He’s a husky fellow, a bit chunky if you will.
He smiles quickly and if there ever was an “everyman” golfer, it is Andrew Johnston.
You know him by his nickname — “Beef.”
He is simply thrilled that people like him and he returns the love. Loves to sign autographs, loves to chat with fans. Loves to hang out at his local pub.
Basically, Andrew “Beef” Johnston is living the dream.
Yes, a professional golfer he is and all of this celebrity didn’t happen overnight. He’s 27 years old.
His roots are pure working class Great Britain — dad was a bus driver, mom was a school lunch lady. His father, Noel, died of brain cancer when Andrew was but 17. Andrew looked for a regular job but got enough support from family and friends and decided to stick with golf — a good choice.
He worked his way up the ladder, playing on the Jamega Tour in the U.K. and then the Challenge Tour, the Web.com equivalent of the European Tour.
Beef burst onto the world scene when he won the 2016 Open de Espana last April on the European Tour. The legend grew when he finished eighth at the Open Championship at Royal Troon.
Now Beef has his ticket to America.
He got it with a fourth place finish Sunday at the Boise Open. He shot 17-under par and was all smiles when 6-7 Phil Blackmar spoke to him afterward.
“A few sodas, I think maybe a Coke and Fanta, something like that,” Johnston said when asked how he’d celebrate clinching a PGA Tour card. He immediately burst into laughter because the world knows that beer is his beverage of choice. “Gimme a few beers, man,” he quickly countered.
Johnston made it a goal to play in the best tournaments on both sides of the pond, now he can. “It’s big,” he said of his Boise performance. “I would like to have been a few shots better. I tried my best and that’s what I did, man.”
Johnston always gives it his best and just happens to have a good time in the process. The crowds have taken a liking to him and when he produces a birdie putt or a great shot, the chant goes “Beeeeeeeeeef!!!!!!!!!”
So you wonder how he became “Beef”?
We’ll let him explain:
“When I was a kid, if I grew my hair out, I’m a quarter Jamaican so it goes all curly. One of my friends said ‘Your head looks like a big bit of beef — you’ve got beefhead!'”
It was quickly shortened to “Beef” and the legend began to grow.
After Johnston’s finish at The Open, his popularity boomed.
Arby’s noticed him in a hurry and now he has an endorsement deal with the fast-food company.
Suits him, suits him a lot more than the request he got from PETA, asking him to basically change his nickname.
The PETA appeal went like this:
“Like others, we’ve been enthusiastically following your career and we thought we’d send you a gift of delicious vegan steaks and burgers in the hope that you’ll consider adopting a kinder, healthier lifestyle which would pave the way for a new nickname, Andrew “Tofu” Johnston.”
Well, as you can imagine, Beef was having nothing to do with that. He politely declined via his Twitter account.
Nope, at 5-foot-9 and some 220 pounds, Beef will remain Beef.
He’s more than just a pretty face, the guy’s got game and he brings it with him to the course.
Fun to watch, fun to talk with.
Just plain fun, something golf really needs.
He’s coming to America and he should liven things up.
And help the restaurant industry in the process.
