PONTE VEDORA BEACH, Fla. — Danny Walker's Magic Week had an even more memorable turn at the Player Championship on Saturday.
The 29-year-old Jacksonville, Florida resident was the first replacement for the field at TPC Sawgrass, and received a call early Thursday morning that he had a spot after Jason Day retreated due to illness.
A decent opening round turned into a rough second round. The third round was much better.
Walker shot a 6-under par 66 on Saturday, pairing it with former British Open champion Shane Laurie.
Walker came in eighth in the tournament with a 7-under par from the final spot among those who made the cut, at the first tee time of the day, with leader JJ Span tied up with five strokes.
He enters the final round with just four shots from the lead.
“When you're right on the cut line, it's always a bit stressful. When you make a weekend, it's easy to release it because there's nothing to lose,” Walker said after the round. “You can't go backwards. You can only move forward at that point.”
It was a roller coaster of emotions for Walker. He said he was actually at the toilet stall when he received a call from a PGA tour representative.
He called him when he was on the field, quietly shed tears before heading out to the car in the athlete's parking lot.
Walker shot the first 73 in the opening round. Then things got interesting in the second round on Friday.
He cruised for the second round with a 4-under par, standing at 3-under for the tournament, and at first glance safe inside the cut line.
Walker then bogeyed 17 and 18 and closed with a 1-under par for the tournament.
He trimmed a short par putt to 18 for the bogey. The cut line was 2 under par, and it looked like a nightmare finish.
Thankfully, the cut later moved to 1 under, and Walker appeared over the weekend.
The past week is a huge step forward for Walker, who only plays at his sixth PGA Tour event.
He is 284th in the world rankings and has career revenue of $684,667. This is the number that allows for a solar eclipse with a high finish on Sunday.
For a player who easily gave up on his PGA Tour Dream in 2022, it's pretty good when he worked as a server at a bar restaurant called the Bahamas Breeze.
“This event wanted to play it, especially in the past few years of living in Jacksonville,” Walker said. “This feels like an event in my hometown, especially seeing it last year and seeing some of my friends play, I just wanted to do so much this year.
“Then when you actually go in, it's just a goal. A big goal.”
After graduating from the University of Virginia, Walker moved to Jacksonville in his first year on the 2019 Corn Ferry Tour.
“I just wanted to find the perfect place to practice and get better. This seemed like a place where everything was free, especially here,” he said.
Walker estimated he played the TPC Sawgrass Stadium course about 100 times before entering the field on Thursday.
He paired up with major champion Laurie and called it “a little surreal.” ”
On Sunday, he will be paired with Rory McIlroy in the final round, making him more surreal and do so while he competes to win.
“I've never met those people before, so it was nice to meet them and make it out of the way,” he said of many stars in the field. “It was like, 'OK, we can play golf now.' I was pretty nervous, like the first hole and then I was able to find the rhythm. ”
