Tiger Woods was approaching the tee box on the South Course’s eighth hole at Torrey Pines when Eric Neiman, sitting in a greenside suite on the hole, got a text on his cell phone.
“Wow, Kobe died.”
Suddenly and swiftly, Neiman, like thousands of others on the golf course for the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open, was distracted from one sports legend while trying to process tragic news involving another.
Word of the helicopter crash that killed the Lakers legend, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others dramatically changed the mood in the gallery. Any other Sunday and the crowd would have been buzzing with excitement as the championship moved toward its conclusion.
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This day was subdued, to say the least.
There certainly were still cheers throughout the day for good shots.
Champion Marc Leishman was celebrated, as he should have been, but it will go down as one of the strangest days ever on the course, because of something unimaginable that happened 140 miles up the coast.
Surreal is the word that several fans used. Unbelievable and horrible were two others.
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“At first I didn’t believe it,” Neiman said. “But as soon as I saw that text, we kind of heard the murmurs all around.
“It was really surreal because the two best athletes of that era of us growing up, one passes away and the other one is literally coming through. It really was crazy.”
Neiman, a 35-year-old Pacific Beach resident, grew up in Philadelphia, where Bryant was born and raised.
The text he received was from a close friend who is a longtime Lakers fan and season ticket holder.
They, like millions of fans around the country and the world, felt a deeper connection to Bryant than most sports stars, something that made them stop in their tracks upon receiving the news.
“I come hear every year and have a great time,” Neiman said. “It was hard to focus on anything else because that was so sad of what was happening.
“You could sense everyone around talking, people on their phones. The vibe definitely changed.
At times during the round, there were shouts from the gallery referring to Bryant.
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In fact, one fan yelled “Kobe” after Woods struck his final putt of the tournament on the 18th green.
Woods, we would come to learn, was not told about Bryant’s death until he was walking off the 18th.
“I didn’t understand why they were yelling, ‘Do it for Mamba’ (Bryant’s nickname) on the back nine,” Woods said afterwards. “People yell things all the time, so I was just, you know, plodding along, doing my own thing.”
John Higgins of Laguna Niguel was looking for some souvenirs in the Torrey Pines golf shop late before heading home when he was asked about the fans’ reaction.
Higgins said he was on the 11th hole when he received a breaking news alert on his watch.
“Everybody was just kind of looking at their phones and got silent,” said Higgins, whose roots as a Lakers fan trace to 1979 when he moved to Southern California and Magic Johnson joined the team. “It hit hard.
“It just seemed quieter, then I remember going to the concession stand and being in line. We’re talking through it with other people, not sure if it included one of his daughters or all of his daughters. One guy just started crying and left.”
Neiman said he and his friends were at the 15th hole when they learned Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter also died in the crash.
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“It’s horrible. It’s unbelievable,” Neiman said. “It’s been bothering me all day. I’ve been trying my best not to think about it.”
His comments came near the 18th green, just a few yards away from where Century Club officials were preparing to present Leishman with the winner’s trophy and check.
A few hundred fans stuck around to see the ceremony. There was polite applause for the winner, as in any other year, but the ceremony, like the final round itself, somehow seemed somber.
"Scene" - Google News
January 27, 2020 at 09:36AM
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Farmers Scene & Heard: Tragic news makes for a somber gathering - The San Diego Union-Tribune
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