he marched up the final fairway having high-fived fans on his way to the tee.
Johnston had a lump in his throat after all he’d gone through to reach that point, although the tears had come close to spilling out five holes earlier in his third round.
His chip- in on the 13th sparked the galleries and reduced his mother Jackie to tears, the Claret Jug challenger having to look away to avoid floods of his own.
Johnston said: “I could see my mum crying, which was even funnier. That got me going a bit. I was like, ‘Oh my God, don’t look at her, please, go over there’. “But the reception I got later is what you dream of. Amazing. I just love it, I really do. “You always have your ups and downs. The end of 2012 and 2013 I struggled. I had a shoulder injury. “I think it was 2013, that Christmas, I was sitting there wondering, ‘What am I going to do for Christmas about presents and stuff like that?’ The real turning point came when I got into the Nelson Mandela competition in South Africa and I managed to get some money because I didn’t have much at all.
“It was sheer determination that I did wel l and then I thought, ‘ Yeah, I can play’.”
Johnston has proved that and then some in his first three days at Troon with yesterday’s one-under 70 leaving him in fourth spot, seven shots off leader Henrik Stenson.
Hav ing managed a maiden European Tour success at the Spanish Open this year, he’ll go out in today’s penultimate group along with Bill Haas.
Johnston earned that right with another afternoon of high jinks on the links and he laughed: “I said in an interview on Friday that I would be having a caesar salad later that night.
“So I had this one kid
screaming ‘caesar salad’ at me for the first six holes.
“It was funny. What did I actually have? I had a pizza. It was a 10-inch pizza. It wasn’t that big.
“It wasn’t like a 20-inch ‘ Win a T-shirt if you finish it’ type.”
Having a carry-on, of course, doesn’t get the job done. But when he needs to get serious, he can.
The 27-year-old said: “Once I’m playing a shot, it’s down to business.
“People were shouting out to me as I was walking up and viewing a chip but I don’t acknowledge that.
“But once I’ve hit the shot or I’ m walking somewhere, I’m going to acknowledge.”
Post- round yesterday, Johnston wise-cracked his way through interviews.
On his magnificent beard, he quipped: “My girlfriend’s not happy. She started out loving it but all of a sudden she was like, ‘ It’s getting a bit long’. I’ve had a few trim-ups and a shave. I desperately need a haircut and a beard shape-up. I just haven’t had time.”
On the famous 32- ounce steak-eating challenge he took up after his opening round at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational last month, he added: “The waitress lied to me.
“She said it was a certain size and it comes out and it’s massive. I said, ‘ You’re a liar’. She went, ‘My husband can eat it’. So I went, ‘Challenge accepted!”
He is similarly ready for the challenge the final day will offer and believes he can achieve. He said: “Why not? If you don’t believe, what is the point of playing?
“There’s a long way to go and we’ll just see what happens. If you don’t have nerves, it doesn’t mean that much to you.
“You’ve got to embrace those nerves. Just keep doing what you’re doing. That’s how I seem to deal with it.”
There’s a long way to go and we’ll see what happens