Adam Svensson’s play is lighting up the course at the 2019 Sony Open, and his stories are lighting up the media tent. The PGA Tour rookie took the lead in Hawaii on Thursday, and then treated reporters to a hilarious story from his childhood involving his dad, a golf cart, and a lake.
You can probably guess where this is going.
According to Svensson, when he was 3 or 4 years old his dad brought him along for a round on the local golf course. When Pops was busy teeing off, the future Tour pro slid over to the driver’s side of the cart he was waiting in and then pressed the pedal, sending himself and the golf cart plunging into a nearby lake.
“Yeah, three or four years old and my dad was teeing off and I guess I decided to drive the cart right into the lake. I drove it into the lake, yeah,” Svensson said on Thursday. “Well I drove it in — my dad told me — and then I hopped out and my dad was trying to grab his clubs and stuff like that, but it ended up sinking to the bottom.”
It seems like maybe the elder Svensson was a little more concerned with losing his prized golf clubs then saving his young son, and Adam just might agree.
“Oh, yeah. He was worried about the clubs. Yeah, I think he got a putter or something, a driver out of there, but that was it.”
Fortunately, the toddler was completely unharmed, and clearly the event didn’t scare him away from a life on the golf course.
The 25-year-old rookie, who hails from British Columbia, Canada, fired an incredible nine-under 61 Thursday to take the 18-hole lead at the Sony. He credits his time playing on the Web.com tour for his success this week.
“I really do think the Web has helped me a lot just with nerves and know how to play the game pretty much, how to get around, how to score, stuff like that,” he said after his round.
Svensson has played five events in the 2018-19 season so far, only making the cut twice. He’ll easily add a third made cut this week in Hawaii and is in great position for his best Tour finish yet.
