Caddie Kenny Harms on a couple of incredible gifts he’s received from players

Kenny Harms, Kevin Na
Kevin Na with Charles Schwab, caddie Kenny Harms and a fully restored 1973 Dodge Challenger, which was presented to the winner of Charles Schwab Challenge. Na gave the car to Harms. Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports

Let’s rewind back to the 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

Along with a hefty, six-figure check, the tournament winner also received a restored classic 1973 Dodge Challenger.

Here’s the Cliff’s Notes version for the car being part of the prize, as explained by Golf.com: Charles Schwab has been “challenging the status quo” in its industry since 1973. The Colonial has “challenged” some of the world’s best golfers for 73 years. Hence, the event selecting a 1973 Dodge Challenger to reward its winner.

Sweet car, right? The only thing is, it didn’t go to 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge champion Kevin Na. Instead, Na gifted it to his caddie, Kenny Harms… with some serious nudging from the looper, of course.

“Months before the tournament, we knew that the winner of the Schwab Championship got the ’73 Dodge Challenger,” Na said. “He [Harms] posted about it on social media and said, ‘Kev, you should give this car to me.’ I kinda brushed it off and laughed it off. On Tuesday of the tournament, we’re teeing off on No. 10 and we’re playing a practice round with Ben An and Sungjae Im. So, the three of us and the three caddies, we hit the tee shot, we’re walking off and the car is right there off the tee. And he goes, ‘Hey, Kevin. You win this week and you should give me the car.’ I said, ‘What?’ I looked over at the car and then I looked over at him and he said, ‘Yeah. If you win this week, you should give me the car. That car will look great with my blue eyes. That baby blue car is going to look great on me. For you? I don’t think it’s a good fit. I think it’d look much better on me. You should give me that car.’”

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Granted, Na would have to win for this to come to fruition, so he gave in.

“I looked at the car and I looked at him and I said, ‘What the hell? If I win this week, I’ll give you that car.’ So, he looks at all the other caddies and says, ‘You all heard that, right? You heard that. I have all my witnesses here,’” Na said.

And, as Harms told TCN in recent “Under the Strap” podcast, there was special meaning as to why he had his heart set on the car.

“In all honesty, the biggest thing was I owned a ’73 Camaro,” Harms said. “It was the first car I ever bought. My family didn’t have a lot of money. We were middle class. My dad could afford to buy me a used car, but he said, ‘You know what? I want you to realize the value you of what a dollar is.’ So, I had – I think – like $400. I wind up buying this ’73 Camaro. The whole high school called it ‘The Putty Box,’ because there was putty everywhere. It was 1982 when I got it. I was 16 ½. I buy this car, I suped it up. When I’m in college, I’ve got no money and I wind up selling the car.

“So then [in 2019] I see this ’73 Challenger and I’m thinking, ‘I gotta get this car.’ It’s a beautiful car. But I knew that Kevin had played well there for so many years. And played extremely well. The year before that, he had the low round on Thursday and the low round on Sunday and finished fifth. So, I just had a feeling. I literally had a feeling when we got there that week. We had just missed the cut at the PGA Championship at Bethpage by a shot. But he was playing good. Bethpage is just not a golf course that’s really suited for him, but he was well-rested, and I just had a great feeling. Then, I see the car sitting there when I was walking the golf course on Monday and I’m thinking, ‘Oh, my God.’ I saw Kevin when we got up there on Tuesday and we looked over at the car and I’m thinking, ‘Hey, it can’t hurt to ask him.’ And I said to him, ‘When you win, are you going to give me the car?’ That’s when he said, ‘Yeah, I’ll give you the car if I win.’ I said, ‘No. When you win. So, I kept on saying, ‘When you win, when you win, when you win.’”

Na was playing great that week, just as Harms envisioned, and built a two-stroke lead after 54 holes.

“I remember after Round 3 I was sitting in the hotel room,” Na said. “I’ve got a two-shot lead. And I’m thinking, ‘I’m actually going to win this tournament. I’m going to have to give this son of a gun this car.'”

Na took a three-shot lead to the final hole. For good measure, he closed the tournament out with a 15-foot birdie putt for the four-stroke victory. When the putt dropped, Na immediately pointed to the car and said to Harms, “That’s yours!”

But here’s the best part… Na thought he had a good idea about how much the car was worth. Turns out, he was a little off.

“I knew it was somewhere a little over $100,000,” Na said. “I knew it was estimated over $100,000. Little did I know it was worth way more than that.”

Even so, Harms wasn’t feeling too bad about accepting the car.

“Hell no!” Harms joked. “I had been working for him for 11 years! I’ve been putting up with him for 11 years! I deserve that car!”

That’s not the only incredible gift Harms has received from a boss over the years.

World Golf Hall of Famer Hubert Green, a two-time major winner, had something up his sleeve for Harms.

“Hubert Green pulled a good one on me,” Harms said. “He says, ‘Hey, Kenny. Instead of your bonus this year, I’m gonna get you a watch.’ I’m like, ‘Hubert, I don’t want a watch. I just want the money.’ He said, ‘Well, if you don’t tell me what kind of watch you want, I’m going to get you a Tiger Tudor.’ To be honest, I wasn’t a big Tiger fan back then. I grew up idolizing Jack and then here’s a guy who’s maybe going to pass my man in major wins and stuff. I was obviously a fan of his, but the whole thing…

“Long story short, we’re at the Lexus Challenge, the last event of the year and we get done and he hands me this gift. I’m like, ‘Oh, thanks,’ and I start walking away and he says, ‘No, no. You’ve got to open it.’ So, I’m like, ‘Alright, whatever,’ and I know it’s a watch. The last thing I wanted was a watch. So, I open it up and it’s a Tiger Tudor box. With that, I open it up and he actually gave me his golf presidential watch from the [1977] U.S. Open win, which was kinda cool. It was a Rolex. Unfortunately, he passed away about a year and a half ago. It’s in a safety deposit box and something I’ll keep forever. Kinda like the car.”

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