For most fans of professional golf, the odds of getting a chance to attend the PGA Tour’s most prestigious tournament are akin to winning the lottery. But if all goes well, one very special kid from Prince Edward Island may be attending the Masters this time next year.
What started as a pro golfer’s April Fools’ Day joke turned into a heartfelt offer for Maverick Bishop
Stephen Brun · CBC News
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For most fans of professional golf, the odds of getting a chance to attend the PGA Tour’s most prestigious tournament are akin to winning the lottery.
But if all goes well, one very special kid from Prince Edward Island may be attending the Masters this time next year.
Eight-year-old Maverick Bishop is currently living with his mom and baby sister in Toronto as he awaits a donor heart for a transplant.
Maverick has been through some trying times in his young life, but he hasn’t let that dampen his love of sports, golf included.
“From the time he wakes up to the time he goes to bed, if he can have a ping-pong paddle in his hand or a tennis racket… he just loves sports,” his father, Woody Bishop, told Mainstreet P.E.I. host Steve Bruce.
“Golf is one of those sports that he can do, because he gets tired very easily. You can ride in a cart right to your ball… without a lot of limitations.”
The Masters, held each year at Augusta National Golf Course in Georgia, is one of the PGA Tour’s four major championships. It’s widely considered one of the most difficult professional golf tournaments to win.
Maverick’s dad, who’s also the general manager at Glasgow Hills golf course in New Glasgow, P.E.I., knows first-hand how difficult it is to get to watch the tournament in person.
Fans have to put their names into a draw for tickets to the event each year. The club doesn’t disclose how many people apply or how many passes are awarded, but it’s estimated that the odds of having your name drawn for a single-day ticket are around 0.55 per cent.
Bishop has applied for years and never had any luck — that is, until he won an unofficial lottery last week.
‘It’s emotional even talking about it’
While scrolling social media one night, he saw a post by An Byeong-hun, a 33-year-old South Korean golfer better known as Ben An, who’s currently ranked 35th on the PGA Tour and is in the 2025 Masters tournament this week.
“I have two weekly tickets left for the Masters. Like this tweet and comment your favorite golfer. I’ll announce two winners in exactly an hour from now. Good luck,” An posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Bishop quickly replied with a picture of his favourite golfer, his son Maverick. Then he went to sleep.
“I woke up in the morning [and] my phone had 254 notifications on it,” he said.
It turned out that An’s post had been meant as an April Fools’ joke. But after reading Bishop’s post, the golfer decided to arrange two practice-round tickets for Maverick and his dad.
Bishop then communicated with An through private message to make sure the offer was legit. Turns out, it was.
While Bishop was touched by the offer, the only problem was Maverick’s ability to travel. He’s been on the transplant list since last September, and the call that there’s a new heart for him could come at any time.
So Bishop told An that they would have to decline.
An said he understood, but then extended his offer for the father and son to attend the Masters in 2026, telling Bishop as a sign of faith that Maverick will need a strong heart to walk the course.
“It’s emotional even talking about it,” Bishop said of the offer. “There’s nothing easy about what we’re going through, but when you have something that can lift his spirits like [being named] honourary coach of the Charlottetown Islanders or a trip to Augusta… that’s some pretty big motivational things we can use during the tough times.”
WATCH | Why this P.E.I. family is lobbying the province to let younger people sign up to be organ donors:
Why this P.E.I. family is lobbying the province to let younger people sign up to be organ donors
As 8-year-old Maverick Bishop waits in Toronto with his mom and baby sister for a donor heart to become available, the P.E.I. family is calling on the provincial government to change the rules on organ donations. Right now, you have to be 16 or older to sign up to donate organs if something should happen to you. Maverick’s family wants to see that age drop. CBC’s Laura Meader has the story.
But when you come right down to it, more important than getting to watch their favourite golfers on the greens and fairways of Augusta National right now is finding Maverick the perfect heart.
Bishop said the family will continue to hope that happens soon.
“We’re willing to wait as long as we have to to get the right heart for Maverick,” he said. “Hopefully that day will come.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stephen Brun works for CBC in Charlottetown, P.E.I. Through the years he has been a writer and editor for a number of newspapers and news sites across Canada, most recently in the Atlantic region. You can reach him at stephen.brun@cbc.ca.
With files from Mainstreet P.E.I.
