20th Alternate Montgomery Fires 65 to Crash World Wide Technology Contention

Taylor Montgomery was the 20th alternate for the World Wide Technology Championship on the eve of the tournament. By Thursday evening in Los Cabos, he was two shots off the lead. Montgomery, 31, from Las Vegas, opened with a 7-under 65 at El Cardonal at Diamante to sit tied third, two behind Nick Dunlap's 64. It was a fine return for a player who had missed the cut in all six PGA Tour starts this season and had not played a weekend on Tour in a year. The twist traces back to Luke Donald, one of four sponsor exemptions in the field, who withdrew on Wednesday evening with a bad back. Because Donald entered as a sponsor exemption, officials could replace him with another sponsor exemption rather than pull from the alternate list, and Montgomery got the call. Adam Hadwin, first on the alternate list, spent Thursday waiting for a tee time that never came. "I was surprised when I saw that Luke was replaced by Taylor," Hadwin told Golfweek. The missed start stung: a 15th start would have earned him another credited year in the Tour's retirement program, worth roughly $50,000 to $60,000 in benefits. Montgomery had failed in Monday's qualifier and played in Tuesday's pro-am before being told Donald's back might open a door. "They told me Tuesday that Luke's back was bad and that there was a possibility," he said. "Then last night they called me and told me I had a 7:36 tee time."