Military Warriors Support Foundation

There was Rickie Fowler, resplendent in purple shirt and hat with white slacks, walking down the fairway with both of his caddies. His regular guy, Joe Skovron, was there, not a bib or bag in sight, while Jason Roberts was the one wearing the caddie bib and toting the bag during The Heritage’s pro-am. Roberts, a U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt., walked the fairways with the help of a prosthetic limb after he lost his left leg in a firefight in Afghanistan a little less than two years ago, and Fowler was more than glad to oblige.

Happily walking behind the golfer and the caddies were brothers Christian and Calen Collins of Macon, Ga. Both Christian, 17, and Calen, 12, are right around 3-feet tall, and both have Fanconi anemia, a recessive disorder that leads to bone marrow failure, among other serious issues.

It was a very happy fivesome, with Fowler the chief ringleader, joking and talking with Roberts, asking question after question about what he does as a soldier with the 2nd Marines Special Operations Command based at Camp LaJeune in North Carolina. Yes, despite his disability, Roberts is still active-duty.

The conversation would stop long enough for Roberts to give Fowler his yardage, the pro would pull a club and then hit his shot. With the ball safely on the green, Fowler and Roberts would pick right back up, talking about life in the Marines, including the Afghanistan battle that killed two and injured Roberts and three other soldiers.