"That is one awesome dude," gushed Boo Weekley. "It is way more amazing than people can understand."
Watching Gregory cover ground along the gallery ropes is like watching Jim Furyk swing a golf club. There are a few extra moving parts and it sure isn't textbook pretty. But somehow, he gets from Point A to Point B, with the assistance of his ever-present metal cane, which he must have had re-shafted a dozen times by now, no?.
"Most people who are healthy don't walk 900 miles," said Troy Matteson, the pro Gregory accompanied last week.
Yeah, in a lifetime. That's the equivalent of walking from Orlando to New York City up Interstate 95.
Gregory is a hopeless golf addict to the point that despite his malady, he plays the game one-handed. Before he hatched the plan, he was attending a half-dozen events per year as a paying customer. Last year, tour standout Aaron Baddeley agreed to let Gregory shadow him for the week at nearby Bay Hill, and Gregory, who has a degree in sports management, took copious notes about his experiences.
A few weeks later, he was introduced to CBS Sports broadcaster Jim Nantz, who read Gregory's writings and discussed whether it would work over the arc of an entire season. Nantz was so impressed by what he saw, he suggested Gregory discuss the idea with commissioner Tim Finchem.
Yeah, right, Gregory said. Then Nantz offered to hand-deliver a proposal in which Gregory would cover every inch of terrain for an entire year. The tour, after a trial run last year, agreed to make it happen. The tour and a handful of key sponsors including Southwest Airlines and Accusplit pedometers have helped him defray travel expenses.
"D.J. is an inspiration to our players, our fans and to anyone who has a dream," Finchem said this week. "Nearly every day, I am reminded of the passion the game of golf inspires in people from all walks of life, and D.J. is a shining example of someone who has followed that passion through enormous obstacles."
None more enormous than his first week, when he hiked the steep hills of Kapalua at the season opener in Hawaii and spent plenty of time lifting himself up and dusting himself off.
"Right out of the chute, everybody said the good thing was, I got the worst one over with first," he laughed.
He has logged roughly 80,000 air miles to make it happen, traveling to Canada and England along the way. He made it to all four of golf's majors, and more than a few of its minors.
He has become a celebrity en route. In fact, Gregory has received more prominent week-to-week ink in major newspapers this year than that other dude with bad wheels, Tiger Woods.
"I haven't gotten used to it, honestly," he said. "I didn't do this for the media coverage. I did it to live my dream, which was to see every day of every tour event for a year."
While Gregory is more than capable of having a laugh at his own expense, there have been a few sore spots. One prominent pro to which he was assigned for a week was less than accommodating. A member of a video crew in Boston greeted him with the following: "I don't know who you are, I don't know why you're here, but I was told to interview you. So, does that stick help you get around the course or something?"
Subtle.
Gregory isn't sure where all of it is headed, to be honest. He'd like to somehow remain involved in the game, perhaps work in some capacity for the tour or a network, and is keeping a log of his travels and travails on the tour website. He has secured a book deal with publishing house Simon and Schuster, with a release date set for Father's Day.
With a nod to the oft-cited Mark Twain quote about the inane game of golf, the running joke in the pressroom all season is that he should call it, "A Good Walk Soiled."
This week's event marks a fitting terminus, really. The event is sponsored by the Children's Miracle Network, an organization dedicated to helping kids with debilitating medical issues. To those of us who have seen Gregory grinding along on a weekly basis, occasionally through weather conditions not fit for mammals, it's akin to a miracle that he pulled it off.
Along the way, he made friends with players like Weekley or fan favorite Kenny Perry -- the first player to actually request that Gregory follow him for a week. "Every one of these guys has been great," Gregory said. "It's been a million times better that I ever thought it could be."
To think it all began by falling flat on his face -- or his posterior -- more times than he would care to count. Except that he has been counting, because the number of pratfalls is posted on his website diary.
Looking ahead to Sunday, when his parents will be along for the walk, he gets a bit misty.
"I'm trying not to think about it," he said. "Actually, I'd love to do it all over again if I could."
