Kevin Kisner isn’t a man to welch on a bet, so he paid the piper — in this case, Justin Thomas — on live television on Thursday at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Kisner, a University of Georgia graduate, and Thomas, a University of Alabama product, made a friendly albeit potentially humiliating wager on Monday night’s college football National Championship game between the two schools. The stakes were the losing team’s fan would have to wear the jersey of the winning team during the 17th hole of Sony Open.
The tournament committee at the Sony obliged and pair the two together along with Jason Dufner, an Auburn fan, for the first two rounds of the tournament, which resulted in a spectacle that had to hurt the hearts of Bulldogs everywhere.
GolfChannel.com’s Rex Hoggard had more on the payoff.
A bet is a bet, and no matter how uncomfortable Kevin Kisner may have been he was going to pay off his debt, although he did want to clarify a few things.
Moments after teeing off on the par-3 17th hole at Waialae Country Club on Thursday, Kisner, a University of Georgia alum and lifelong fan, put on an Alabama football jersey, the payoff for a bet he had with Justin Thomas over Monday’s College Football Playoff National Championship.
“I’m blaming that bogey on him,” laughed Kisner after a poor tee shot at No. 17 led to a dropped shot. “I would have never hit that bad of a shot if I wasn’t thinking about that ‘Bama jersey. No, it’s all in good fun.”
Thomas admitted he’d forgotten about the bet until the duo reached the 16th hole and Kisner reminded him. He was also impressed with how Kisner handled the situation.
“He handled it a lot better than I probably would have if I had to put the jersey on,” Thomas said. “I don’t have the hatred toward Georgia like I do a lot of other schools in the SEC. I don’t know if he feels the same way, if that’s why he handled it as well as he did, or if he’s just that good of a sport.”
Kisner did point out that he pressed Thomas to give him the points for Monday’s game, with Alabama a 3 1/2-point favorite, but couldn’t get him to agree.
“If I’d have got the points, he’d have been wearing it, and I was lobbying for the points the whole week, and he didn’t give them to me,” Kisner joked. “So I’m still not sure about this bet.”
Kisner plans to sign the jersey, along with Thomas, and auction it off with the proceeds going to his foundation. As for next year, both players are hopeful they can renew the bet.
— — —
Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest goings-on in the world of golf by following the SwingxSwing Clubhouse on social media. We share stories, stats and breaking news on Twitter, keep the fun going off the course on Instagram and share any and all golf-related topics on Facebook.
Never be the odd golfer out when your friends are talking about the latest or funniest happenings in golf. Sign up for the SxS newsletter today!
