Sometimes life is about taking a chance and grasping your opportunities when they come along – in golf’s it’s exactly the same, and Davis Riley is a prime example as he detailed what life is like as an alternate for the PGA Tour’s Signature Events.
Yes, anyone lucky enough to get onto the PGA Tour is living out millions of casual golfers’ dreams – but it can be a grind if you’re not among the elite.
And part of that is battling each week to get high enough in the rankings to make the new lucrative Signature Events – which Riley was lucky enough to do at the Travelers Championship.
Brian Campbell’s withdrawal from the Travelers gave Riley a very late call-up on the morning of the first round – and the very first tee time of the tournament on Thursday.
Luckily enough, Riley was already on the property at TPC River Highlands as he sensed an opportunity might come his way – but it was still a gamble as he was also an alternate at The Memorial but had to hang around all day without getting the call.
“I was in the exact same scenario for the Memorial, so I knew how to approach it,” said Riley.
“So I arrived on property around 6:30. I just wanted to make sure I gave myself plenty of time because if I do get in, I want to be somewhat prepared; I don’t want to be scrambling and wasting an opportunity and running out there.
“I gave myself plenty of time, and it worked out perfectly. The worst is whenever you get here at 6:30 and you’re just sitting around all day and then you get the 2:00 tee time. You’re like, well, I’m exhausted because I’ve gone back and forth to the range three or four times.
“But yeah, I arrived on property at 6:30. I got the text probably right around 7:15 that I got the tee time, and yeah, I got my stuff together and was ready to go.”
The gamble every alternate has to make
“I don’t think I’ve ever sat around and gotten in as a first alternate,” explained Riley, but a call from the PGA Tour to say there’d been some withdrawals from the Pro-Am on Wednesday gave him hope.
Despite having to sit around all day at The Memorial only to miss out, Riley took the gamble that faces all the first alternates for these big events and decided to make the trip from his home in Dallas up to Connecticut.
“I was kind of teetering whether I was going to come or not…
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