Jordan Spieth Almost Kills my Girlfriend, Sergio Garcia Saves the Day, and a Bridgestone Invitational Giveaway

The Bridgestone Invitational is always one of my favorite tournaments of the year.  The field is stacked, the fans are nuts, and something memorable always happens. 

I was down in Akron all week reporting live from Firestone, and of course came home with some autographed gear for you.  Actually, a lot of autographed gear... thanks in large part to my girlfriend. 

 

Some things my girlfriend is keeping for herself (you'll know why in a moment), others I'm holding back for my holiday giveaway.  And with the impressive number of autographs we picked up, it just seems right to have multiple winners this week. 

But before we get to the giveaway details, a little story to shed some light on the title of this article. 

Wednesday was particularly fun for my girlfriend.  She met a lot of players, saw them swing up close, and of course got some autographs.  Here's the Titleist D2 driver Zach Johnson autographed for her. 

 

Sometime in the late afternoon, I made my way back to the practice green to watch Jordan Spieth put in extra time with the putter. 

Fans were screaming his name, hoping to get a closer look from behind the ropes.  My girlfriend stayed down by the exit, sitting on a curb behind the green, steel fencing. 

 

 

And then as they say... #SpiethHappens. 

Spieth tossed a ball from the putting green over the ropes into the crowd.  The problem is, Spieth tossed it a bit too far, and there's a serious slope coming down from the putting green towards that fencing. 

Well, five or six exceptionally-exuberant fans chased the ball in the air, stumbling down the slope, and crashed into the green fence, pushing about four sections down... and onto my girlfriend. 

She did see it coming, sort of.  And was able to get out of the way, sort of.  But the fence still sandwiched her to the concrete, and among other things bruised her arm, and cut up her leg a bit (she's a good sport and agreed to let me show a few of the cuts). 

 

Once I saw she was okay, I tried to lift her spirits, and said, "this is why you never take your eyes off Spieth, you never know what he's going to do next." She didn't think that was very funny. 

We had planned on staying for the Ambassador of Golf Ceremony and Dinner Reception, but she was feeling banged up, so we decided it was a good time to leave. 

 

Somewhere near an exit where the players park, she felt some sort of pain in her leg.  And just a few minutes later took a tumble, planting her posterior on concrete again.  I couldn't help but think she's never going to want to come with me to a tournament again. 

Then out of nowhere, Sergio Garcia appears.  He walks over, asks if she's okay, takes a picture with her, and signs a headcover for her. 

 

And just like that, chivalrous Sergio had a new fan, and saved the day in the process.  We stayed for the reception after all, had a great dinner, and laughed about the whole sequence of events on the ride home.  

To my surprise, Saturday morning my girlfriend was ready to go, and joined me at Firestone again.  She wound up meeting Adam Scott this time, and he autographed a headcover for her. 

Now she wants to come back next year for all five days.  Mind you, this from a young lady who didn't know the difference between a birdie and bogey just a few years ago.  Indeed, golf is good. 

It was certainly an enjoyable moment for us both.  And needless to say, she's keeping the Sergio and Adam autographs for herself. 

 

Now to the giveaway.  To win, watch for my Bridgestone Invitational Giveaway tweet.  Be sure you're following me, and then just retweet it and you're automatically entered. 

You can enter once a day between August 11th and August 16th.  And I'll announce the winner Monday evening, the 17th.  As with all my giveaways, this one is again open to everyone WORLDWIDE. 

One person will win the white autographed cap signed by 16 players: Paul Casey, Jamie Donaldson, Jim Furyk, J.B. Holmes, Matt Kuchar, Pablo Larazzabal, Danny Lee, Hideki Matsuyama, Ben Martin, Ryan Moore, Ryan Palmer, Justin Rose, Brandt Snedeker, Jordan Spieth, Mark Warren, and Lee Westwood. 

Another person will win another white autographed cap signed by three players: Graeme McDowell, Louis Oosthuizen, and Lee Westwood. 

And one person will win the dark gray official 2015 WGC Bridgestone Invitational cap. 

I hope everyone has a fun time with this one, and Good Luck to all who enter! 


Follow Pete on twitter @PGAPappas