LOS ANGELES — Tom Gardner played the dream round of his life on Saturday … at his own golf course, one he probably has played more than 100 times.
Gardner, the director of golf at Los Angeles Country Club, was tapped as the “marker” for the first third-round US Open tee time on Saturday because an odd number of players had made the cut.
That left Ryan Fox as a single for the 12:33 (Eastern time) tee time, and Gardner got to play with him.
Gardner said he had just said his “goodbyes” to friends on Friday evening and had left the golf course when he got the word.
“I get a text from a member, and he said, ‘You’re in,’ “Gardner said after the round Saturday. “I immediately called him, I said, ‘No, I’m not.’ All of a sudden, I started getting a lot of text messages and a lot of emails and the club sent out an email to the membership.
“It’s fun. Thank the USGA for giving me the opportunity.
“It’s pretty special to do this in front of your membership on the course that you work at. If you were out here this morning on the first tee, there was a pretty loud roar. Got the juices flowing a bit.
“And playing with Ryan, and Ryan is a good buy, hammers the ball, and we just had a good time out there, played pretty quickly. What a day. Hoping to do it all again tomorrow.”
Rory Sweeney, the LACC head pro, caddied for Gardner.
“We were walking the course [last week] and [USGA official] Jeff Hall came up to me, and he said, ‘Hey, Tom, if we get an odd number, we’d love to have you play as a marker’ I was very honored to be given the opportunity. Rory immediately was like, ‘I’m your caddie.’ So, he jumped on it before I could say no, not that I would. We had such a good time. Members loved seeing both of us out there, so it was fun.
“I love competing. I love playing golf. I’m not a [U.S. Open] competitor, but to be able to say that I got to play a US Open setup on the weekend and see what it’s like and see the energy of the crowd and see the pins and the firmness and the rough and everything that goes along with it, it’s … I can’t really describe it.’’
Sweeney said the LACC members “were shouting our names,” and he called it “just something that you’ll remember for the rest of your life to be in between the ropes on a weekend on a major.”
“It was just truly special — especially because it’s home for us. It’s our club and our members. Obviously, we all dream to play in one of these, and to share it with one of my best mates is something really special.
“We had a good time.”
Fox shot a 1-under 69 for the round to stand at 1-over for the tournament.
Whatever golfer is in 65th and last place at the end of Saturday — likely Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa, who was 10-over — will play with the marker again in the final round Sunday.