Special Olympics golfer, SC native aimed low in pro-am ahead of RBC Heritage

Scott Rohrer lined up the putt, a tricky one, level with the hole but breaking right, down the hill to the front of the green.

Moments earlier he’d pitched onto the green at No. 5 from the right rough after pushing his approach shot right — a shot preceded by him hooking his tee shot left and bouncing it through a bunker.

Aaron Baddeley, the PGA Tour pro in Rohrer’s group at Monday’s Pro-Am presented by Boeing, watched from Harbour Town Golf Links’ fringe as Rohrer readied himself.

Rohrer stroked the putt. It rolled gently toward the hole. It dropped in — softly, it seemed.

“BOOM!” Rohrer said, pumping his fist.

Birdie. His first of the day.

Low numbers, though, are nothing new for the 26-year-old Clover, S.C., native. Rohrer shot a six-under 66 at the 2015 Special Olympic World Summer Games in Los Angeles — a World Games record, according to Leigh Lowery of Special Olympics South Carolina, who watched Monday’s action from the gallery.

His mom, Elizabeth Rohrer, was on the bag for him in L.A. She’s usually his caddie. But on Monday she stood outside the ropes with the rest of spectators. She and her husband, Jeff Rohrer, walked fast to stay at the front of the crowd that followed her son and Baddeley from hole to hole.

The closer Rohrer’s group got to the turn, the more the crowd following it — him — swelled. “Nice shot, Scott,” a boy yelled, after Rohrer split the fairway with his drive on No. 8. A volunteer with the tournament had to quiet down the crowd — there was still another amateur waiting to hit.

Rohrer, who Lowery said is high-functioning autistic, has been playing since he was 7, his father said.

“He just had this beautiful, natural swing,” the elder Rohrer said, remembering the first time he took his son to the driving range.

“A full, beautiful swing.”

Scott Rohrer set his first record back in 2010, his father said, when he became the first Special Olympic golfer to shoot under par in a round.

He’s played pro-ams before — he’s played with Jordan Spieth twice. He’s played all over the world, including Denmark — the first Special Olympics World Golf Cup in 2014. His dad was on the bag for him that day, but that was the last time.

“He talked too much,” Scott Rohrer said after finishing his round Monday. He looked at his father. The men laughed.

“Golf has taken us places we never dreamed we’d be,” Jeff Rohrer said.

Scott Rohrer shot an 81 Monday. Not his best round, he told his parents and friends who’d followed him for the five or so hours on the course.

On the par-3 No. 17, playing from the white tees, he hit a beautiful iron shot. His ball landed just to right of the hole, right in front of Baddeley’s.

He set up for his birdie putt.

He stroked the ball.

“AHH!” said the spectators watching in the stands.

Close. He’d settle for par.

Too bad: It would have been back-to-back birdies.

Monday’s Pro-Am results:

1st place — Group 12: Andres Gonzales (PGA Tour pro), Harry Patel, Sachin Patel, Randy Warrick, Randy Brown

2nd place — Group 16: Tyrone Van Aswegen (pro), Mike Murphy, Jeff Leeds, Dennis L. Murphy, Hu Odom

3rd place — Group 3: Scott Brown (pro), Dewey Roof, John Adair, John Denise, Rod Fountain

This story was originally published April 11, 2016 at 8:43 PM with the headline "Special Olympics golfer, SC native aimed low in pro-am ahead of RBC Heritage."