Welcome! Where are you, you ask. I’m calling this the Weekend 9. Think of it as a spot to warm you up for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We’ll have thoughts. We’ll have tips. We’ll have tweets. But just nine in all, though sometimes maybe more and sometimes maybe less. As for who I am? The paragraphs below tell some of the story. I can be reached at nick.piastowski@golf.com
Gabby Barker didn’t wake up. She still doesn’t know why.
Her swing, though, is most always on time. It’s so dialed. Barker had been a top-ranked collegian while at Texas Tech. Soon after, she became the first female Native American pro, an accomplishment she speaks of with pride. And last December, she entered Ladies European Tour Q-School, in Morocco, where she planned to really shine. “I had been working my tail off to be able to perform well,” she said.
Only her alarm didn’t go off.
And she missed her tee time.
And she was finished without ever beginning.
And Tuesday, she told us all.
“I had 12 hours of sleep. I don’t know if it was jet lag or what; just didn’t wake up. It was a whirlwind.
“I don’t think I’ve cried that much in my entire life for something like that because it was such a good opportunity to go out there and travel the world and experience it.
“Sorry talking about it still hurts.”
Here, Barker’s voice cracks. She was talking this week ahead of the LPGA’s Ford Championship, where she’s playing on a sponsor exemption, and Barker’s reflected on what happened. She then continued.
And if you’re looking for your comeback story of the week, and if you’re looking for some motivation heading into the weekend, well, here you go.
“But now it’s like I don’t think I would be where I was without that,” Barker said. “Golf is hard in itself, but looking back, it’s like, OK, I know that I’ve overcome so much stuff, whether it’s life, golf, other challenges, and to know that I made it through all that is just like a pat on the back. It’s kind of crazy.
“So, yeah, I wouldn’t be there without it; I wouldn’t be here without it.”
Good stuff. Let’s see if we can find eight more items for the Weekend 9.
2. Was this year’s best round played Friday?
