Lee McCoy, a 22-year-old senior on the Georgia Bulldogs golf team, finished in fourth-place at this weekend’s Valspar Championship, just three strokes back of the winner to earn himself $292,800—well, it should have earned him that much.
Unfortunately, because McCoy’s an amateur, he wasn’t eligible to take home a single penny from the massive payday, instead having to settle for the experience of playing with fellow 22-year-old and two-time major champ Jordan Spieth as the highlight of his weekend.
Spieth even gave his fellow 22-year-old some advice after the round: Don’t look at the payout list in the scoring trailer—but McCoy just couldn’t help himself, saying this, per FOX Sports:
“I shouldn’t have looked. Lot of money. Lot of money,” McCoy said. “I think I got like $350 in my bank account right now, so it’s mostly gas money. It hurt, but there’s so much going great for me right now. I’m just trying to take it all in. Just really grateful to be standing there.”
Man, that’s a fucking lotto ticket that McCoy couldn’t cash in because he didn’t have his PGA Tour card. Talk about a bummer for being good at golf, huh?
Unlike you or me in that position, the amateur golfer handled it with complete class, talking more about the experience of the weekend than the money he had to turn down, per New York Daily News:
“Surreal to say the least,” McCoy said. “I’ve always dreamt of just getting a tee time here on Thursday (for the tournament). Being in contention on Sunday, playing with the No. 1 player in the world is something that didn’t cross my mind. I really had to pinch myself a few times today.”
Shit, if this kid keeps ballin’ out like this on the course, he’ll have plenty of big checks like this one in the near future. Still, that’s a TON of money to have to walk away from.
[H/T FOX Sports, New York Daily News]