Paul Emerson of Aurora, Ont., said his heart rate quickly spiked when he was called to help fetch clubs after a pro golfer's caddie fell on the steep grass on the third hole of the RBG Canadian Open in Hamilton on Sunday.
“He was hurt pretty bad,” Emerson recalled when Fluff Cowan, the caddie for Taiwanese pro Pan Chun-hsien, collapsed in pain.
“He didn’t have a caddie anymore, so I simply said, ‘Do you need help?’ CT said, ‘Yes. Please help. Thank you.’”
And so it was, Emerson, in a salmon-colored T-shirt and blue bib, ferrying clubs to the PGA pro.
“There weren’t a lot of people there, but a lot of people were laughing and pointing at me in a positive way, amazed at it all,” Emerson recalled.
The 50-year-old lawyer was at a tour stop with a friend and their children when he heard Cowan, who once carried bags for Tiger Woods, yell in pain.
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Ireland's Shane Lowry's caddie initially grabbed Pan's bag when Cowan fell, and Lowry had to pick up his own club from the green to finish the hole.
That's when Emerson volunteered, and Pan accepted the help and stuck around on the fourth and fifth holes at Hamilton Golf and Country Club.
The attorney said Pan made only two requests: keep his clubs dry and stay off the green.
“He made it very clear, he said, 'On the green, don't get in other people's way,' ” Emerson said.
For a “thin man,” the depth and directness of Pan’s camerawork was Emerson’s biggest takeaway from his out-of-body experience.
“The sound it makes is unlike anything we hear from our regular friends,” he said.
“It’s incredible the way they hit the ball…it always stays on a straight line and disappears into the sunset.”
Volunteer Mike Campbell will play on the fifth hole in Emerson's place, but not before his feat has been covered on television and social media.
Al Riddell, a longtime friend of Penn’s, played the final nine holes after receiving a call from the club.
Riddle lives just 15 minutes from the club and served as caddie for Paul Barjon before he missed the cut on Friday.
Pan Shiyi used a total of four caddies and shot a good 1-under-par 69 in the final.
Cowan, 76, was not seriously injured in the fall.
Emerson’s half-hour on the field turned into what he called “a whole day full of joy” after receiving a flood of messages from close friends and acquaintances.
“It’s been a crazy experience,” he said.
“I think people like stories about trying to be a good person.”
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