Ryan French has built a hobby into a brand, and the man behind Monday Q Info — which has 179,00 Twitter followers and counting — has also used his platform to help others.
French started his account back in 2017 — I profiled him years ago, and you can read his full story here — and has owned the beat when it comes to Monday qualifying and covering golf’s lesser-known tours and players. Sometimes that entails uncovering wild cheating scandals or telling the story of a talented young pro who quit a job and lived in his car to make it in pro golf.
But an important part of what French does also includes supporting and funding golfers who might need it.
Just on Monday, for example, he told the story of D-III golfer Andre Chi, who Monday qualified for this week’s Valspar Championship. French also shared Chi’s Venmo, hoping his network could help the golfer cover an expensive tournament week. (Donations have flooded in.)
The majority of the money French helps raise comes from average Joes who follow him on Twitter, although some apparently have a slightly higher profile: like Aaron Rodgers.
Meet the man unearthing the triumphs (and tragedies) of Monday-qualifier life
French joined this week’s GOLF Subpar podcast to discuss covering the Monday-qualifying beat and more. He was also asked to name the most famous person he has become friends with over the last couple of years. He said it’s the future Hall-of-Fame quarterback.
“Aaron has been super good behind the scenes to me,” French said. “I had streamed the Scottsdale Open [in May 2020 during Covid], which I think was the only sporting event going on in the world at the time. And you could see who came in to watch the stream, and it said Aaron Rodgers, and I was like, oh, it’s a fake account. And then, maybe a couple of weeks later, he messaged me. I was like, what the hell is happening?
“He’s been super nice. He wants to keep this on the down low, so now I’m going to tell it on the pod,” French continued. “I’ve tried my best to help players, or if they get their car stolen or need money, whatever, and he’ll just message me and be like, ‘Hey, is this a good dude or a good player?’ And I’d be like, yeah. And he would either Venmo me money and I then would Venmo the player or he would do it anonymously on GoFundMe.”
Rodgers is an avid golfer — and a low single-digit handicap — who has played in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, American Century Championship and one of the made-for-TV matches, when he teamed with Bryson DeChambeau to take on Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady in July 2021.
“He’s been amazingly awesome,” French said. “He’s helped my foundation a few times. Public persona and private, think what you want about Aaron, but my experience with him has been nothing but amazing.”
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