The FM Championship   Sunday   September 1, 2024

Still no word as of 8 am so I texted Larry about confirming an assignment for me today, never heard back. I decided to go on their word from yesterday.  On arrival, I again was greeted warmly by Mike and Larry, who said I would be assigned to the 10:26 tee time for Ariya Jutanugarn, Jennifer Kupcho, & Hannah Green.  Once again the dual scorer system would be in place, this time I would be handling paper scoring duties, while my fellow scorer Bob would be on the device and radio.  This would be fine with me as it would be a bit more relaxed without the chatter in my ear.  Mike explained that the best practice was for us to keep a separate accounting of each player's shots, then come to agreement with hand signals before Bob hit the final "ball in the hole" button on the device.  We had no standard bearer today, but our double check system was perfect once again.  Bob turned out to be a great companion for the round, a real veteran scorer from every PGA event going back to 2003, as well as a TPC member.  He's known as "The Commissioner" at TPC since he coordinates the men's league.    

We were also joined by two honorary observers, a very pleasant couple who'd just returned from St. Andrews where they'd attended the AIG, stayed at the lovely Old Course Hotel, and played several rounds of golf in Scotland. They had lots of stories to share with us about their adventures, and were also very receptive to hearing Bob and I telling stories about our FedEx experiences at TPC, a story on every hole it seemed.  I even tasked them to keep us posted regarding the overall FM leaderboard, which they could follow on their phones.  They were psyched to be included inside the ropes.  

Our players were excellent, greeting us at the first tee, thanking us at the start for helping out.  All were tied at -4, five groups back from the leaders. They played superb golf, Ariya and Jennifer both shooting 65 to end up at -11, Hannah at -9.  At 18 scoring desk everything matched up perfectly, the players and caddies again thanked us and gave us autographed balls.  Bob and I congratulated each other on a job well done.  I speculated to him that he'd probably accumulated lots of signed golf balls in his day at FedEx, he said so many that he ended up giving most away or even using some out on the course!                        (He's kept Tiger's ball).

Less than 20 minutes later the weather alert horn sounded, suspending play for what would eventually be 2 hours.  Thank goodness we'd just made it.  Play would resume with a playoff between Haeran Ryu and JY Ko, with Ryu victorious after one hole of sudden death.