United, Official Airline of the PGA Tour, Loses Pro’s Clubs Ahead of Tournament

United, official airline of the PGA Tour, lost a tour competitor’s clubs ahead of the year’s biggest tournament.

When you are the official airline of the PGA Tour, delivering a tour player’s golf clubs should be a top priority. However, one tour professional arrived in Augusta, Ga., without the tools of his trade thanks to United Airlines. CNBC reports the legacy carrier managed to lose the clubs of tour pro Russell Henley, 25, over the week while he was flying to the Masters Tournament.

Like many other flyers whose luggage does not arrive at the carousel, Henley took to Twitter to seek assistance from the airline. United responded with a generic response asking for Henley’s baggage reference claim number.

@russhenleygolf Please follow us and DM your baggage reference claim number. We'll see what we can find out. ^KP

— United (@united) April 6, 2015

The lost clubs served as a high-profile negative mark against United ahead of the Masters Tournament. In a report released last year, United lost an average of 3.7 bags per 1,000 travelers through September 2014. Luckily for Henley, the airline was able to locate his clubs and return theme. Henley tweeted that he was reunited with his clubs on Monday.

In a statement, United expressed its regret over the situation. “We know how important Mr. Henley’s clubs are to him, especially this week, and we apologize for the delay in getting them to him. We flew the clubs this afternoon, and they’re out for delivery right now.”

This is the second time in the past year that the official carrier of the PGA Tour has lost the clubs of a professional ahead of a major tournament. In June 2014, the world’s top ranked golfer, Rory McIlroy, had his clubs lost by United while flying from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to Dublin International Airport (DUB) ahead of the Irish Open.

[Photo: iStock]