PINEHURST, N.C. – This is a story about Kevin Na, an NFL owner, a Rolex watch and one incredibly lucky – and astute – Twitter follower.
When I tweeted a note about Na during the U.S. Open first round, a man named Scott Candage replied that Na had once won him a Rolex – thanks to Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay.
If that confluence of circumstances sounds strange, just keep reading.
This was two years ago and at the time, the oft-troubled Irsay was fond of holding Twitter-based trivia contests for his followers. This one in particular was less trivia than riddle.
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He tweeted that he’d give a reward of $1,000 to the first person to correctly answer the following:
“16 candles burning in a Texas forest, while the Beatles sing ‘Hey Jude.’”
One day later, nobody had figured it out. And so Irsay upped the ante to a Rolex watch – and added a hint.
“They’re singing his name.”
Candage somehow put two and two together. Na had once taken 16 strokes on a hole at the Valero Texas Open and, of course, his surname is sung throughout the old Beatles tune.
“I was the first to answer,” he recalls, “and two days later, a Rolex showed up at my door.”
Just as illogical is the fact that because of the victory, Na has earned a new fan in Candage.
“Since then, I’m a fan of Kevin Na,” he says, “but I’m sure he wouldn’t be happy to hear that I profited from his worst moment.”