JERSEY CITY, N.J.—New York is a long way from Mexico, but Abraham Ancer still has plenty of support this week at Liberty National. Ancer was greeted with a hero’s welcome after shooting 68 Saturday. A vocal group of fans caught Ancer’s attention on the course, and he made sure to thank them following his round.
A group of young men from including someone named Josh from Levittown, PA donned custom t shirts that said “The Ancer” and depicted Allen Iverson’s iconic step-over in the playoffs against the Lakers, with Ancer’s face replacing Iverson’s. Players are not allowed to sign autographs or take pictures with fans this week, but Ancer didn't care about breaking that rule. He signed all the t shirts before taking a selfie with the group on his phone, and a couple more with the groups' phones.
Josh said he was drawn to Ancer early on and was very excited when he won his first Tour event in Memphis two weeks ago.
“I always liked his game. I liked how he stepped up to the challenge when he went up against tiger at the president's cup,” Josh said. “He would just step up to the plate. He was like, I'm taking on tiger. I gained a lot of respect for him there and just always liked how he played.”
A President’s Cup tribute wouldn’t be complete without a dig at the US team, which is why Patrick Reed’s face replaced Tyrone Lue’s on the shirt.
Josh and his group were devastated when the Tour announced that the Northern Trust will be leaving the Northeast after this year.
“I'm upset about it. You know, it's a nice, easy trip for us. It’s only about an hour drive,” he said. We're hoping to find other events that end up coming around our way, but this was always a nice event to go to, especially being in the FedEx playoffs.”
