Second Thoughts

Hey! Give the ball to the kid!

Matt Kuchar finished fourth at the Masters on Sunday, but he still found a way to brighten a family’s day by autographing and giving his hole-inone ball to 10-year-old Owen Lockaby.
Matt Kuchar finished fourth at the Masters on Sunday, but he still found a way to brighten a family’s day by autographing and giving his hole-inone ball to 10-year-old Owen Lockaby.

To get an autographed, hole-in-one ball handed to you at the Masters sounds like a golf fan's dream. Matt Kuchar made an entire family's dream come true.

photo

AP/DAVID ZALUBOWSKI

Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Jon Gray takes a seat in a barber's chair to have his long locks trimmed by as Gray donates his hair to Locks For Love, a non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children on Tuesday, April 11, 2017, in Denver.

Kuchar gave the ball he used to ace the par-3 16th hole Sunday to 10-year-old Owen Lockaby of Bradenton, Fla., who comes from a family of Masters fans. Owen was wearing a straw hat like golf great Sam Snead wore. It was adorned with a button Augusta National gave out as a tribute to the late Arnold Palmer.

Kuchar hit a 7-iron off the tee from 170 yards away, landing it just right of the green. Then he and the gallery watched the ball curve toward the cup and roll in.

After Kuchar retrieved the ball, he signed it and handed it to Owen.

"I figured this would make a kid's day and make a kid's year," Kuchar said. "It's one of the neat things that we can do."

The 16th hole typically provides the best chances for a hole-in-one. Last year, there were three aces there, and all of them occurred Sunday.

Kuchar said he did not know Lockaby, that he just noticed the Snead-style hat and said, "That's the kid I'm giving it to."

Owen was still stunned by Kuchar's gift long after the golfer moved on.

"I just sat there. Then Matt gave me the ball," Owen told The Florida Times-Union.

His mom, Tracy Lockaby, told the newspaper that Owen's father, Jay, has been coming to the Masters for 30 years, and Owen has never missed one. She said she got him the hat "because I thought it might get him noticed for some autographs."

Good move.

Hair no more

Colorado Rockies right-hander Jon Gray became the "mane" attraction Tuesday as he plopped down in a barber's chair and had his hair trimmed for charity.

Gray donated eight inches of hair to the nonprofit organization Locks of Love, which provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children suffering from long-term medical hair loss.

He's long been known for his flowing locks and a blazing fastball.

Gray, 25, still has that fastball.

With a throng of people watching -- including coaches and, briefly, Rockies Manager Bud Black -- Gray had his hair put into a pony tail and officially measured. It was then chopped off by a barber.

Like that, gone was the hair he's been growing out since spring training 2015. His hair flying into his face each time he cut loose on a pitch has become part of his identity.

"When you take the field, it's like you have an alter ego, like you're taking on a different character," Gray said.

He's hardly concerned his new look will affect him on the mound. It might even be a benefit.

"Going to help that fastball command," Black joked.

His catcher, Tony Wolters, compared Gray's hair to that of a lion's mane and was a little worried about shearing it off.

"He's like, 'You better not cut it. You better not cut it. You look like a lion out there,' " said Gray, whose Twitter handle is MrGrayWolf22. "It will be back before we know it. We'll find another way to be intimidating."

Sports quiz

At what college did Jon Gray win the National Pitcher of the Year Award?

Sports answer

Oklahoma

Sports on 04/12/2017

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