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A Freakonomics Quiz: Which Golfer Do I Look Like When I Swing?

Photo: MacJewell

I recently began taking golf lessons for the first time since I was 13 years old. I got to the range early, and my new teacher, Pat Goss, was finishing up a lesson with another student over on the putting green. He eventually made his way over towards me and introduced himself.
The first thing he said to me was that he had a chance to watch me swing from across the range and that my swing bore a stunning resemblance to another golfer.
Who was that golfer?
A few hints.

  1. I’m a six handicap.
  2. I’m 43 years old and started playing golf when I was nine.
  3. As far as I know, the player who Pat Goss compared me to had exactly one huge victory on the golf course.
  4. I was mildly flattered by the comparison, although others might have reacted differently.
  5. I posed this question to John List, the best golfing economist in the world, and he failed to come up with the right answer. When I told him the answer, however, he completely agreed with my new coach’s assessment.

Your choice of Freakonomics swag to the first blog reader who can correctly name the golfer my coach had in mind.
(Friends and family who have been told the answer are strictly forbidden from participating.)
Addendum: For the answer to the golf swing contest, click here.


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