Herron narrowly misses field

CHASKA, Minn. | Tim Herron was all dressed up with nowhere to play.

Herron is the only PGA Tour player who lives in Minnesota, growing up 15 minutes away in Wayzata and moving back home to raise his family of three, including twin sons. But he had a bad year at the wrong time and was not eligible for the PGA Championship, nor did he receive an exemption from the PGA of America.

“I thought with my record [four PGA Tour victories], I deserved a spot,” Herron said. “It was a little disappointing.”

Even more disappointing was Thursday. Because of two injuries [Trevor Immelman and Paul Casey] and three alternates who withdrew, Herron was the first alternate.

In the morning, while his caddie hung around the starting areas to check on possible withdrawals, Herron stayed in the car, not wanting to bring attention to himself among thousands of fans who would easily recognize him in these parts.

He finally went to the range, did a few interviews and waited.

John Daly walked by on his way to the tee, his last realistic hope of playing. Herron headed back to his car, and a long day got a little worse. He couldn’t find his keys, and the car was locked.

As he fished through his pockets and golf bag, a fan recognized him.

“Hey, Lumpy! How’d you play?” the fan said with great enthusiasm.

“I didn’t,” Herron replied.

Then he turned to a reporter and said, “This is getting old.”

The third wheel

Rich Beem loves being introduced as a PGA champion, though that sounded pretty paltry in the company he kept Thursday - Padraig Harrington with his three majors, Tiger Woods with his 14.

What was it like playing with such rock stars?

“Just a couple of guys having a nice, quiet three-ball out there, with 30,000 people screaming their heads off,” he said. “It was a blast.”

Told last week he was playing with Woods and Harrington, Beem replied, “I thought they were playing with me.”

Olympic stature

With golf moving one step closer to being part of the 2016 Olympics, Fred Couples was asked to rank the most important golf tournaments that year.

“Augusta, the U.S. Open, British Open, PGA Championship,” he began, naming the four majors.

Then he went with the Ryder Cup - which will be held at Hazeltine in 2016 - and the Olympics.

“That’s a pretty good list,” said Couples, this year’s U.S. captain for the Presidents Cup matches.

And then he changed his mind.

“I’d put the Olympics after the Players Championship,” he said. “I can’t put it any higher than that.”