[Yoda]

. . . the pga has a bug up their ass about these pro -ams.

In my opinion, perhaps the most grievous mistake of the hard-nosed PGA Pro-Am policy involved Bob Tway and the 2006 BellSouth Golf Classic.

Bob’s son, Kevin, had won the U.S. Junior Amateur the previous summer, defeating 16-year-old Bradley Johnson 5-and-3 in the 36-hole final. http://www.usjunioram.org/2005/news/Final.html

Eight months later, on March 25, Brad was killed in an automobile accident. This notice appeared in the local papers:

Visitation will be Tuesday from 5 to 8 p.m. at Shades Mountain Baptist Church, 2017 Columbiana Rd., Birmingham, Ala. 35216. The funeral is scheduled for Wednesday at 11 a.m. at the church.

Bob Tway asked to be excused from that Wednesday's Pro-Am so that he could attend the funeral with his wife and son. It was only 150 miles away, and he would be back to tee it up on Thursday. The TOUR staff said no.

Rules, after all, are rules.

Bob is a graduate of Wheeler High School in Marietta, a suburb of Atlanta. He is a former champion of the event, winning in 1986. He grew up playing Atlanta Country Club where his father, Bob, Jr., was (and still is) a member. To say that Bob has a following in Atlanta –- one that would be deeply disappointed should he not play the tournament –- is an understatement.

So Bob chose to play, and honor the living, rather than withdraw and honor the dead.

It was a tearful decision he should never have had to make.

http://bradleyjohnsonmemorialfoundation.org/about.html