DQ at Bay Hill

It’s Bay Hill week again on the PGA Tour and each year the Arnold Palmer Invitational comes around I get mixed feelings about it. Firstly because it’s a special event named after one of the games all-time greats, but it's also the scene of one of the most bizarre moments in my career.

Arnold Palmer, aka The King, had an amazing presence about him. He had an aura, as all legends do, but his was not only charismatic, it was warm and made you feel special whenever you were in his company. I only had brief encounters with Mr. Palmer on a few occasions, but they certainly left a lasting impression.

Then there was Bay Hill. It was a tough, challenging golf course given its length, gnarly rough, and firm, fast greens. For me the layout always had an awkward feel about it. Some courses fit your eye. Bay Hill was not one of those. But, living 5 minutes away at Isleworth meant I got to sleep in my own bed for the week, something very rare for a tour player.

Given my lack of affinity for the course I never really contended there, but as it turns out, I did do something there I've never done before or since. I managed to get disqualified at the 2008 API in the strangest of circumstances.

On the Monday afternoon of the tournament, I went to Bay Hill to register and do a little practice. After finishing up my work I stopped by the physio truck in the car park on the way out and read on the Pro-am sheet that I was 2^nd alternate for the Wednesday afternoon field. Tuesday, I spent practicing at Isleworth to avoid the crowds that descend on practice days. Then, on Wednesday morning while dishing up breakfast for my kids, my caddy Wilbur rang to tell me we had a problem.

“Mate, you’ve been DQ’d from the tournament.”

“Are you f@%ing kidding me??” I said.

Apparently, John Daly hadn’t show up for his morning Pro-am tee time. He’d slept in, or that was the story. So, as is protocol, they went to the 1^st alternate, Japanese golfer Ryuiji Imada, who, like me thought he was an alternate in the afternoon. Since he wasn’t there, they went to the 2^nd alternate, yours truly. With my absence, I have no idea who they found to play because they’d never gotten that far before.

The rule on tour back then was this: Don’t show for your Pro-am tee time and you’re disqualified from the tournament. Ridiculous yes, and I can’t remember why they had the rule, but everyone knew it. My contention was the timesheet in the physio truck read that I was an alternate for the afternoon. The Tour informed me that wasn’t the ‘official’ sheet, the one in the locker room was, which had me on the morning list. You can imagine my reaction being told that.

After arguing my case at tournament HQ to no avail, I had to accept the inevitable and watch the tournament on the box that week. Realizing the debacle of having three players disqualified over something so trivial, the PGA Tour at least changed the rule shortly after. They began notifying all players via text their Pro-am status and contacting them if they weren’t on site that day. I was five minutes down the road so easily could have made the tee time if they’d rung me, but that wasn’t their policy at the time.

At least one funny moment came out of the whole charade. Friends of ours had an “Aussie Icon” fancy dress night later that week at Isleworth to celebrate Australia Day which had been a few weeks earlier. The characters and costumes were pretty impressive with the likes of Dame Edna, Shane Warne, Russell Crowe’s Maximus from Gladiator (even though he’s a Kiwi) to name a few. My wife Alana went as a Lamington, coconut topping and all 🤣, while I was the legendary fast bowler Dennis Lillee, with the flowing hair, headband, and gold chains.

Wilbur had the most cryptic getup of all though. He went as an English convict; his serial number my tee times for the first two days. Seeing him continually explain it to people who asked just added to the ridiculousness of it all.

And so, every year Bay Hill comes around I feel a sting about that week, but as you can tell... I’m completely over it.

Cheers,

Nick