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Sports

Athletic Club Instructor Gets Call to Play

Veteran Verplank to start 2 shots off lead; first-timers have history of success at club.

Atlanta Athletic Club teaching professional Chan Reeves got a between-the-ropes look at the PGA Championship on Saturday. He was chosen to play as a non-competing marker during the third round and spent the morning playing alongside Paul Casey.

“Very few people have the opportunity to do it,” Reeves said. “To tee it up with Paul Casey – needless to say, last night wasn’t the best night of sleep; you’re nervous.”

An odd number of players made the cut and since the final two rounds of the championship are contested as twosomes, one player was left without a partner. In that instance a marker plays along the competitor to help him keep pace.

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Reeves learned he would be the marker via a phone call from director of golf Rick Anderson. He was excited about getting a chance to play alongside Casey, the No. 16-ranked player in the world.

“It’s a different experience standing on the tee at 8:20 and hearing them call your name,” Reeves said.

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Casey shot a 78 and remains in last place. Reeves didn’t keep score; many holes he didn’t even get to finish.

“I’m just here to make a living and my job is to stay out of his way,” Reeves said. “The fact that a guy like that will treat me as well as he did for 18 holes, it’s incredible. We talked all the way around.”

• Veteran Verplank to Start 2 Shots Off Lead

Veteran Scott Verplank will start the final round only two shots off the lead. The 47-year-old has been a steady player since joining the PGA Tour. He’s won five events and played on two Ryder Cup teams, but has never won a major championship.

Verplank kept himself in the hunt with a 69 on Saturday, joining co-leader Brendan Steele as the only players to post three rounds in the 60s. His best finish at the PGA Championship was a tie for seventh in 2001.

“It feels great,” Verplank said. “I don’t feel a day older than a hundred.”

He’s battled a wrist injury for more than a year, a problem that’s limited his participation and his productivity. He got in the field this week because he’s ranked among the world’s top 100 players.

“I was excited to get to play here and, you know what, I hope that I can turn back the clock a little bit and go back to when I was about 21 when I won everything I played in. Maybe that will happen overnight,” he said.

• First-Timers' Success

First-timers have a history of success at the Atlanta Athletic Club.

The club has hosted three previous major championships and each was won by a player who had never won one of golf’s four majors. Jerry Pate won the 1976 U.S. Open, Larry Nelson won the 1981 PGA Championship, and David Tom won the 2001 PGA Championship. Of the top 12 players on the board, only two (Toms and Charl Schwartzel) have won major titles.

For the PGA Championship's full leaderboard, visit www.pga.com

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