Steven Alderson was bullied at school for being autistic. Decades on, a historic win has made him an Australian national hero

Having suffered extensive bullying at school, Steven Alderson triumphed on his Golf for the Disabled (G4D) Tour debut in October to become the first autistic player to win on the circuit and achieve overnight national hero status in Australia.

Less than a fortnight ago, Steven Alderson was simply trying to get his head around the daunting size of the first international airport he’d ever set foot in and – more pressingly – find a KFC. A few days, plenty of chicken and 36 phenomenal holes of golf later, the 44-year-old was getting to grips with an even more important matter: the ever-ballooning size of his hero status back home in Australia and across the wider world. Victory at the Estrella Damm NA Andalucía Masters in Spain earlier this month made Alderson the first ever autistic winner on the Golf for the Disabled (G4D) Tour, a circuit run in association with – and parallel to – the DP World (European) Tour. Yet it was not solely the history-making nature of his triumph, nor the fact that it was achieved by a whopping nine-shot margin on his G4D debut, that saw him tee up and into the hearts of onlookers. Nor was it just the endearing origins of his “Spud” nickname, affectionately bestowed upon him as a nod to his overwhelmingly potato-based diet. Having grown up with various food allergies, Alderson – by his own admission – effectively lives on potato chips, fries and the like, with chicken the only meat he eats. Instead, the tide of popular support swelled from the winner’s interview a watery-eyed Alderson gave in the wake of triumph at Real Club de Golf Sotogrande. Fighting back tears, the victor recalled the years of bullying he had endured at school, and even some golf clubs.