Echavarria ‘wins’ fun-filled Masters Par 3 event

Wesley Bryan didn’t want to be Joseph in the Christmas play at his pre-school. He wanted to be the donkey. So when Wesley walked down the aisle to the manger he decided to get on his hands and knees and crawl like his four-legged friend. “His mom was mortified,â€� Elizabeth Bryan recalls. At least Wesley didn’t bray, though. Of course, Elizabeth, who was perfectly content to play one of the angels in the production, was there. But she doesn’t really remember what happened. Or him, for that matter. After all, she and her future husband were just 4 years old at the time. The couple grew up 10 minutes apart in the Columbia, South Carolina suburb of Irmo. Although they didn’t go to the same elementary or middle school, Wesley and Elizabeth had a lot of friends in common. “We would frequently end up in the same place, (like at) birthday parties, so we have random pictures throughout the years that we found,â€� she said. Wesley finally called over spring break during their junior year in high school. He was at a Sonic Drive-In, which was the local hangout, with some friends and wondered if she wanted to join them. Elizabeth recruited one of her friends and headed to the burger joint. “She said you’d better be careful, they say that Wesley is a big flirt,â€� she recalled. Within days, though, Wesley broke up with the girl he was seeing. And while Elizabeth went with someone else to the prom at Wesley’s high school, her heart wasn’t in it. “We have a picture together from that prom — when we weren’t going together,â€� Elizabeth said. “He stole me away from the guy that I was with and we pretty much went out and started dating a few weeks afterwards.â€� By the end of the summer, things had started to get serious. The two were sitting on the couch at Elizabeth’s house and Wesley made a comment that surprised her. “It was basically implying like I think I found the right one, and here we are 17 years old and we had been dating three months,â€� Elizabeth said. She felt similarly “but I don’t think I would have voiced it that early,â€� Elizabeth said. The two got closer as seniors, and she even decided to follow him to South Carolina where Wesley planned to play golf. Elizabeth, though, didn’t know anything about her husband’s favorite sport. Her father tried to help, drawing out a par 3, par 4 and par 5 to help teach her the fundamentals of the game. “I remember in college (Wesley) telling me, oh, this is the career path I’m choosing, and if you want to be a part of that, that’s great, but if you don’t, this isn’t going to work out,â€� Elizabeth said. “And clearly I loved Wesley, so I knew that we were just going to have to find a way to make it work.â€� Wesley proposed the Sunday after Thanksgiving during their senior year. He had taken her to lunch at Firehouse Subs – “I thought we were going to go somewhere a little bit nicer,â€� Elizabeth said with a laugh – and the two went hiking on a dam on nearby Lake Murray. “He gets down on one knee and he says, Elizabeth, will you marry me, and he pulled out the ring, and my first response was ‘Shut up,’â€� Elizabeth recalled. “I had no idea this was going to happen. Of course, I was super excited, I just thought he was going to be waiting longer.â€� Minutes before Wesley proposed, Elizabeth had been talking about how she wanted to go on a medical mission to Africa after she graduated. She had decided to study to be a physician’s assistant and needed experience before starting graduate school. “He told me after he proposed, all your friends that have gone to Africa, they were dating one guy when they went and they came back and they were engaged to another one,â€� Elizabeth remembered. “So I’m not letting you go to Africa.â€� The couple was married in August the following year, the week after she graduated from South Carolina. Wesley’s older brother, George, his trick-shot partner, was the best man. The teachers who taught Wesley and Elizabeth in preschool were among the wedding guests. For the next two years, Wesley played the mini-tours while Elizabeth worked. She’d join him on weekends whenever possible. She started school to get her PA degree in 2014 and graduated in 2016, the same year Wesley made it to the Web.com Tour. Turns out, it was a short stay there. Wesley won three times in 13 starts to earn a promotion to the PGA TOUR and lock up his card for 2016-17. He was also named Web.com Tour Player of the Year. And in April, Wesley edged Luke Donald by a single stroke to become the first South Carolina native to win the RBC Heritage in its 49-year history. It was just his 18th PGA TOUR start, and both their families, with the exception of George and his wife, were there to see it happen. “I think it’s pretty unbelievable,â€� Elizabeth said. “Just even two years ago or three years ago, whatever it was, just still kind of in shock and in awe of everything that we’ve watched unfold. “I think one of the coolest parts about it is a lot of it is things that Wesley and I prayed for for months or years that we have now seen God answer.â€� And there is undoubtedly more to come. Of course, no one knows a TOUR player better than his wife. So, now that you know a little more about the couple, Elizabeth gives us 18 things you might not know about her husband below. 1. He starts each morning with quiet time with his Bible. 2. He didn’t have a sip of coffee until 2 years ago. Now he drinks it daily. 3. Get him on the dance floor with his closest friends, and he won’t leave. If you keep your eyes above his feet while we do the South Carolina Shag, you will be wowed by his dance moves. 4. If he could spend a day with any celebrity, it would definitely be Justin Bieber. 5. He loves card and board games. We always travel with a deck of cards, and our current favorite is gin rummy. 6. He’s in the gym at least five days per week, but rarely breaks a sweat. 7. Edisto Beach is his favorite place to vacation, probably because it’s also my favorite. 8. He is easy going and disconnects from golf about 5 minutes after he gets off the course. 9. He cooks dinner almost every night we are in town. I don’t get home from work until 7:30 and he has dinner “hot and readyâ€� on the table. He rarely uses recipes, and he is a fantastic cook! 10. If he ever wins the Masters, I wouldn’t put it past him to have a Taco Bell Crunch Wrap Supreme on the Champions Dinner Menu. 11. It’s not easy to embarrass Wesley, but don’t be surprised if he embarrasses you, especially in public. 12. He falls asleep within seconds and never sleeps past 7 AM. 13. His favorite sports teams are the South Carolina Gamecocks, Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Braves, and whoever Lebron is playing for. 14. He is a child at heart, and he is great with kids. He will be an awesome dad one day! 15. This may come as a surprise if you saw the video where Wesley rattled off his top 10-plus desserts, but he doesn’t eat sweets as much as you think. He typically has dessert once a week and anything chocolate is his favorite! 16. He knows the lyrics to almost every rap song from our high school days. 17. His final round outfit is pink pants and a blue shirt. It started out as blue pants and a pink shirt, but he changed it up about a year ago. 18. He is a candle connoisseur, and Yankee Candle’s “Whoopie Pieâ€� speaks his love language.

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Charles Barkley will partner with Phil Mickelson in a golf match against Stephen Curry and Peyton Manning on Nov. 27, with proceeds going to historically Black colleges and universities.

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