Robert Garrigus headed home early on Friday from the World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico, but the fact that he got into the field in the first place is a story worth telling.
When Garrigus failed to Monday qualify, he stuck around for a vacation with his girlfriend. But then Cameron Young withdrew allowing Sean O’Hair to get into the field. O’Hair was on the range on Tuesday. But on Wednesday, Bud Cauley withdrew but neither Cody Gribble, the next player on the alternate list, nor 33 other players ahead of him could get a flight to Cabo before the first round tee time on Thursday. One caddie said he got a text from Jim Herman back at home saying, “Good news, I’m in. Bad news, I can’t get there.” The only option at the time was to fly private and that would be a pretty steep investment at that late time. Eventually, Garrigus got the call that he was in.
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It marked just his second Tour start of the season and first since the Cognizant Classic in March. Garrigus’ girlfriend even served as his caddie but Garrigus’ good fortune didn’t result in a payday. He shot 79-76 and missed the cut.
Garrigus was the 34th alternate for the event on Friday when the field was finalized at 5 p.m. ET. It took 33 players ahead of him to withdraw but that’s how Garrigus, who was in the right place at the right time, made it in the WWT field off the alternate list.