How It All Began

My phone rang about three weeks ago. It was someone I had interacted with for a few years, but a phone call meant something was up.
 Ryan French
Ryan French
February 8, 2024

My phone rang about three weeks ago. It was someone I had interacted with for a few years, but a phone call meant something was up. That was the start of the story on the Seniors Player Tour. 

We will do a full breakdown of how the story progressed next week, but I wanted to share all of the evidence I gathered over the three weeks. 

My primary source was Pat Patterson, and he was looking to clear his name. From everything I gathered, he was the “mark” and completely innocent. Since he was associated with the tour, he wanted the word to get out and helped connect me with almost everyone. A lot of the players over 50 don’t have social media. 

Below are some of the text messages he shared with me that didn’t make the story, you can scroll within the window to view them all. This is an excellent insight into who Randal was behind closed doors. He was mad at players for wanting to get paid. 

In my brief career in uncovering stories like this, you have two types of “villains .”One, like Randal Sparks, who, for the most part, tries to stay hidden. Outside of a few emails, I haven’t heard from him since the story came out. The second type will never stop talking. (i.e., Dustin Manning from the Big Money Classic). Stu Patterson fell into the latter category. I spent over four hours on the phone with him. He constantly contradicted himself, so it’s hard to find the truth. But he also is a central figure in the story, so it’s my job to pick out the parts that are vital to the story and are the truth. 

He also looked to ensure that Sparks was nailed, so he was happy to share emails portraying Sparks in a bad light. The emails he shared with me are below, scroll to view them all. 

Overall: 

Roughly 20 days of investigation

Around 22 hours of phone conversations

Spoke with a total of 32 people

25 pages of written notes ( I put my phone on speaker and write as they talk). 

One three thousand word article. 

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My primary source was Pat Patterson, and he was looking to clear his name. From everything I gathered, he was the “mark” and completely innocent. Since he was associated with the tour, he wanted the word to get out and helped connect me with almost everyone. A lot of the players over 50 don’t have social media. 

Below are some of the text messages he shared with me that didn’t make the story, you can scroll within the window to view them all. This is an excellent insight into who Randal was behind closed doors. He was mad at players for wanting to get paid. 

In my brief career in uncovering stories like this, you have two types of “villains .”One, like Randal Sparks, who, for the most part, tries to stay hidden. Outside of a few emails, I haven’t heard from him since the story came out. The second type will never stop talking. (i.e., Dustin Manning from the Big Money Classic). Stu Patterson fell into the latter category. I spent over four hours on the phone with him. He constantly contradicted himself, so it’s hard to find the truth. But he also is a central figure in the story, so it’s my job to pick out the parts that are vital to the story and are the truth. 

He also looked to ensure that Sparks was nailed, so he was happy to share emails portraying Sparks in a bad light. The emails he shared with me are below, scroll to view them all. 

Overall: 

Roughly 20 days of investigation

Around 22 hours of phone conversations

Spoke with a total of 32 people

25 pages of written notes ( I put my phone on speaker and write as they talk). 

One three thousand word article. 

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