If you’ve ever been the type of sports fan who shouts at your favorite team from the couch about how you could play better than it, John Pak might be your new favorite golfer.
The 26-year-old PGA Tour rookie (and self-proclaimed die-hard New York Knicks fan) was up late watching the team’s historic Game 1 choke job against the Indiana Pacers at Madison Square Garden in the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday night. That might not seem like the best idea for someone playing in the Charles Schwab Challenge on Thursday, but it actually may have been the key factor in Pak shooting a flawless first-round 63 to lead the tournament by three stokes.
“That was historically one of the worst losses I’ve ever seen in my life,” Pak told reporters after his opening round. “There was a fire lit under me, yeah, this morning. I was a little pissed off about that.”
That is actually quite the understatement.
Pak played arguably the best professional golf round of his life. He drained a 147-yard approach for eagle on his first hole then notched another five birdies to round off his bogey-free round. It’s unclear if he shouted “bing bong” after each putt he sank.
In 12 starts this year, Pak has made the cut seven times and finished Top 25 once. We’ll see how he bounces back on Friday afternoon for his second round, but his nighttime routine isn’t changing, even if it means he should be a little calmer for Round 2.
“Thankfully the Knicks aren’t playing tonight, so I won’t be stressed about that,” Pak said. “I didn’t sleep well after that loss last night. I’m going to recover, do a little stretching, and then maybe watch the Thunder game later tonight.”
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