|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIPMay 10, 2012Robert GarrigusPONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA Q.  Robert, obviously maybe more than you guys expected since you and Carl were on the course away from it because television was on and the process was kind of evolving. It became a pretty decent story. What was your vantage point? ROBERT GARRIGUS: Well, when we got up to the tee box, D.A. was about to hit, I was third in the group, and D.A. is like, hey, man, I can't go. I'm like, well, I tee off and we'll wait for Brian because I saw him on the driving range. We didn't understand what was going on. We thought Brian was going to come play with us. We hit our second shots. We're like, okay, what's going on. As soon as we finished the hole, we knew Brian was done. So once he was done, we're like, well, they just DQ'd all the alternates because he didn't get to play. So as soon as we finished the hole, we're like, well, that's that. But the PGA TOUR officials should have stepped in and said, hey, wait to finish the hole or we have to do something, and they did something and he's able to play, which is good, because he should have because he was here, and he notified them where he was. There was no way he should have been disqualified, and they made the right call in my opinion by letting him play this afternoon first off in a single. They asked him if he wanted a marker, he said no, so he's just playing as a single and then first off tomorrow morning, which is the right call because he was here. He wasn't on the tee box, and D.A., I think, should have said something, hey, my back is hurt, call the first alternate. That's my opinion. But all in all, he's going to get to play this afternoon, and hopefully he plays well. It's a big opportunity. Q. Was there any communication from anybody? Were there officials doing protocol or anybody‑‑ ROBERT GARRIGUS: It got botched by everybody. D.A. didn't do anything, the officials didn't do anything, and Brian was sitting in the caddie area. If I were D.A. when I tweaked my back on the driving range, I would have said, hey, where's the first alternate, get a hold of him, I'm going to be on the first tee trying to go, if not he can go. That's what I would have done. But D.A. thought he was going to tee off, and then he made a couple swings before, and he cringed up, curled up in a ball and said, I'm done. That was right as soon as he called‑‑ they called his name. So he kind of bowed out right there, and then the rest is history. I think Brian should have been able to play, and he is, so that's fine by me. Q. Would you like him to join you tomorrow? That seems a little odd that he's going off by himself tomorrow. ROBERT GARRIGUS: I really wish we had a third in the group, because it's not easy out here. The greens are small. There's a lot of chipping. It took us quite a while to play golf today, especially in the twosome. That sucks, but that's the way it goes. Q. It's got to be very strange playing by yourself. ROBERT GARRIGUS: Yeah. Q. Did you have any indication that D.A. was in trouble when you were on the tee? ROBERT GARRIGUS: Yeah, I saw him trying to swing a golf club. I'm like, how is he going to do this today. It didn't look like he was going to be able to swing a club, let alone play golf.  He said it was hard for him to stand up, but he could bend over and pick up a tee, but he couldn't straighten his back. So I mean, he had muscle spasms. I heard 25 minutes before we teed off that D.A. hurt his back, so there was time for all this to get set up but it never did. Either he ran to the physio, had someone take him to the physio, or whatever. Something should have been said or something should have got done before then so Brian would have been able to tee off when we had him there. Q. In your opinion if you're still trying to play, given the circumstances that D.A. was under, is it a player's responsibility to notify somebody to get the alternate ready? ROBERT GARRIGUS: No, it's the officials', because it's the player's responsibility to notify the officials, not the player, because it's the player's responsibility always to be there ready to go. But it's the officials' responsibility to be there to have that player ready, if you can understand that. I mean, that's kind of how it should be. An official should have been on the driving range. There's usually one there but there wasn't this time, there wasn't one on the first tee. It kind of got botched a little bit, but all in all, Brian is getting his playing opportunity, which he should, and he's going to be playing as a single, which is going to be weird for him because he's going to play in a half an hour on the front side and then have to wait for all the guys on the back. It's not fair, but it's fair. It's one of those double‑edged swords. He's playing but it's going to be weird. Tomorrow morning he's going to play early and then run into the guys on the back tee time. It would be a weird situation, but all in all, like I said, he's getting to play golf. Q. The argument for D.A. would be better late than never. He could have hit one shot and then there's no spot for anybody. I mean, at least he didn't take it one step further and not hit a ball. ROBERT GARRIGUS: No, absolutely. That's to be said‑‑ something to be said for that. He didn't hit a shot and cancel out a spot, but he also didn't notify anybody. It was kind of like‑‑ it's a gray area. It's a really gray area because if he hits a shot and then says, oh, I can't do it, that's kind of‑‑ you don't want to see that, because if a guy was sitting there, standing there, I don't know if D.A. would have done that. I have no idea. Like I said, he's playing. He's teeing off at noon or 12:30 or whatever it is, and he'll get his chance. Q. Have you seen or thought of or heard of anything like this before, and if you have any similar‑‑ ROBERT GARRIGUS: Never. It almost happened to me one time on the Nationwide Tour when I was playing. The guy hurt himself, but I was on the putting green while he was teeing off, and I heard him go, arrrrgh, and he swung a practice swing on the 10th tee box in Hot Springs, Arkansas, in the Nationwide event there. I'll never forget it because I was first alternate there and I got in the tournament. I was on the tee. I was on the putting green, and I was playing golf. So that's the only time I've ever heard of anything happen like that. Q. That's pretty comparable, actually. ROBERT GARRIGUS: Yeah, I mean, so I was there. I was on the putting green, and the putting green in Arkansas, in Hot Springs, is right next to the tee box, so I was lucky. But somebody would have notified me and grabbed me and said, hey, you're on the tee, but nobody did that for Brian, which that's why he's playing. Q. And he's playing (inaudible)? ROBERT GARRIGUS: Absolutely, because he notified them, let them know he was there. End of story. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|