Let's be honest: Golf isn't thought of as the most progressive sport. So when a golfer uses their platform to advance a social justice cause, it's a big deal.
On PGA Tour Champions, it's arguably an even bigger deal.
Kirk Triplett showed up to this week's Bridgestone Senior Players Championship in Akron, Ohio, with the Black Lives Matter logo on his staff bag. It immediately drew attention. For Triplett, however, BLM is personal. Triplett and his wife Cathi adopted two of their four children, and one of their adopted children is African-American. Their 18-year-old son Kobe's biological mother is Japanese, while his biological father is Black.
For @realcaptainkirk, Black Lives Matter is personal.
His youngest son is African-American. pic.twitter.com/kH5jL7E8oz
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) August 11, 2020
When George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police officers in what should have been a routine stop on May 26, Triplett realized he might need to have difficult conversations with his son about how African-Americans are treated in this country. Knowing that the subject wouldn't be much of a topic on PGA Tour Champions, Triplett decided to make it a topic by putting a Black Lives Matter sticker on his bag this week.
“I’m not trying to make a big statement,” Triplett said to the Akron Beacon-Journal. “For the first time I was kind of motivated that I don’t think we’re thinking enough about this in the circles that I travel in. I think we see it. We’re well-read. We understand. But I don’t think things are going to get accomplished until the circles that I travel in really understand it better. Sometimes it’s too easy to really not even think about it. I guess that’s why I put it on there."
