PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Joseph Bramlett’s opening round 1-under 69 at TPC Sawgrass Dye’s Valley Course left him five shots behind leader Paul Barjon in the middle of the pack after the opening round of the Korn Ferry Challenge. It certainly didn’t arouse interest from reporters in having him recount his birdies and bogeys.
Instead, it was Bramlett, via his agent, who requested to talk the media, not about his game but rather about the color of his skin and the racial unrest in the world.
Bramlett is one of only four players of black heritage on the PGA Tour – along with Cameron Champ, Harold Varner III and Tiger Woods – and he wanted to use his platform as a professional golfer to speak out about racial unrest, social injustice and police brutality.
Varner was the first to speak out on the nationwide protests and social injustice in the wake of George Floyd’s death, posting a 632-word statement on social media on June 1.
“To whoever wants to listen, I have so much I want to say,” his note began.
Woods also issued a statement of support against racial injustice and several other influential figures in the game spoke to Golfweek. Bramlett and Tony Finau, who is of Tongan and Samoan descent, are the latest in the golf community to bring their voice to the story.
”Have I dealt with racism in my life as a person of color in this country? Yes, I have. I’m not proud to say,” Finau said in a video posted Wednesday. ”I’m not proud to say that I have been disrespected and mistreated because of the color of my skin.”
Finau detailed an incident with police that happened in 2014.
”I voice my opinion because I stand with those who are for justice, those who are for equality and that are against police brutality and anyone abusing their authority because of the color of someone else’s skin,” he said. ”I’m against racism, and I’m for Black Lives Matter and this movement.”
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Bramlett watched Finau’s Instagram video and was moved by Finau’s experience.
“I was really glad he shared it, to be honest. I wouldn’t have expected Tony would’ve gone through something like that,” Bramlett said. “I think he surprised a lot of people. I think it’s a further example of what people of color go through in this country.”
Bramlett, 32, may not have been subjected to such blatant racism, growing up a child of mixed race in Northern California, where he attended a private school before matriculating at Stanford.
“I don’t have any George Floyd-type stories,” Bramlett said. “I’ve gotten some funny looks as a kid growing up, going to the golf course with my dad. I’ve had some run-ins with junior and amateur organizations over the years, but all in all, all encompassing, I’ve had a great experience with golf. Especially ever since I’ve gotten out here on the PGA Tour and the Korn Ferry Tour. I’ve been treated, in my opinion, like anyone else out here, and I’m really grateful for that because I think 40-to-50 years ago that wouldn’t have been the case. So, I’m very grateful to the people who have come before me and I’ve had a pretty good experience.”
But Floyd’s death struck a chord with Bramlett. He called it an emotional period. Asked why the Floyd incident has proved to be a tipping point in race relations, Bramlett called it a “ticking time bomb,” after incidents such as Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery and said, “I think the really big difference with this is that we’re in quarantine, so everybody’s sitting in their living room, everyone’s on their phones all day, and you blatantly saw a cop murder a black man right in your living room, essentially. And I think that brought what people would chalk up to being black urban legends, it brought it right into their living rooms, and people were forced to see it, to face it and to think about it. And it pissed a lot of us off.”
The PGA Tour set aside an 8:46 a.m. tee time that featured no players at both the Charles Schwab Challenge and Korn Ferry Challenge – eight minutes and 46 seconds being the length of time that a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on the neck of Floyd before he died. How did Bramlett spend that minute? He bowed his head and said a prayer for Floyd’s family.
“I reflected on my heritage,” he said. “I’m in a unique place where I’m mixed, I’m white and I’m black. It’s something that I’ve been raised with. I’ve grown up to and was taught a lot about some of the challenges the black community faces in this country. I really just kind of sat and thought about how grateful I was to be in the position I’m in, in this world.”
Despite all the soul-searching, Bramlett remains conflicted about how he can be part of efforts for change.
“I really wish I did. I’ve done a lot of talking the last two weeks with friends and loved ones, and I don’t know that there necessarily is an answer right now,” he said. “But in terms of what people can do, educate yourselves; talk to people who are close to you; have tough conversations from an honest and open-minded position. I really think that’s the biggest positive that has come out of this is that the world has kind of shut down the last two weeks due to the protests, and people have been forced to sit and think about what’s really going on and take a little bit of a deeper look.”
Whatever Bramlett decides to do going forward, he proved by initiating his own press conference that he’s willing to be a spokesman for his race in the golf world.
“First and foremost, I can be a good role model and I can be someone of understanding. I think my heritage is unique in this situation and I feel like I’ve got a little bit of a foot on each side of the fence, and I can kind of see where a lot of people are coming from,” he said. “As of right now, I’m just really trying to do some soul searching within myself and just be me.”
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