‘You’re our hero’: Golfer with Down syndrome pars hole 16 at WMO

The 16th hole at the Waste Management Phoenix Open Pro-Am can be an intimidating hole for the best of golfers.

Amy Bockerstette had no such qualms.

Bockerstette, a golfer for Paradise Valley Community College, has Down syndrome. She made par on the hole teamed with Gary Woodland at the Annexus Pro-Am on Wednesday.

“I got this,” Bockerstette said as she approached the tee shot.

“Amy … you’re our hero.”

How a superstar named Amy teamed up with @GaryWoodland to win the hearts of the 16th hole crowd @WMPhoenixOpen.#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/iRhZbvdjuP

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 30, 2019

“You can do this,” she told herself as she approached the ball in the sand.

She pitched it out and it rolled onto the green.

“What do you think? Going a little left?” Woodland asked her as they inspected the lie. Bockerstette agreed.

“Why don’t you go ahead and make that?” Woodland asked.

She did. As the raucous crowd on the 16th hole roared its approval, Woodland and Matt Kuchar celebrated and hugged the golfer.

Bockerstette waved and blew a kiss to the crowd.

“You’re an inspiration to us,” Woodland told her. “You’re our hero.”

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