Get in touch with your inner Beef

Andrew johnston is a breath of fresh air, and now he wants to help you get better

ome tour players only turn on the charm when a TV camera is

Sthrust into their face. Not many, admittedly, but some are completely different to their public persona. I remember an unnamed English tour star – well inside the world’s top 50 at the time – threatening to floor a TG writer who’d politely enquired three times whether said player had five minutes to fulfill an interview request that had been confirmed by the player’s agent...

So, when a tour star turned out to be exactly as you thought they’d be, it’s nice. Rory Mcilroy springs to mind, but even he isn’t as down to earth as Andrew “Beef” Johnston – a guy who wants to be everybody’s friend.

For this month’s cover, we spent a couple of hours in Beef’s company at his home club, where he broke off to chat to members, ask about their game, answer questions about his. We also followed him for a practice round at the British Masters at The Grove, where he signed every autograph, posed for every selfie and acknowledged every shout of “Beef!”.

Despite being one of the world’s best players – a PGA Tour star with a Major top 10 to his name – Beef comes across as the type of guy you’d love to have 18 holes with, not least to see his awesome game up close. On page 52, we got his thoughts on everything from fitness (‘I don’t like the gym, but I know I’ve got to

do it’) to range drills (‘I just like smashing balls’), from the tips he’s picked up on tour (‘I’m using Kuchar’s armlock putting style after seeing him at the Open) to his hopes for his year in the US (‘it’s like someone on

TV getting a chance to work in Hollywood’).