Pampling says thanks for tournament exemptions

Rod Pampling thanks tournament organisers that helped get back his PGA Tour card.
Rod Pampling regained his full playing PGA Tour card for 2012 by sneaking into the Top-125 players with $2,033 to spare, at 124th. Pampling has two victories on the PGA Tour and earned over $12 million in career prize-money but he wasn’t about to get complacent over ultimately successful end to the year.
Throughout 2011, Pampling was offered sponsors exemptions by tournament organisers and he spent the last month of the year contacting all of the tournaments to personally thank them for the generous offer.
From the USA Today report by Doug Ferguson, it seems the tournament organisers were blown away by the actions of Pampling.

“I’ve been doing this 25 years. I’m not saying I’ve never had a guy call me and thank me for doing that, but it’s the first in a long time,” Greg McLaughlin, who supervises the AT&T National, told Ferguson. “Rarely do I get one after the season when a guy gets his card and calls you to thank you. 

“As far as I’m concerned,” McLaughlin offered, “he can play in one of my tournaments if he ever needs a spot. He’s set for life.”

During the 1925 US Open, Bobby Jones was praised for calling a two-stroke penalty on himself, then lost the tournament by a shot. “You may as well praise a man for not robbing a bank”, he replied.

In some ways, I feel much the same way about this. It seems normal that Pampling would thank the tournament organisers for offering him a spot in the fields which prolongs his career and will lead to opportunities to earn more money. Unfortunately, it is not the norm these days and Pampling’s gesture is news. It is nice to know an Australian is setting the example all the same.

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