Local 4’s Jim Niedelman takes a look at the stories behind some of the young sponsor exemptions playing at the John Deere Classic this week.
This year’s new golfers are Brian Bullington, Austin Connelly, Charlie Danielson, Lee McCoy, Jordan Niebrugge, Jon Rahm, Robby Shelton and Aaron Wise.
Most of them say they started gripping those clubs at a young age. “I started playing probably competitive golf when I was 6, 7 or eight years old,” said Danielson. “I won the US Kids Golf World Championship when I was six,” said McCoy.“And you know I thought it was a pretty big deal then so I fell in love with the game really early.” One player, however, started his childhood playing something a little different. Jon Rahm grew up in Spain playing Jai Alai. Once he discovered, golf, however, the rest was history. “For some reason golf just like, wow, I love it and stay there,” Rahm said.
