The Players Championship is reducing its 144-man field to 120 players next year, a move that might allow weekday rounds to finish on time, perhaps improve the overall pace of play and probably will eliminate a week like the one Danny Walker had.
Walker, a PGA Tour rookie who last year was a spectator at the TPC Sawgrass, moved up the alternate list when Tiger Woods and three other eligible players did not enter, and Lee Hodges withdrew on Monday.
And then Walker got his big break when Jason Day had stomach issues that forced him to withdraw about 90 minutes before his tee time. Oddly enough, Walker also was in the bathroom when he got the call he was in Thursday morning.
He went out to his car for a moment of meditation.
Walker, who has lived down the road from the TPC Sawgrass the last five years, was the mystery guest in the marquee group alongside Jordan Spieth and Wyndham Clark. He left Friday with a pit in his stomach after a three-putt bogey on the 18th hole that looked as though it would cause him to miss the cut.
He made it on the number, had weekend rounds of 66-70 and held his own along the way, still in the mix until a bogey on the 13th hole and nothing but pars the rest of the way.
He tied for sixth, worth $843,750. That’s about $190,000 more than his career earnings on four PGA Tour-sanctioned circuits dating to 2018.
“Not even a year-and-a-half ago, I had little to no money in my bank account,” Walker said. “It’s a big change.”
He is off to the Valspar Championship next week, hoping to ride some momentum the rest of the year. Along with the enormous paycheck, he moved to No. 46 in the FedExCup. It’s early, yes, but with only the top 100 getting cards, this indeed was a big week.
