CROMWELL, Conn.– Matt Wallace stepped out of the cart, grabbed his bag and strolled the 5 feet to the first tee at TPC River Highlands. He still had six minutes prior to his tee time.
” Its just me today,” he said to Ron Scheyd, the starter who reveals every gamers name prior to they put their opening shot in the air at the Travelers Championship.
” Just a bit frustrated that maybe … I dont know what the PGA Tour might believe, however would [Dustin Johnson] play on his own?” Wallace stated. “Would Rory [McIlroy] play on his own? I most likely question it. So they could have dropped among the gamers back from in front or possibly from behind to go ahead and have fun with me. Just do not believe it was a great transfer to leave somebody out on their own in the middle of the pack.”.
On he went for the next 4 hours, 41 minutes, simply him and his caddie and an only scorer strolling along. He struck his tee shot left on No. 10, then got his sandwich, simply a guy having lunch by himself on the golf course.
He made two bogeys and one birdie on the back 9. As he approached the 18th green, saw his ball nestled down in the rough next to the green, he shook his head. He looked tired. He was all set for a long day to be done.
” I wouldnt say its the end of the world,” he said. “It hasnt been the best day.”.
One of his playing partners, Denny McCarthy, withdrew earlier Friday.
” The corona got him,” Wallace stated as he based on the tee, by himself, waiting on his caddie as they were about to start a peaceful walk at another eerily peaceful, fan-free golf course on the PGA Tour.
AP Photo/Frank Franklin IIAfter McCarthy– the third gamer on the PGA Tour to test favorable for COVID-19– withdrew, Bud Cauleys name suddenly appeared with a “WD” next to it, too. Cauley had played alongside McCarthy during Thursdays first round. According to Wallace, Cauley said he wasnt feeling well and thats why he decided not to tee it up Friday.
” He said that he didnt feel excellent, that he didnt feel well,” Wallace stated after posting a 2-over 72. “I can comprehend why he wouldnt play. I havent felt better myself. Im playing with a chance to change my career if I win, so why would not I play?”
Cauley became the seventh player in this weeks Travelers Championship to withdraw because of the infection. On Wednesday, Graeme McDowell and Brooks Koepka withdrew after their caddies evaluated favorable.
” What Denny, Bud and others are showing is precisely what we asked of everyone– continue to do your part in taking this virus seriously and keeping not just your own health as a priority, however also that of your fellow rivals and those you might come in contact with,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said in a declaration.
There was Wallace standing on the tee at 1:30 p.m. ET. He was the 3rd member of the group. He stood along with McCarthy and Cauley for Thursdays very first round. They were gone from todays event. He played on.
” Its black and white for me,” he stated. “I checked unfavorable. I can go play.”
In those minutes, right after his phone rang at 8 a.m. and he discovered out his 2 playing partners werent feeling well, he got anxious.
“And then stayed around here but made sure we stayed away from everybody since we understood potentially that something might take place.”
When his mind raced some more, that was.
” I was terrified when I heard,” he stated on the very first tee as gamers passed by, asking what took place and how he felt.Matt Wallace was out there by himself Friday after his 2 playing partners withdrew, one for a favorable coronavirus test, the other out of preventative measure. Nick Pietruszkiewicz/ESPN. com.
If the fear was still with him as he waited to hear his name, he hid it with a few jokes before heading off on an unusual round in a sport that has had plenty of them in the 3 weeks because the PGA Tours return after a three-month shutdown in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.
More players gone by. If they d like to join, he asked them.
As he prepared to strike his opening shot, he made a forecast.
” You can just mark me down for a 59.”.
He waved to, well, no one after he blasted his opening tee shot 319 backyards into the fairway at the downhill very first hole.
After he struck, he stood there for a 2nd, mainly out of habit. He didnt need to; nobody else was waiting to begin their rounds. It was simply him.
On the third hole, he heard a sound, a break from the quiet. He backed off a tee shot because a few holes ahead some individuals who have houses on the course at TPC River Highlands were cheering for Phil Mickelson.
Up at the green, after his birdie putt wobbled away and he tapped in for par, he fired his putter at his bag. As his caddie put the flagstick back in the hole, Wallace wandered toward the next tee mumbling to himself. On this day, he didnt have many people he might talk to, anyhow.
He would have liked a playing partner together with, and he wished the PGA Tour had actually changed a tee time for him.With Matt Wallace playing as a single, it was really peaceful on the 10th tee. Nick Pietruszkiewicz/ESPN. com.
CROMWELL, Conn.– Matt Wallace stepped out of the cart, got his bag and strolled the 5 feet to the very first tee at TPC River Highlands. He still had 6 minutes before his tee time. According to Wallace, Cauley said he wasnt feeling well and thats why he decided not to tee it up Friday.
There was Wallace standing on the tee at 1:30 p.m. ET. As his caddie put the flagstick back in the hole, Wallace wandered toward the next tee mumbling to himself.
