Pro golfer asks for help in locating missing father
PGA Tour player Billy Hurley III made an emotional appeal on Tuesday for help in tracking down his father who went missing on July 19.
Speaking ahead of this week’s Quicken Loans National in his home state of Virginia, Hurley fought back tears as he told reporters that his father, Willard Hurley Jr., drove off in a truck with some clothes and cash and has not been seen since.
“No one really knows why,” said Hurley, whose father is a retired police officer.
“He’s been married to my mom for 30-plus years. They still live in the house that I grew up in in Leesburg.
“Maybe a bartender who served him dinner sees this story on ‘Golf Central’ or whatever, and we can get a hit on his location or something or maybe he sees it (this story) checking my score, checking my tee time.”
Hurley, a 33-year-old Naval Academy graduate who served as a U.S. Navy officer for five years, said it had been “a hard decision” for his family to go public with details about his father’s disappearance.
“I just found out about it yesterday afternoon,” said Hurley, whose best finishes on the PGA Tour have been ties for fourth at the 2012 AT&T National and at the 2014 The Greenbrier Classic.
“He’s not mentally unstable. We have no idea why he left and it’s complete speculation for anybody to try and put their finger on that. But you know, I’m just hopeful.”
Hurley said that his mother, Cheryl, had filed a missing-persons report on Monday with local police who had launched an investigation.