Kevin Sutherland's lone victory on the PGA Tour came in 2002, when the Sacramento native and resident beat two reigning major champions, David Duval and David Toms, and future major winner Jim Furyk in the Accenture Match Play Championship.
That was too long ago for the group of kids asking for his autograph at the AT&T National in July, who were extremely polite in asking two questions.
"Can I have your autograph, please?"
"What's your name?"
Sutherland smiled, not the least bit offended, and told a story about himself.
Seems he was on his way to dinner that week with his wife, Mary, and 7-year-old son, Keaton. They were in the elevator with Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman when the doors opened to pick up another passenger. It was an elderly woman, apparently a golf fan, for she recognized Tilghman immediately.
"You're the woman on the Golf Channel," she said. "Who do you think is going to win the tournament?"
Tilghman smiled and said, "I think it will be Kevin Sutherland."
"Who's that?" the woman replied.
As Tilghman looked over her shoulder at Sutherland to make the introduction, Keaton spoke up.
"Nah," his son said. "He's not going to win."
Sutherland laughed heartily when he finished the story, then went back to signing autographs.
– Associated Press
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.