FOUR Sheffield golf fanatics landed in Chicago expecting to see the cream of the sport’s talent battle it out for the Ryder Cup at the Medinah Country Club.
But just days later it was them putting on a show for their heroes as they breakdanced on the floor at the European team’s victory party.
Their impromptu performance brought a fitting end to a unique week in which Rob Woolhouse, Shawn Hassack, Tom Armitage and Matt Civil posed for hundreds of snaps, mingled with golfing stars and even appeared on primetime American TV – all while dressed in blue morph suits.
The quartet became tournament celebrities for their wacky get-up, which was completed by gold stars to mimic the European flag and a Rory McIlroy-style wig – with the 2012 PGA champion himself among those amused.
Rob, aged 33, from Beauchief, said: “The first day we wore the suits was the Thursday which is practice day at the Ryder Cup so the players are all a bit more relaxed and more likely to chat to you.
“Rory McIlroy spotted us and came over. He thought it was great.”
He added: “We couldn’t move more than 20 yards without someone, whether it was an official, a player or a fan, stopping to get a photo.
“We must have had our photos taken about 2,000 times. We felt like celebrities – I think we must have been photographed more times than Rory McIlroy himself!”
Nick Faldo and Worksop golfer Lee Westwood were among those who joined in the fun as ‘Team Morph’ – also featuring Shawn, 50, from Whirlow, Tom, 34 from Totley, and Matt, 25, from Beauchief – made waves across the tournament.
Rob said: “We were on the local news loads – everyone was saying they couldn’t believe how wacky these Europeans were. We even made it on to NBC. We all had loads of texts from friends saying they’d seen us on the telly.”
He added: “We didn’t do it for publicity, we did it just to support the European team because we knew they would be outnumbered. But it’s turned out to be the best publicity for YOB Golf that we could have hoped for.”
And the group are already making plans for Gleneagles in 2014.
“I don’t know how we’ll top this but after the reception we got this year I think everyone’s going to be signing up again,” said Rob.
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