"Beef-mania" is in full force again this week at Baltusrol Golf Club for the PGA Championship, and Andrew Johnston's persona has been “refreshing for pro golf,” according to Brentley Romine of GOLFWEEK. Fans right now can "have their ‘Beef’ both ways,” as “he’s playing well and he’s growing the game with his enjoyable personality.” World No. 1-ranked golfer Jason Day said of Johnston, “He’s definitely become a personality. … I’m hoping that he keeps the good play up, because I think we need more personalities in this game.” However, Romine noted Johnston is "learning that fame isn’t easy.” He said, “I actually had a big learning curve yesterday where I played a few holes, and I was signing so much, I probably shouldn’t have done as much on the course” (GOLFWEEK.com, 7/27). The AP's Barry Wilner notes Johnston "is relishing his newfound popularity." The fans "certainly are embracing Johnston, as much for his outgoing persona as for his shot-making and putting." Wilner: "Where some athletes might back away from interaction with the public as they seek their place in their sport, Johnston is all in" (AP, 7/28).
A MAN OF THE PEOPLE: In Newark, Steve Politi writes in a sport where it "sometimes feels like most of the competitors were manufactured in the same boring golf factory, Beef is different," and "refreshingly so." Johnston "is not perfect," and he "embraces that." Politi: "All the attention has turned Beef into a social media star, where he'll engage fans as personally as he does on the golf course" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 7/28). In Boston, Ron Borges notes Johnston "has at least momentarily taken over the game." He is the "bearded Everyman loosed into the uptight world of professional golf, glorying in instant celebrity and loving to mix with his fans" (BOSTON HERALD, 7/28). In London, James Corrigan notes at Johnston's "latest swooning press conference," roughly "three times as many [people] attended his interview than for Masters champion Danny Willett and twice as many" than for Day or British Open champ Henrik Stenson. Johnston's "beauty is that he is exactly who he is on the course as he is in the media," and "Corporate America has predictably latched on." He "is an Everyman phenomenon, perhaps the first golf has seen" since John Daly (London TELEGRAPH, 7/28).
