A missing plus sign does not sound like a big deal, but for Dan Rapaport, it was a full-blown identity crisis. 

The golf analyst and host of Dan on Golf has found himself in a situation last week that only a certain kind of golf obsessive would truly understand, and he is very much that kind of person.

 "I got handicap mogged by my own sponsor by Manners Golf Apparel, the official apparel partner of Dan on Golf," he said.

Rapaport's sponsor posted an Instagram graphic featuring all of their ambassadors alongside their handicap indexes. Clean concept and one small problem. They listed Rapaport's handicap as 2.1, dropping the plus sign that makes all the difference in the world.

A plus handicap means a golfer is better than scratch, and A 2.1 index puts you comfortably among the general golfing public. A plus 2.1 puts you in a completely different conversation. For someone who has built his public identity around being a legitimate ball-striker, that missing symbol was not a typo. It was a direct hit.

Rapaport addressed it on air, and his response was layered, to put it mildly.

"It's plus 2.1, but I don't care. I really don't care, I don't care at all. I swear I don't care, I'm not mad at all about this typo," Dan Rapaport said.

He even dug through his slack messages to confirm he had sent Manor's Golf the correct figure in writing.

"I think they were just trying to motivate me," he said, before landing the punchline. "We love Manor's Golf, but I would say to my partners, mind your manners a little bit."

The error was entirely on their end, and ever the diplomat, Dan Rapaport, offered a generous read on the situation.

The Typo Hit Differently to Dan Rapaport

Outside of golf, this is a funny story about a typo, but Inside the game, it cuts deeper.

A plus handicap represents years of serious work, thousands of range sessions, competitive rounds, and genuine dedication to the craft. Having that publicly erased by a missing keystroke, courtesy of your own sponsor, carries a sting that non-golfers simply cannot compute.

Rapaport noted that bigger internet drama overtook the situation shortly after something else hijacked the weekend's news cycle entirely.

But the slight handicap clearly drew first blood.

For a show built around unfiltered golf conversation aimed at self-described golf sickos, it was almost too perfect. Getting your handicap wrong is embarrassing. Getting it wrong publicly, on Instagram, by the brand paying you, that is a whole different level of awkward.

Rapaport handled it with humor. The plus sign, though, clearly meant everything.

What do you think about the mix-up? Let us know in the comments!

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Written by

Sneha Abraham

Edited by

Kalp Thaker