Web.com Q-school begins this week so I figured I should post something about my magical week in Colorado. If you've been following me on social media, you've probably seen links to a bunch of media articles and interviews that I did. In this post, I'm going to try to explain what was going through my head during the entire week, but especially during the final few holes. I know that I won by 3 shots, but it was much closer than that and I'm very proud of how well I remained focused on my shots instead of getting caught up in what other people were doing or thinking about winning $100,000.
Let's begin at the very end - the 72nd hole. I made a 10 foot birdie putt on the final hole, which sealed my victory and set a new tournament scoring record, but I didn't know that at the time. I saw a leaderboard on the 17th tee where I had a one shot lead. I made a par on 17 and felt that a birdie on 18 would be important to keep the pressure on my pursuers. My drive on 18 was one of my best all week! A slight draw that started on the right edge of the fairway and drew just a bit. I was left with 285 yards to the back pin, but only about 240 yards over the pond. With a slight breeze into my face, I decided the smartest shot would be to hit a hard hook up by the green. Missing left of the green would be just fine, but if I hit a weak high cut, it would've ballooned up into the wind and come up short in the pond. I started my 2nd shot at the right side of the green and hit a hard hook that came to rest hole-high, left of the green and left of the green side bunker.
Upon reaching the green, I noticed that Jonathon Kaye had bogied 18 to fall back to -20. That meant the only person who could catch me was Wil Collins, who was in the group behind me. My 3rd shot was a pitch from the left rough, over a greenside bunker, with about 15 feet of green until the pin. In the past, I would've hit a flop shot from my position, but this year I've been working hard on a pitch shot that lands soft and releases to the hole. I have found that to be much more consistent than the unpredictable spin that a flop shot might produce.
The pitch shot came out high and soft, released up towards the hole and left me with a perfect 10 foot, right-to-left breaking birdie putt. I rolled that putt in and gave an awkward but very emphatic fist pump. Look closely and you can see the vein in my neck!
As I shook hands with my playing partners, they congratulated me, but I still didn't think I had actually won. I thought that Wil Collins could make an eagle to tie me. It wasn't until I got into the scoring tent that I was told I had a 3 shot lead because Collins had bogied the 17th hole. This picture was taken shortly after I figured it out that I would win.
* I have two moments from the aftermath of my win that I will remember for a long time. The first was as I walked towards my bag and the thought that I might win hit me. I pulled my hat over my face and fought a smile.
* The 2nd moment was when I got off the back of the green and I found my Aunt and Uncle. I was in a zone during the entire final round and didn't let many emotions affect me, but once I saw my Godparents, I was beyond happy to see them and I gave them both the biggest hugs I could. Unfortunately no one got a picture of those perfect hugs, but I will remember that moment for a long time.
*My shot of the tournament was the 7-iron I hit on the 13th hole in the final round. I had really struggled on that hole during the week, but in the final round I had 193 yards and committed to taking a little bit off of a 7-iron. The pin was tucked in the front right with water and a bunker short. I picked a target about 15 feet left of the pin and hit a great shot that finished just past hole high, about 20 feet left of the hole. The wonderful thing about that great shot was I had 193 on the 15th hole and 191 yards on the 17th hole. I carried the confidence from my swing on 13 through the rest of the round and made stress free pars on 15 and 17. At a time when the pressure had built to palpable levels, it was great to have a couple of prefect yardages on 2 difficult holes.
Once again, 1st Stage of Web.com Q-School begins on Tuesday. Here's a link to follow the results. Scores are posted once I finish my round. No live scoring, unfortunately.
Thanks. Go Team USA.
Neil
