Wayne Mitchell decides to let go of the double-eagle golf ball succumbing to Augusta National coercion
Wayne Mitchell, one of the spectators at the Augusta National in the final round of the Masters, had been sitting in the front row since 10.30 in the morning.
Little did he know that raging Louis Oosthuizen will come down charging towards him all the way from the tee-box and will toss him the historic double-eagle ball.
Mitchell, who plays golf once in a month, was overwhelmed with joy.
He said, "I've sat there before. It's a great place to watch because you can see a lot of golf coming in there”.
Mitchell, however, hit the headlines when he succumbed to the persuasion of the Augusta National Club officials who were successfully able to convince him to handover the ball to the club.
Mitchell felt the pint of stardom for a short while when he realised that he is being stalked by the media men all throughout the day.
He added, "I came here anonymous today and I don't feel as though I'm anonymous anymore”.
When asked as to why he decided to let go of such a historic golf ball, Mitchell replied:
"Frankly, I wasn't really thinking about it. I'm not a souvenir chaser. For me, it was just one of those moments. The ball came at me and I put my hand out”.
South African Louis Oosthuizen who was in contention for the coveted title for the first time in his career, used a 4-iron to hit the double-eagle at the 575-yard hole.
The first ever Albatross on this hole and only the fourth in the history of Masters, the ball immediately became a million-dollar commodity and instead of keeping it for himself, Oosthuizen tossed it in the crowd.
Mitchell, who happened to be seated in the front row, got hold of it and relished the prized possession for a short while.
He said, "Actually, the biggest fear I had was that I was going to drop it”.
The ball would have become all the more valuable if Oosthuizen would have gone over to win the title.
He lost on the second playoff hole to rampaging Bubba Watson, who was finally able to break his major drought with the victory.
The Augusta National club officials are likely to keep it in the museum for the spectators.
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