There are times when sports—no matter how big the game or tournament—must take a backseat to family. Yesterday was one of those times for golf star Hunter Mahan.
According to National Post columnist Scott Stinson via Twitter on Saturday, Mahan withdrew from the RBC Canadian Open shortly after his wife went into labor:
The baby wasn't due for another few weeks, which is probably why Mahan wasn't at their Dallas home in the first place. Mahan's agent indicated that Kandi's water had broken and that she was being taken to the hospital.
What makes this story even more unbelievable is the fact that the 31-year-old was leading the tournament by two strokes and he was in the driving seat when he got the news. He immediately withdrew from the tournament and headed to an airport to catch a plane back to Texas.
It's just the third time in his career that he's owned the lead heading into the third round, but Mahan, who finished ninth at the British Open last week, failed to win either instance. Fortunately, Mahan wasn't keen on amending that stat.
Mahan has five career victories on the PGATour, recording his last win at the Shell Houston Open in April 2012. He recently earned his best-ever finish at a major in June 2013, finishing tied for fourth at the U.S. Open at Merion.
Back in 1999, Phil Mickelson famously wore a beeper during the U.S. Open. His daughter was born the day after Mickelson lost to Payne Stewart. More recently, Ross Fisher vowed to walk off the course at the 2009 British Open no matter what if he heard his wife was going into labor; he was just one stroke behind leader Tom Watson at the time.
The Mahans already know that the baby will be a girl with the planned name of Zoe. And whenever she's old enough to ask her dad the usual girly question - Daddy do you love me? The Golfer got a ready-made cool story in the bag.
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