Here’s how NOT to steal a Big Bertha golf club (bulge = dead giveaway)

A $500 driver can put a dent in your wallet or a bulge in your pocket — when you disassemble it, shove it down your pants and walk out of the store.

That is what one man did around 5 p.m. Saturday at Edwin Watts Golf in Bluffton, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report.

The theft was caught on camera.

The man took a Callaway Big Bertha Epic driver from the back of the store to the front, according to the report. He looked around a few times to make sure no one was watching before removing the club head from the shaft.

He “discreetly” placed the club head in his pants pocket — quite a feat considering modern drivers’ club heads are often sized at more than 400 cubic centimeters, about twice the size of a baseball.

Presumably trying to maintain his cover — or perhaps in need of a breather — he leaned the shaft against some shelves and walked away for a few seconds.

Be he came back for it.

Looked around.

And shoved it down the right leg of his khaki pants.

Then he limped out of the store and headed for his car.

An Edwin Watts employee filed a police report, sent the security camera footage to the Sheriff’s Office and said he could pick the man out of a lineup, which is in the process of being set up.

The man is a regular customer, the employee said.

He visited the store again during the weekend.

And “acted like nothing even happened,” the report said.

This story was originally published March 2, 2017 at 7:59 AM with the headline "Here’s how NOT to steal a Big Bertha golf club (bulge = dead giveaway)."