The Dubai Invitational produced a rare sight on Friday. A full-fledged DP World Tour professional teed up in the second round. How is that rare, you ask? Well, actually, he was not a part of the tournament. Yet, he teed off.

Brandon Robinson-Thompson found himself at Dubai Creek after he was asked to mark in for fellow Englishman Richard Mansell. Mansell had to withdraw mid-way through the opening round, as he suffered from an ankle injury.

The moment the Englishman withdrew, the tournament’s officials were stuck in a dilemma. The field was left uneven in the limited 60-man, pro-am format. They needed a replacement to keep the groups intact. What made matters more urgent was the simultaneous running of the pro and amateur competition. Mansell’s amateur partner also required someone to play alongside him. This made a marker as the only solution.

Now, markers are not uncommon in professional golf, but most of the time they’re filled in by club pros from the host venue or nearby clubs. This time, the marker came from within the DP World Tour ranks. Robinson-Thompson failed to qualify for the field. Yet he was on the site as a reserve at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club. Hence, they chose him.

“Brandon is playing as a ‘marker’ after Richard Mansell’s withdrawal, so he is not officially part of the tournament, doesn’t receive points or prize money, and his scores don’t count,” a DP World Tour spokesperson told Golf Monthly.

What this means is that Robinson-Thompson’s score will not appear on the professional leaderboard, which is being dominated by Shane Lowry after round 1. He shares the position with Nacho Elvira. The event has a prize purse of $2.75 million. Rory McIlroy is also participating and is at T5 after R1.

Once Robinson-Thompson’s round was completed, the 227th-ranked golfer called the entire experience “super strange.” Last year, he recorded four top-10 finishes, including a third-place finish at the Qatar Masters. He has been a first reserve before, but this situation was “different” and “unique” for him.

“Any chance I get to come out and test my game is an opportunity just to see where I’m at,” Brandon Robinson-Thompson told the media on Friday. “It’s a really great golf course…But yeah, just to see where we are at.”

But his duties proved short-lived.

After another amateur withdrew on Friday, Robinson-Thompson’s role was over. He will not play in Saturday’s final round and will return to his practice.

Regardless, the timing to play as a marker worked perfectly for him. Robinson-Thompson is preparing for next week’s Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club. The chance to compete in this event, under pressure, gave him the much-needed practice for the local conditions.

While Brandon Robinson-Thompson’s role as a professional marker stands out on the DP World Tour, golf has seen similarly unusual scenarios.

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Not just in the DP World Tour, but other times when golf has turned to unlikely stand-ins

One of the most famous examples of such a situation came in 2012. It was the PGA Grand Slam of Golf. The event traditionally was for the year’s four major winners. The field consisted of Bubba Watson, Keegan Bradley, Ernie Els, and Webb Simpson. But just before the tournament could start, 2012 Open Champ Els withdrew due to an injury. That’s when Padraig Harrington stepped in.

A three-time major winner, he was not qualified for the tournament. Yet he gave the most remarkable outcome. Harrington went on to win the tournament by edging out the US Open champ Webb Simpson by one stroke. He took home $600k from the overall purse of $1.35 M.

Another similar examples come from the Masters. Jeff Knox achieved a near-mythical status as a member at Augusta National with his marking duties. He first appeared as a marker in 2002 and soon enough built a reputation for thriving under pressured conditions. Knox is famously known to shoot a 70 against Rory McIlroy’s 71 during the 2014 Masters third round. Over the years, he went on to outscore many like Sergio Garcia and Larry Mize.