Danny Walker gets to live Players Championship dream after Jason Days withdrawal: Meant the world

PONTE VEDRA, Fla.— Few had as emotional a day at The Players Championship as Danny Walker on Thursday.He got an early morning phone call from the PGA Tour telling him he was in the field as the first alternate when Jason Day withdrew with an illness.The 29-year-old Walker, who earned his PGA Tour card for the first time through his 28th-place finish on the Korn Ferry Tour last year, has lived in nearby Jacksonville for the past five-plus years.“It meant the world to me,” he said after shooting a 1-over-par 73 while paired with former U.S.

Open winners Jordan Spieth and Wyndham Clark.“I’d never met either of them before, so that was something, too.

I wanted to play in this event since I was a little kid, especially living locally.I watched it a bunch of times the last few years, so I couldn’t have been more excited.”Walker, who was already at the course when he got the call in case someone withdrew, said he had to take a walk to the player parking lot to compose himself because he was so excited.“I went and sat in my car for a few minutes afterwards and just kind of let it hit me a little bit, maybe let a tear out,” he said.

“In that moment, I tried to just reflect on who I was when I was a kid, just always wanting to play in this event and finally actually playing in it.I tried to let the emotion out early so then I can relax and go play.”It wasn’t long ago that Walker contemplated whether he should continue playing because he was struggling so much.

Late in 2021, he moonlighted as a server at a local restaurant, Bahama Breeze, to make money.“All the cheers at the beginning were only for Wyndham or for Jordan, and then towards the end, I started hearing more for myself,” Walker said.“It’s like a few people figured out who I was by the end.”Spieth delivered a classic Jordan Spieth Experience in Thursday’s opening round.

Spieth, whose reputation on the golf course is anything but steady, had with a roller-coaster round en route...