Like many Americans, J.P. Hayes lost his job last year. He didn't perform well enough, found himself out of work for 2009 and was doing what he had to do to try to regain a spot where he could make a living.

For a professional golfer, that is the mind-numbing PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament, and once there Hayes committed what you might call a rather benign rules violation that nobody would have known about had he not called attention to it. The penalty was disqualification, and Hayes knew what that meant -- no status this year on the PGA Tour.

Perhaps because the sports world is filled with so much negativity today, Hayes' act was championed -- even though he remains uncomfortable with the whole thing. After his story appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Hayes, who is from Appleton, Wis., but lives in El Paso, Texas, said he got about 300 phone calls. He was featured on television and radio programs, including ESPN.

"I would say the response was overwhelming, a little bit embarrassing, to be honest with you," Hayes said at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, where he is playing for the first time this year. "Not what I did, playing a wrong ball, but that it got so much attention, because in my mind it felt like one of those things that we all do and we expect each other to do."

Hayes was playing in a second-stage qualifier -- which meant he needed to be one of the top 20 and ties in order to advance to the final stage, where he would get at least some sort of status on either the Nationwide Tour or the PGA Tour this year.

During the first round Hayes realized on the 12th hole that he had played a different golf ball on that hole -- his caddie had given him a ball from his bag that did not match the brand and model he was playing the entire round, as required by PGA Tour rules.

No big deal, except for a 2-stroke penalty. Hayes consulted a rules official, was told he had to finish the hole with that ball and then play the rest of the round with the type of golf ball he had started the round with. End of story -- except that the next night, after playing a decent second round to get himself back into contention, Hayes started to examine the golf ball he had played for one hole. The ball did not have a stamp on it, which to Hayes meant it was a prototype -- and was not yet approved by the United States Golf Association.

The utmost technicality, to be sure. Hayes made a few calls, got in touch with rules officials and tried to determine if the ball had been approved. It had not. Penalty: disqualification.

For playing one par-3 with an unapproved golf ball, Hayes, 43, had forfeited his best chance to make it back to the PGA Tour this year.

Hayes said it never crossed his mind to keep quiet about it.

"I guess I had hoped that the penalty wasn't going to be what it was, that for some reason there was something in the rules, a special circumstance kind of thing, and I was just hoping and praying that that was going to be the case," he said. "But it never occurred to me not to bring this to light and get the right ruling. I don't know why. I don't think anyone would have known, but I would have known. Had I made it all the way through Q-school and gotten my card back, I think that it would have been anticlimactic for me."

Hayes, a two-time PGA Tour winner who has earned some $7 million in his career, would have gotten into a handful of tournaments based on his past champion status. But probably not Pebble Beach and certainly not the Byron Nelson Championship and the Colonial. All of these events have offered him sponsor's exemptions due to his honesty.

The John Deere Classic and U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee have also offered him spots, and with his past champion status, Hayes figures to get in a total of 10 to 15 events. "So it's not the end of the world," he said.

Hayes still wonders why the reaction to his story was so immense, but figures there are a couple of reasons.

"First of all, it was Q-school, which in our world of professional golf is like a job interview," Hayes said. "So the fact that it was Q-school and the fact that it was a disqualification I think was the ultimate penalty, I guess. And the result was no job, no chance of getting a full-time job anyway, for the next year. If it happens in a tournament and it's a 2-shot penalty, the player calls it on himself; it happens a lot. … Unless a guy is in contention, people don't really pick up on it.

"And the other thing I think people were interested in was the fact that at that particular time there were a lot of negative stories in the world of sports. … So I guess it was a good story for people to hear that sometimes good things take place, as well."

Trying to do more in tough times

At the end of last year, PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem sent a video to all players asking them to consider playing in more events to help sponsors in tough economic times. Last week at the Buick Invitational, Finchem, along with tour vice president Rick George, led a players-only meeting in which a video from Arnold Palmer was shown, again imploring players to do more to help their sport, whether it be adding tournaments, signing more autographs, schmoozing with sponsors, etc.

"If we can get out there and help take care of the sponsors, help support the tournaments, help the fans, do everything we can as individuals … if we do all that individually, then together as a group, we're going to come out strong and going to come out very good, '' Aaron Baddeley said.

"For me, it hit home a little bit," John Rollins said. "We do need to maybe take the pro-ams a little more seriously with our groups. You never really know who you're playing with … a CEO of a certain company that has maybe given many millions of dollars for us to go out and play a game that we love. A lot of time we can get out there and take a lot of things for granted. I hope everybody else when they saw that message will understand and realize we do need to enjoy what we've got. We need to cherish what we've got and take care of it."

It remains to be seen if the players will pay lip service to this issue or attempt to do more.

Certainly, doing more for sponsors, showing pro-am partners a good time and signing more autographs is a start. But so might playing in an extra tournament or two for the big-name players who typically might not do so.

This week, Finchem is trying to do his part. For the first time in his tenure as commissioner, he is playing at Pebble Beach. His pro-am partner? Davis Love III.

A look at this week's venues

Pebble Beach is one of the most famous golf courses in the world, known for its stunning views of the Pacific Ocean and for an incredible piece of property on California's Monterey Peninsula. The tournament, of course, was founded by Bing Crosby. It started in 1937 but wasn't played at Pebble Beach until 1947. Starting that year, the tournament had a three-course rotation and featured amateurs as part of the competition, including a slew of celebrities.

Today the three courses are Pebble Beach, Spyglass and Poppy Hills. Each pro and amateur team plays one round on each course, with a 54-hole cut for both pros and amateurs. The top pros advance to Sunday's final round at Pebble Beach, as do the top pro-am teams.

All three courses play to par-72, and interestingly, none of them measure as much as 7,000 yards. At each course, the record score in competition is 62. Pebble Beach will host the 2010 U.S. Open, the fifth at the venue.

Bob Harig covers golf for ESPN.com. He can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com.