ORLANDO, Fla. — Golf’s a funny, weird game.
Collin Morikawa, a two-time major championship winner who is ranked 10th in the world, missed the cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and didn’t even have a tee time Saturday at Bay Hill. Nor did former U.S. Open winner and Olympic gold medalist Justin Rose and former Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama.
Jon Rahm, the No. 1-ranked player in the world and the hottest player on the planet for the past nine months with five wins in that span, shot a second consecutive 76 on Saturday.
Then there’s Greg Koch, a 37-year-old club pro from Orlando, where he grew up. He did have a tee time at Bay Hill Saturday, having made his first PGA Tour cut in his sixth try, and he shot the same score as Rahm did.
Koch, with his younger brother Matt caddying for him, made the cut in rather unusual and stressful circumstances.
When second-round play was suspended because of darkness on Friday, Koch, who has been the head of instruction at the Ritz Carlton Grande Lakes 10 miles southeast of Bay Hill, was one of two players who hadn’t completed his round.
Koch had hit his tee shot into the left rough on the difficult par-4 ninth hole and was 215 yards from the pin when play was halted. He needed a par to make the cut, which was 2-over as of Friday evening. If he birdied the hole, he would have moved the cutline to 1-over and knocked seven players out of the tournament.
That is what he had to sleep on Friday night.
“Oh, it was a terrible night,’’ Koch said. “I knew it was gonna be a rough night. I’m not really good at falling asleep but that much nerves and that much on my mind. So, I was up all night. I think I got like two hours of sleep.’’
Koch was back on the course at 7 a.m. to finish that ninth hole, try to make par and make his first PGA Tour cut.
“Super-nervy,’’ Koch said of what he faced Saturday morning. “It’s been a while since I’ve felt pressure like that.’’
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He compared the nerves to when he qualified for the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, needing a short putt to get into the field.
“That was the most nervous I’d ever been over that putt, knowing I had to make a 3 ¹/₂-footer where if I didn’t make it, I’d have to live with that forever,’’ he recalled. “This was similar to those nerves.’’
Koch tried to “scoot’’ a 5-iron up onto the green on his second shot on No. 9 and it came up short of the green in front of the left bunker, leaving him a tricky chip and then needing a one-putt for par.
Fortunately for Koch, who was already stressed out and working on two hours of sleep, he was unaware of the scenario in which a birdie would have knocked out seven players.
“I didn’t know there were people on the bubble there. I didn’t know I could knock people out,’’ Koch said. “I was too focused on what I had to do and nervous about that. It would have been terrible if that happened because those guys would have lost the chance to play on the weekend because of a club pro.’’
Koch could only focus on his own scenario.
“I’m trying to get myself into the weekend and I don’t really care what everybody else is doing,’’ he said. “I knew what I needed to do. I was really focused on getting that ball in there close on that third shot and then making the putt and getting the chance to play on the weekend.’’
So, he did.
That guarantees Koch of a check for at least $43,000, which is the payoff for last place in the tournament among the players who made the cut.
For more years than he can count, Koch came to this tournament, stood outside the ropes, marveled at the star players and imagined himself as one of them competing inside those ropes.
“My dad used to bring us out here and we would all come out and watch Mr. Palmer, Jack Nicklaus Tiger [Woods],’’ he said. “Being from Orlando and to have the first one be here with this with this amazing field is really special. This is like my U.S. Open. Just because of being out here as kids watching, this has always been a dream. This is it. This is the pinnacle for me.’’
