When I met up with Brian at the green volunteer lot, he wanted to know who I thought we'd be marshaling today. He'd looked up the pairings online and we both had pretty similar ideas, four possible scenarios: Justin Thomas or Phil in the morning, or Tiger or the leaders in the afternoon. I was hoping for Phil as I don't think any rookie marshal is ever able to take on a Tiger crowd with only one day's experience. It would almost be cruel to be exposed to the madness of his gallery with the expectation of controlling it. Phil would be a better assignment, shorter wait time for his 9:45am tee-off, plus a smaller though sizable gallery. We got coffees and went to the assignment meeting, moved up to 6:30am due to the PGA TOUR's decision for earlier teetimes for television and weather concerns. I was very happy to see that Brian was really comfortable with our marshal group, talking with other marshals while I chatted with Tony, Jack, Jim, and Chris. Sure enough, we got assigned to Phil Mickelson and Ryan Armour, perfect. Brian would get to experience the Phil Show while needing to contend with the challenge of the always exuberant crowd interaction with everyone's favorite player.
We had time for a leisurely breakfast, including a discussion of the events of yesterday. I took this opportunity to tell him how special it was for me to have him get to experience what this marshaling thing was all about, not just hear the talk. In the past, I'd tried to downplay how much it would mean to me, but also informed him that this might be his last chance, given the plan to change the FedEx cup format and eliminate the DTC. He admitted he partially agreed to do it since he knew how passionate I was about it, but now having met my buddies and having seen the same drive and enthusiasm in others, he had a new appreciation for it. He was still learning, confessing to me he wasn't sure of exactly where he was supposed to be at each hole, but I told him he was picking it up fast and that I was proud of him. We ended breakfast sitting with Maureen, Diane, and David for awhile and I got to learn a few more details of Maureen's life outside of marshaling. I had no idea she was a runner as am I, logging at least 2 miles every morning. She'd even run the Marine Corps marathon in D.C. back in the day. She said today was the first time she had taken a day off from running since she'd developed a foot blister from all the walking she'd been doing in the heat and humidity over the past 4 days. Maureen continues to reveal aspects of her inner character every time we see each other, it's one of the great things about developing all these DTC friendships through the years.
As Brian and I headed off to the first tee, we ran into Tony again. I suggested we plan to work at the Travelers next June in CT. He could join me and Brian, and make it a buddies road trip and stay at my cousin's house not far from TPC River Highlands. Tony sounded psyched but also expressed how sorry he was to see the Dell coming to an end.
Brian later said that moment really impressed upon him how special all of this was to us volunteers. We also ran into my buddies Mike and Tom who were being spectators today but had tried marshaling in the past. As it turned out, we were unable to find them later due the enormous crowds and our being inside the ropes a good bit of time.
There was a pretty light crowd, just over 100 spectators but is was still early. We moved from the first tee to the adjacent landing area of #2 fairway just as a ball landed outside the rope hit by Tom Hoge. He thanked us after we organized the crowd into an alley so he could hit back into play. It was great working with Brian as a 2-man crew, both inside and outside the ropes, meaning lots of cart path action keeping the gallery from sprinting ahead while Armour took his shots after Phil. The crowd steadily grew to +300 on the front nine, then exploded to well over a thousand as we came off the 9th green to the 10th tee box. The captain at 10 was having trouble with the cart path the entire length of the hole so I radioed in for a couple of reinforcements to join us. We got one more by the 11th hole but it was a temporary assignment. Just as well because by the time we walked all the way to the 12th green our crowd had shrunk back to 300 or so, quite manageable for just the 2 of us. It was seriously hot and I was drinking a water or powerade at almost every hole, Brian also.
Phil at 13 green after hitting his famous flopshot
Late in the round, with Phil playing exceptionally well and on his way to shooting a 63, Brian and I were inside the ropes at the 13th green, Phil about 10 feet in the rough and another 20 feet from the flag. He proceeded to hit a patented Phil flop shot 30 feet straight up to travel to within 2 feet of the hole. I said to Brian later, what a thrill to be right there to witness that in person. Something he'll be able to tell his grandkids about!
When we finished we waited at the autograph area for 10 minutes, thinking Phil would come out after signing his score card. I'd prepped Brian beforehand stating he always signs everything, for at least 20 minutes, sometimes longer, with us marshals nearby to help keep things semi-controlled. Ryan Armour to his credit came out, pouring sweat, looking exhausted, but signing for a good 10 minutes, but no Phil.
We needed to get something to eat, put our feet up and take a well earned rest so off we went to my new favorite concession stand at the 17th tee for the Calabrese chicken sandwich and a cold green tea, plus scoring adirondack seats in the shade. Wonderful! I'd been monitoring my headset all the while for calls to come help with the Tiger-Koepka pairing, who by now were on the 7th hole. The chatter I was hearing indicated that our mobile marshals were battling not only the intense crowds but also the heat. Brian and I went back to the volunteer tent and continued our rest break. We were both pretty beat and he eventually said that he didn't have any reserve left. I wasn't sure if I did either, so we called it a day and began to leave. I'd even removed my headset. Just then, David came up to the tent looking pretty done in and took a seat while Ailish, one of our marshal support crew, applied an ice bag to his neck to help him cool down. Tiger was by this time on his way to 10th tee. I checked in with David and he confirmed with lead marshal Tony that reinforcements would be welcomed. Brian later said at that moment he could see my second wind literally kick-in right before his eyes, and I put my headset back on and was ready to go. We said our good-byes and I thanked him again for such a special opportunity it was to have him with me inside the ropes. Ailish drove me in her cart out to join our crew of 6 marshals, taking the back road cart paths to the 12th tee, Tiger and Brooks just walking up the chute from 11. I immediately saw Tony, Maureen, Kim, and Karen, they all looked pretty fried. Only Chris and Jack looked like they still had some juice left in their walk. I actually felt the day had cooled off a bit from this morning and felt pretty good walking the final holes from 12 on in.
Tiger and Brooks putting on 16
Chris, Jack, and I worked inside the ropes, varying our positions from next to the players to somewhat ahead, not worrying about the cart paths as the crowd was so deep, the players weren't distracted by the river of people constantly moving along. Both were playing really well but too far back to seriously contend. Tiger was dripping sweat, toweling off after every shot, the temperature 91 degrees with a 101 real feel. I was hearing David, (who'd come back from the dead) on the headset talking with Maureen about the dreaded P-word (a playoff) potential between DeChambeau, Rose, and others. I wasn't worried because I knew I'd be way too worn out to stick around for that. We had a bit of a scare along 18 when an unfortunate spectator collapsed at the rope from the heat but the Norton police officer accompanying us was immediately on the scene, radioing for assistance. Jack and I were right there too, but quickly moved on once we assessed the situation. The scene at the 18th green with its grandstands providing a stadium like scene was unreal. Tiger and Brooks finished up to immense cheering from the huge crowd, then we escorted them down the chute and over to the clubhouse and scoring area. They subsequently were gracious enough to come out to the autograph area to a very receptive group of kids.
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| Tiger making everyone's day by signing everything in sight |
I took some pictures of my fellow marshals Jack esq. and Jim "the mayor" then also got a picture of our leaders David and Maureen. As I later posted on Facebook, "is it the end of an era? I hope not."
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| Tiger signing, with me and Maureen keeping the crowd behaved |
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| Jack and The Mayor |
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| Maureen and David |
It's been a terrific experience with all of these guys!
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