‘I think it would be a good movie’: Why a Georgian real estate agent was asked to play The Masters

CNN
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To date, the closest Atlanta-based Scott Stallings realtor to Augusta National is a nearby Costco.

Despite years of trying, he had never managed to get his hands on a ticket to attend the prestigious Masters tournament on the legendary course. As a Georgia golf fan, attending the major has remained an unchecked item on the to-do list.

Finally, on New Year’s Eve, a breakthrough. Thanks to a letter mailed to his St. Simons Island apartment, Stallings was on his way to the Masters.

But not to watch. Compete.

Weeks later, some 4,600 miles (7,400 kilometers) 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 had led to a Hollywood case of mistaken identity. If this was going to be a movie script, surely the next step was for the real estate agent to grab his clubs and try his luck at the Masters in April?

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

“I have an ID with my name on it, the invitation with my name on it – what’s stopping me from going to those doors?”

It was a fleeting thought, however, as Realtor Stallings quickly realized how the confusion had arisen.

For years, he had closely followed the career of his pro-golf namesake. If the golfer performed particularly well at an event, “Stallings 2.0” would often post a picture of the standings on their social media to show how “he” was doing.

But when the estate agent and his wife Jennifer reached out to his counterpart via Instagram to let him know of the error, the golfer was skeptical. It wasn’t until they added photographic proof of the letter — signed by Augusta National President Fred Ridley — and the elegant green Masters envelope it had arrived in, that the intended recipient of the invitation was convinced.

When the golfer later posted screenshots of the conversation on Twitter, for his namesake, “the storm has begun.” With over 22 million views and 150,000 likes, the post sent the Stallings viral. Streams of comments called for the professional golfer to take his namesake to Augusta for the tournament.

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

“Scott Stallings, the golfer, is just a great person,” the real estate agent said. “It’s really like winning the lottery.”

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

Even more unlikely, real estate agent Stallings’ St. Simons condo sits right next to the former headquarters of a management company the golfer Stallings was attached to when he last played the Masters. , in 2014.

According to the real estate agent, although the management company has since moved, the tournament organizers had not updated their records and sent the invitation to the old address. When UPS came to deliver it, knowing a nearby Stallings, they mailed the letter to the condo.

“Just amazing, surreal,” the realtor said. “I think it would be a good movie. I’m just waiting for Spielberg to call so we can work out a deal.”

The storyline’s happy ending was confirmed by golfer Stallings last week. In a video shared on social media, he jubilantly retrieves the invitation from his mailbox before presenting the letter to the camera.

“I told you I didn’t have it,” his wife Jennifer says at the end of the video.

But real estate agent Stallings foresees another twist in Lady Luck’s fate. A reborn Rory McIlroy will likely arrive in Augusta among star-studded estate favorites, but the golf fan is making a prediction against the odds.

You guessed it, World No. 54 Scott Stallings: the 2023 Masters champion.