AUGUSTA, Ga. — Two men, same name, but very different reasons for being at the 87th Masters this week.
Scott Stallings, the 37-year-old PGA Tour pro in his 13th season on the circuit, hadn’t earned a spot in the Masters since 2014 until he nearly won the BMW Championship in August and qualified for the 30-man field at the Tour Championship, which earns an exemption for the Masters in April. The Other Scott Stallings, which is how the golfer Scott Stallings lists him in his phone, is a 60-year-old realtor from Atlanta, who had entered the annual Masters lottery for tickets with little luck.
But on New Year’s Eve, he and his wife, Jenny, who coincidentally shares a name with Scott Stallings the golfer’s wife, went to their vacation home in St. Simons Island, Georgia, and noticed a UPS envelope by the door. Jenny ripped it open and announced, “We have tickets to the Masters.”
She read a little closer and realized it wasn’t tickets to the Masters, it was an invitation to play in the Masters.
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“Anything can go through your head, like, wow, what if I just showed up with my clubs and got on the course,” Scott, the realtor said during a phone interview. “We knew right away that we had to get it into his hands.”
Apparently, there are 20,000 people with the name Stallings in America. Stallings, the golfer, had never updated the new address of his management firm in St. Simons Island with Augusta National. The UPS driver knew there wasn’t a Scott Stallings at the address on the label and did the next best thing: delivered the over-sized envelope containing the Masters invite to the address of the Scott Stallings he did know, assuming it must be for him.
I promise you I wasn’t kidding! @TheMasters Invitation mailed to you. My wife made me do it! You’re Welcome @stallingsgolf pic.twitter.com/x0hTdPyXBS
— TheStallingsTeam (@stallingsteam) January 2, 2023
In the meantime, Scott Stallings, the golfer was beginning to wonder where his invite to the season’s first major could be.
“I just thought my wife had it and she was trying to surprise me,” he said. “She goes, ‘I promise on our children that I do not have this invitation you’re looking for.’ ”
Scott Stallings, the realtor’s wife, went on Instagram and sent pictures via direct message to Scott Stallings, the golfer, as proof of the mix up. The note began, please read, this is not a joke.
And that’s how…
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