With a meat-based nickname, a belly that protrudes far beyond the confines of his belt, a face that is kind of funny looking, and a background which is playfully working class, what is there not to love about Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston?
The happy-go-lucky golfer – the son of a bus driver and dinner lady, who together ensured that he made each and every school lunch – earned his first big win on the European Tour earlier this year, when he beat off Joost Luiten of the Netherlands to grab the Open de España. And after tying for 54th place at the U.S. Open in June, in only his third major appearance a mere matter of weeks ago he finished an impressive 8th at The Open Championship.
‘Beef’ has explained his meaty monicker as a product of ancestry and the wit of his school friends. Offering an insight into follicular genetics, he says ‘When I was a kid, if I grow my hair out I’m a quarter Jamaican so it goes curly, and one of my friends said ‘your head looks like a big bit of beef, you’ve got a beefhead”. Cutting short his reminisces and returning to the present day, Johnston continued, ‘And it just stuck, honestly, and now everyone just calls me ‘Beef”, before came the sudden realisation, ‘They shortened it’.
Ever since his breakthrough in April, golf crowds have quickly grown more than fond of ‘Beef’. After that win he admitted that he couldn’t wait to get home to ‘get hammered’, a refreshing display of honesty in a world where professionals often seem like they would rather sip than swig from their alcoholic drinks.
Now fans wear false beards to mimic Johnston’s thick and curly umber bush. It is a sort of cross between something Amish and mutton chops, proving that ‘Beef’ doesn’t draw style inspiration from just one type of dead animal. Imitation is certainly the sincerest form of flattery, and crowds revel as ‘Beef’ hovers his bulky frame over the tee, greeting each strike of the ball with a hilarious cry, ‘Beeeeeef!’ they shout, showing that golf truly can be a sport for the masses.
Golf publications and mainstream live texts adore ‘Beef’ equally, even when he’s not playing so well. At the PGA Championship over the weekend, he only managed to tie for 60th. But still the sound and the word reverberate, and for the casual observer actually interested in finding out the score, all they’re liable to come across is ‘Beeeeeef! Beeeeeef! Beeeeeef!’, their curiosity tenderised with a warm smile and a spattered club.
