“I think it would be a good movie”: why a realtor from Georgia was invited to the role of “Masters”



CNN

To date, the nearest realtor from Atlanta Scott Stallings ever been to Augusta National, this is nearby Costco.

Despite years of trying, he never managed to get a ticket to the prestigious Masters tournament on the legendary field. As a golf fan from Georgia, attending a major went unnoticed.

Finally, on New Year’s Eve, there was a breakthrough. Thanks to a letter in the mail to his St. Louis apartment. Simons Island, Stallings was going to the Masters.

But don’t look. Complete

A few weeks later, about 4,600 miles (7,400 km) from the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii, three-time PGA Tour winner Scott Stallings wondered why his invitation to the 2023 Masters was taking so long to arrive.

A remarkable series of coincidences led to a Hollywood-worthy misidentification case. If this was supposed to be a movie script, surely the next step for the realtor was to take their clubs and try their luck at the Masters in April?

“I had a twinkle in my eye when I just ran it over in my head,” Stallings admitted to CNN’s Don Riddell. “It’s like a golden ticket for Willy Wonka.

“I have an ID card with my name on it, an invitation with my name on it – what’s to stop me from going to that gate?”

Stallings in action at the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua Golf Club, Hawaii on Jan. 5.

However, this was a fleeting thought, as Realtor Stallings quickly realized how the confusion had come about.

For years, he closely followed his namesake’s golfing career. If a golfer performed particularly well at an event, Stallings 2.0 would often post a photo of the leaderboard on their social media to show how well “he” was doing.

But when the real estate agent and his wife, Jennifer, contacted their colleague via Instagram to inform him of the mistake, the golfer was skeptical. It wasn’t until they added a photo of a letter signed by Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley and the sleek green Masters envelope in which it was delivered that the intended recipient of the invitation was convinced.

When the golfer subsequently posted screenshots of the conversation on Twitter in honor of his namesake, “a firestorm began.” With over 22 million views and 150,000 likes, the post made Stallings go viral. Threads of comments urged the professional golfer to bring his namesake to the tournament in Augusta.

Golfer Stallings went one step further, inviting the realtor and Jennifer to attend both practice rounds, as well as to have dinner with him and his wife — unbelievably also named Jennifer — while they’re in town.

“Scott Stallings, the golfer, is just a wonderful person,” the realtor said. “It’s really like winning the lottery.”

The fact that the Stallings’ wives share the same name is just another extraordinary coincidence in the couple’s history.

It’s even more unlikely that a Stallings’s St. Simon’s apartment was next to the former headquarters of the management company that golfer Stallings was attached to when he last played at The Masters in 2014.

According to the realtor, despite the fact that the management company has since moved, the tournament organizers did not update the records and sent the invitation to the old address. When UPS arrived to deliver it, knowing about nearby Stallings, they mailed a letter to the apartment.

“Simply incredible, surreal,” the realtor said. “I think it would be a good movie. I’m just waiting for Spielberg’s call so we can negotiate.”

Stallings during his final appearance at The Masters in 2014

The scenario’s happy ending was confirmed by golfer Stallings last week. In a video posted to social media, he gleefully retrieves the forwarded invitation from his inbox before presenting the letter to the camera.

“I told you I didn’t have it,” Jennifer’s wife quipped as the video ends.

But realtor Stallings predicts another twist of fortune from Lady Luck. A resurgent Rory McIlroy will likely arrive in Augusta as a star-field favorite, but the golf aficionado makes a prediction against the odds.

You guessed it, Scott Stallings, world number 54: The Masters 2023 champion.