But a month after Aaron Rai won the hit-and-giggle affair in Georgia, the quirky two-gloves-wearing 31-year-old is golf's newest major victor after parlaying his talents into a breakthrough PGA Championship triumph.
And, fittingly, the Englishman's three-shot victory at Aronimink Golf Club comes after Tiger Woods' epic playoff win over Chris DiMarco at the 2005 Masters inspired a young wide-eyed Rai to one day win a major himself.
"The putt that he made on the play-off hole on No.18, that's probably my earliest memory," Rai said of Woods' 15-foot right-to-lefter for birdie.
"I remember going to the golf course the next day with my dad and we were on the first green and I think I said to dad, 'If I had that putt on 18, do you think I would have made it?'
"And I remember him saying. 'Yes, you would have'. That was something that I believed and that made me feel great at the time."
It was his father Amrik who bought Rai his clubs, cleaned them with baby oil and taught the soon-to-be top-20 star the value of things.
While Amrik - of Indian heritage - and his Kenyan-born mother Dalvir were the first members of Team Rai, it was not long after watching Woods win in 2005 that coaches Andrew Proudman and Piers Ward came on board.
But Rai is not the only professional golfer in his family and he credits wife Gaurika Bishnoi, who competes on the Ladies European Tour, as his greatest influence.
Bishnoi dominated India's Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour with eight career victories and was twice ranked the No.1 female player on the Indian circuit and now also serves as Rai's voice of reason.
"She's been incredible," he said of her support.
"I'm not exaggerating when I say that I wouldn't be here without her. Both as a companion, as a friend, as someone I'm sharing my life with, but also as a real support system for my game.
"Her mindset, her advice, her thoughts, whether it's technique or the way I'm holding myself is absolutely invaluable. She encompasses so many different sides in her opinions.
"We even had a conversation yesterday for probably 30 minutes in the car just before we got back to the hotel, just speaking a little bit about today and some of the things that she mentioned in the conversations were really with me today.
"Yeah, I really wouldn't be here without her."
The popular Rai is surely also the first major champion to wear two gloves, believing wearing them on both hands gives him a stronger, more reliable connection to the club.
After developing into one of the steadiest and deadliest ball-strikers in the game, the unconventional practice is hard to argue with.
Now the respectful, working-class kid from Wolverhampton can celebrate taking on - and beating - the world's best to get his hands, sans the gloves, on the Wanamaker Trophy.
