T46th - BMW Charity Pro-AM

Two weeks ago I finished T-46th at the BMW Charity Pro-Am in Greenville, SC.  Overall it was a great week - making the cut and playing on Sunday - but a closer look at my play left me disappointed with my finish and anxious for my next Web.com event.

The story of each round is pretty similar, in that I played well, but did not get a lot out of any round.  I never had back to back bogies and only had 6 throughout the entire week.  On the other side, I only had 15 birdies for the week and never caught a really hot streak.  I was waiting/expecting that hot streak because of how well I was hitting the ball.

The most frustrating moments of the tournament were the back nines of round 3 & 4 at Thornblade Club.  I had 1 birdie and 2 bogies in those 18 holes and I had plenty of chances to get many more birdies.  More specifically, I played holes 15 and 16 even par, when I should have made birdies on those reachable par-5s.  In the final round, I was in the middle of the fairway with a hybrid into both 15 and 16.  I came up short on 15 and flopped a wedge to about 10 feet.  I made a good stroke, but over-read the putt and missed it on the high side.  My hybrid reached the green on 16, but left me a 60 foot eagle putt that had to navigate a big slope.  I left the eagle putt about 7 feet short and despite another good stroke, I under-read this putt and missed it on the low side.  That was my first 3-putt of the week (70 holes into the tournament).

Best thing about the week was how much fun it was to play well and how comfortable I felt playing inside the ropes.  My Web.com events in South America didn't have a lot of spectators, but Greenville was quite busy on Saturday and Sunday.  The 18th hole was surrounded by corporate tents and I really enjoyed interacting with the spectators - especially the kids.  Walking off of 18 green there were about 20 kids waiting there and asking for my hat or glove.  My caddy and I emptied all of the golf balls from my bag and handed them to the kids - even autographing as many of the balls as I could.  That was a lot of fun.

Now that I've made some money on the Web.com Tour, my current ranking will be moved up after the next reshuffle (after the event in Wichita, KS in 3 weeks).  That will give me a better chance to get into tournaments, but I'll still be a bubble boy.  Right now I've been about 30 spots out of most tournaments, but I think I'll be closer to 10 spots.  Hopefully I can Monday qualify for the event in Wichita and make a big check.  Then I'll be able to set my schedule for the rest of the summer.

Until then, I will be competing in the US Open Sectional qualifier in San Francisco.  Play begins early on Monday, June 2nd.  Here's a link to follow results.  36 holes on Monday played over 2 courses.  I tee off at 7:21am PST and then 12:51pm PST.  The qualifier is being played at Lake Merced GC and Olympic Club (Ocean Course).  Olympic Club has hosted the US Open 5 times, most recently in 2012, but we're not playing the US Open course (Lake Course).  I still love being on the grounds of Olympic Club.  No where else in the world are the golf courses framed so well with Cypress trees and dense with fog.

Heavy Fog

Hit it through the chute of Cypress trees, but be careful because balls love to stay in them.

Neil

BMW Charity Pro-Am - Greenville, SC

After a long and frustrating couple of months, I'm back.  Last time I was here, I was playing some bad golf in Chile and Brazil.  That bad golf continued throughout March and April and a lot of other problems started creeping in.  The biggest problem was not being able to set any schedule  In the past, I've liked to know that during the winter/spring I would be playing several Gateway events in Arizona.  This year, I wanted to stay focused on the Web.com events so I choose not to play locally in AZ.  Unfortunately, I didn't get into any Web.com events outside of South America so I had to scramble and add a few random tournaments at the last minute.  My game was rusty and my patience was being tested every week when I failed to get into the Web.com events.  During my struggles, I saw a lot of good things when I practiced, but the tournament results just seemed to be miles behind.

Now, I'd like to believe that I have slowly pulled myself out of that slump and am ready to go on a big run.  Quite a few things have happened in the last few weeks which points to an upward trend.  First was that I truly hit rock-bottom.  I had an awful tournament and was embarrassed by how poorly I played.  Everything that could have gone wrong did and even my good shots lead to double bogies.  Luckily I had my caddie with me and we were able to diagnose the issues and begin anew the next day.  Next, I started to see the results in a tournament instead of just practice rounds.  I came close to monday qualifying for the Web.com event in Valdosta, GA, but I needed a birdie on the 18th hole and messed it up.  The best thing about that round was after my awful start, I could've just packed it up and quit (especially after a 3-putt bogey on #7), but I had the feeling that a lot of birdies could be made.  I went on to make 7 birdies in a 9 hole stretch and that put me on #18 needing one more birdie.  Finally, I made a quick trip (3 days) back to Arizona to play in the local US Open Qualifier and advanced by finishing 4th.  Considering everything else I was trying to balance, it was great that my mind was focused and clear while playing so I could play well.  I will be playing the US Open Sectional qualifier in San Francisco on June 2nd.

I've saved the best news for last, which is that I snuck into this week's Web.com event in Greenville, SC.  A week ago I was 21 spots out and didn't feel very optimistic, but when I had moved up to 9 out by last weekend, I started to believe.  Once Monday rolled around, I was 3rd alternate, and I was very glad that I was already in the area so I could go right to the courses to practice.

This week's event is a Pro-Am where everybody plays 1 round at 3 different courses and then the top 65 players make the cut and play Sunday.  This is also the first event of the year that is televised on The Golf Channel - just a couple of hours of coverage a day.  Keep an eye out for me.

Until the tournament starts, check out my new website.  The blog will still be updated, but they'll be linked through the website.

Neil

Chile Classic in Santiago Begins Today

Greetings from Santiago, Chile.  This is my first trip to South America and I'll talk about it in much more detail later.  For now, I'm simply posting links to where you can follow my results.

Leaderboard

I tee of at 2:30pm local time (12:30pm EST) on Thursday and 9:40am (7:40am EST) on Friday.

The weather is perfect, very warm with lots of sun.  As for the golf course, it's all about hitting fairways.  Lots of sharp doglegs and trees block any shot that is in the rough.  Plus the greens are small and surrounded by bunkers so I'll need a clear shot to hit a lot of greens.

Enjoy watching online.  I've really enjoyed getting texts, emails, and tweets from friends who are wishing me well.

Neil

Exciting Times - New Equipment & Endorsement Deals

I've been in the need of new equipment for quite a long time.  My irons are 4 years old.  My Driver and 3-wood are 3 years old.  Here's a picture of my 7-iron, with a significant wear pattern on the clubface:

At least the wear pattern is in the sweet spot.

There are a few reasons why I haven't changed equipment, but the main 2 are money and fitting.  Money, because I've been loyal to Mizuno irons and Titleist for a while, but haven't had luck getting equipment from those companies.  They offer me equipment at a discount, but that's where the 2nd reason comes in.  Fitting - I can't just buy equipment off the rack.  My game is at a point where getting a shaft that fits my swing can make the game easier.  In the 4 years since I last ordered irons, technology has improved and a lot of new shaft options are out there.  Before putting new equipment in my bag, I want to test a variety of shafts (lighter, heavier, stiffer) to see what can help my game.  And that brings me back to the money issue where the equipment companies won't give me a fitting unless I pay for it.  It's like a vicious cycle where I won't buy equipment without a fitting, but won't pay for a fitting.  #firstworldproblems

All of these things changed when I earned my Web.com card.  Every club company is on site at each tournament and there is an equipment truck that will build, repair, and tweak whatever I have or need.

The really exciting aspect comes from the endorsement deals I've been offered.  Titleist/FootJoy offered me a ball/shoe/glove deal, which is great because I play the Pro-v1x ball (have since college).  I've been offered an equipment deal from Adams Golf and they flew me out to Dallas to their headquarters to get a tour quality fitting.  I spent 2 days in Dallas.  The first day was experimenting with different shafts and comparing the results.  Day 2 was an on the course test to see how the clubs react on the golf course.  It's exciting to see what I came out of Dallas with, but it will take some time to get comfortable with the new equipment.  The person who built my equipment and fitted me for the clubs is the Web.com Tour representative for Adams, which means he will be on-site for the tournaments.  It's great to know that I have a guy I can go to if I have a problem with my clubs.

In addition to the equipment deal with Adams is an additional endorsement from Southwest Airlines.  Adams and Southwest are partners and will be helping me out with some frequent flier miles, which will come in handy for this year:

Approx. 48,000 miles of travel this year with @WebDotComTour #frequentfliermiles pic.twitter.com/4NCWSuSqSX
— Neil Johnson (@neilpjohnson) February 1, 2014

Neil

What's Next?

The Web.com season begins in a week with an event in Bogota, Columbia.  Here is a link to the entire schedule.  After one event in Columbia we have two weeks off before 4 straight tournaments in Chile, Brasil, Panama, and Louisiana.  The first 4 events are international, which helps my chances of getting into the fields, but also makes the travel much more expensive.  My conditional status puts me on the bubble for each of the first 4 events.  As of Monday, Feb. 3rd here are my numbers vs the players in field:

1. Columbia - 159/144 (15 players out)
2. Chile - 153/144 (9 out)
3. Brasil - 151/144 (7 out)
4. Panama - 151/144 (7 out)

I've been checking these numbers everyday for a few weeks try to get a sense of which way I might be trending.  The best thing about the Chile event is that I have 20 PGA Tour members ahead of me and there are 2 PGA Tour events that week (WGC Cadillac and Puerto Rico).  That means most of those 20 members will get into one of the PGA Tour events and I'll move inside the field list.

Follow me on Twitter to see day-to-day updates if my number changes.

I have a few other exciting things to talk about so check back throughout the week for more updates on new equipment, endorsement deals, and perhaps a surprise that will be launching in the coming weeks.

Neil

Final Stage Web.com Tour Q-School Recap

Weather - nearly perfect all week.  Cold mornings during the practice round resulted in a couple of frost delays.  Once the tournament started, the temps had warmed up to mid-70s and did not get much lower than mid-40s overnight.  There wasn't much wind all week.  Even the gusts of wind rarely reached 10 mph.  Tons of sunshine all week - it was basically like playing golf in a "bubble", which I'm used to considering what the weather is like in Phoenix.

Course Conditions - both courses were in great shape.  They only overseeded the fairways/tees, leaving the rough dormant (turned brown during winter months).  Playing from the fairway was a lot like hitting off of a mat.  The only way to get a bad lie was to find a divot.

The greens were pretty consistent across both courses.  Sometimes you'll get one course with much quicker green, but both the Nicklaus and Stadium courses were running close to 11.  My only "complaint" with the condition of the golf courses was the speed of the greens.  I'd prefer the greens to be faster than 11.  During both 1st and 2nd stage, my courses had greens running near 13/14, which I loved.  Combine the smooth surfaces with the average speed of the greens, it allowed a lot of people to become comfortable with making putts.

Now let's dive in to each round and I'll explain the memorable shots and quickly gloss over the bad ones.  Follow along here.

ROUND 1 - Started on #10 of Nicklaus Tournament course and I struck the ball really solid throughout the first day.  I was picking out palm trees, signs, edges of home as aim points and I was hitting them precisely.  A nice stretch on #2, #3, and #4 gave me three straight birdies.  I made a 20 foot putt on #2, chipped in on #3, and made about an 18 foot putt on #4.  One more birdie on a the par-5 #7 and I finished with a solid 68 in the first round.

ROUND 2 - My solid ballstriking continued into the 2nd round.  Through 13 holes of nearly flawless swings, I was only 2-under par.  My birdie on #5 was a 2-putt (the picture above is of hole #5 from the green back).  That par-5 has water all up the right side from 200 yards in.  The pin was tucked back right and I hit a 3-wood from 250 right into the center of the green - right at the palm tree my caddie and I picked out as target.  My birdie on #11 was a little more fun.  I hit a bad drive into the thick left rough.  I could only advance it about 170 yards, leaving me about 175 to an elevated green and has water left and slopes away on the right.  I lasered a 7-iron to about 15 feet.  I practiced a putt very similar to that one in a practice round so I knew that it would break right to left more than it looked.  I trusted that read and it went in the center of the cup.

Things got really weird on #14 where my drive hit the railroad ties lining a fairway bunker and ricocheted straight right into the deep rough.  It took us at least 4 1/2 minutes to find the ball (just under the 5 minute limit) and I had no shot, except to hack it back to fairway.  I made bogey and tried my best to shrug off the bad bounce.  Two holes later, I three putted #16 for bogey and then struggled to par #17 and #18 to complete my round.  The last 90 minutes of that round were exhausting, stressful, and frustrating.

ROUND 3 - Right back out on the Stadium Course for round 3, I hoped to get some revenge for that tough finish to the second round.  I hit the ball fantastic, but once again struggled to rack up birdies.  However, finishing the third round with a birdie on #9 was a big boost to my confidence.  At that point, the tournament was only half finished and I had total belief that I still hadn't played my best golf.

ROUND 4 - Similar story in round 4 as compared to round 2 and 3.  I hit it great, but only made 2 birdies.  Only made 1 putt outside of 10 feet, but luckily I only made one bogey.

ROUND 5 - Now we're getting into the interesting part of the tournament.  My first 10 holes in the 5th round were a struggle.  No birdies and I finally ran into a bad streak, which included 3 bogies and a double bogey in a 5 hole stretch.  It happened very quick and in the span of about 90 minutes, I went from 5-under to even par with at least 100 golfers ahead of me.  I wasn't happy walking from #1 to #2, but it was a long walk so I was able to release the anger and restart the round.

The final 8 holes were a necessary hot streak that got me back into the golf tournament.  All week I was waiting for my game to heat up and for the birdies to start flowing.  Funny that it took until I played my worst stretch of golf to finally open up and get aggressive.

#2, I hit a 3-wood about 280 yards, and knocked a lob wedge to 3 feet - birdie.

#3, I flagged a 6-iron that landed a foot from the hole, but it released just through the green.  I chipped it up to a foot - par.

#4, right before I stepped into the shot I told myself to take dead-aim, and I did - hitting a 7-iron to 2 feet - birdie.

#5, I had 234 to the pin for my second shot (again, this is the hole in the picture above, but this time the pin is front right, hugging the water).  I planned to hit a 4-iron at the front left corner of the green.  That would leave me a hole-able chip.  Instead of playing to the front left corner, I pushed my 4-iron right at the pin.  It carried the water by a couple of feet, got a perfect hop and rolled right past the hole to 6 inches - tap in eagle!

#6, awful pulled tee shot, chip to 20 feet, but buried the par putt.

#7, lob wedge to about 8 feet and rolled the putt in - birdie

I had good looks for birdies on #8 and #9, but couldn't knock those in.  That was ok because my confidence was back.  I shot 32 on the back nine (with a bogey) and felt I would need 32-32 in the final round to earn a full card.

ROUND 6 - Finally I got off to a quick start in a round with a birdie on #10.  They moved the tees up on #15 to entice people to go for green in two (it's an island green, surrounded by water).  I hit a bad drive into the rough so I had to lay-up.  Turned out that I was lucky because both of my playing competitors hit their 2nd shots into the water.  I wedged my 3rd shot to 12 feet and made the putt.  My putter warmed up more on the next hole with an 18 footer for another birdie.  I made the turn with a 33 (just shy of my goal, 32).  On #1 I hit one of my worst drives of the week, blocking it way right.  My caddie talked me out of trying a miracle shot, instead punching a 6-iron to the front of the green.  I punched it just short of the green and easily got up and down to save par.  I owe my caddie one for that decision because the miracle shot would've lead to a bogey or double bogey pretty easily.  A few holes later I had to lay up on another reachable par-5, but my wedges bailed me out.  I hit a gap wedge to 10 inches from about 115 yards for my 4th birdie of the day.  My only bogey of the day came on #6 when I pulled my approach into the greenside bunker.  After that bogey, I had a sinking feeling that my chances of earning my card were very slime, but I knew every birdie would help me get better conditional status.

I finally hit a good drive on a par-5 and hit a 3-wood just through the green.  A chip to 3 feet gave me a birdie and made up for the bogey on the previous hole.  On #9, the final hole of the tournament I hit a perfect drive right in the middle.  I had 154 yards to a front left pin (water was short of green and left of green) - it was a perfect 9-iron.  It landed about 20 feet past the hole, in a slope, and spun back to about 15 feet.  I'll give my caddie the due credit for a great read on the birdie putt.  The entire slope of the green made me think it would slide left to right the whole way, but my caddie said it would only break for the first half of the putt.

"Half way to the hole, you want the ball to be inside the cup"

He was dead on because half way there, it straightened out and drop into the center of the cup.  It might seem like that was just another birdie, but that moved me from T67 to T56 place.  That will help me get into at least 1 more tournament.


WHAT IT ALL MEANS - They haven't released the schedule for 2014, but I can tell you that it begins in South America.  Columbia, Chile, and Brasil are the first 3 events, then Panama and Louisiana.  Since I have conditional status I will be on the bubble for all of those events.  Whatever events I get into, the more money I make, the more my status will improve with each reshuffle.  The reshuffle happens after every 4 events and you get ranked by the money list.

Whenever I do get in, I'll post an update.

Happy New Year,
Neil

Web.com Tour Q-School Quick Notes

Sometime in the future I will write a post that details each of the 6 marathon rounds at PGA West.  For now I have some simple stats/notes during my 108 holes.

1. I liked hearing, "from River Falls, WI - Neil Johnson," when I was announced.
2. Putts per round - 27, 31, 29, 29, 26, 24
3. Played Nicklaus Tournament course 3 times - only made 3 bogies, one each round.
4. 108 holes, only 1 3-putt, 16th hole of the 2nd round (#16 on Stadium course).
5. 108 holes, only 1 double bogey, 8th hole of 5th round (#17 on Stadium course).
6. Greens in regulation per round - 13, 13, 10, 12, 9, 11 - 68/108 - 63%
7. Sand saves for the week - 8/11 - 73%
8. Up-and-down for the week - 29/40 - 73% (with 2 chip-ins)
9. Putts longer than 10 feet made - first 4 rounds = 9, last 2 rounds = 9
10. First 23 holes, -5 under par
11. Next 44 holes, 0 even par
12. Next 5 holes, +5 over par
13. Final 26 holes, -10 under par! 

Lucky #13 was by far my favorite stat of the week.  I battled for 6 days and kept playing until the very last hole.  The birdie on the 108th will hopefully get me into an extra tournament or two.  I was also proud of the short games stats for the week - 73% from bunkers and around the greens.  A lot of those chips were hit to a foot or two, leaving a simple tap-in for par, very little stress.

I'll be back sometime around New Year's with a detailed post that explains what happened in each round.  I'll do my best to describe what the roller coaster of emotions felt like.  Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Neil

Web.com Tour Q-School Final Stage

Today is the first round of the Web.com Tour Q-School final stage.  It's a 6 round tournament that will end on Tuesday with 45 guys receiving a fully exempt status to begin the 2014 tournament schedule.  Results, info, stories can be found here.

I'm really looking forward to the week of golf.  I've already had a good week of golf in Palm Springs.  I've played a bunch of practice rounds on both of the tournament courses.  The tournament consists of 3 rounds on each of the two courses - the Nicklaus Tournament Course and the TPC Stadium Course.  They're both great courses, but the Stadium course should play much tougher than the Nicklaus course.

I've always loved Nicklaus courses and I have some really good memories on such designs (winning WI State Match Play and all 6 courses at Desert Mt.).  The Stadium course is a Pete Dye design, which means crazy bunkers, railroad ties, and water hazards.  I also have great memories from Dye designs ('11 WI State Open, '09 WI State Open), which is a good feeling.

TPC Stadium Course #17 island green (very similar to #17 at TPC Sawgrass)

I will tee of at 9:20 local time on Thursday (PST) and I think there will be some kind of live scoring.  I think each group will have a walking scorer so those of you sitting at work can enjoy updates all day long!

Neil

Advancing Through 2nd Stage

This is a fun post to write.  I get to recap my wonderful week in Houston were I advanced through 2nd stage and onto the Final stage of Web.com Q-School.  Before the week started, I posted a short note about how it's a great course for my game - and boy was that true.  This was far from a bomber's golf course - which another 2nd stage site was.  I consider myself longer than average off the tee, but my real advantage comes from my accuracy off the tee and my putting skills.  Let's dive into the daily round-up.  Follow along here.

ROUND 1 - 

Warm weather, mid-70s.  Light winds to begin with, but kicked up to 15mph by the end of day.

Started on #1 and I quickly faced a gut-check with a 10 foot made putt for bogey on #3.  I rebounded from that hole with a great stretch from 5-7.  Three birdies - hit 8-iron to 6 feet of 5, made 18 footer on 6, 2-putted on 7.  After that good run, I struggled for a majority of the rest of the round.  I made a double bogey on #9 from the middle of the fairway, chunked a sand wedge short of the green on #10 (again from the fairway), and hit my second shot into the water on #16.

It wasn't a pretty finish, but I had confidence that I would peak at the end of the week when the pressure would be at it's highest.  I even told my caddie that each round on the course was helping me become more comfortable and more familiar with the tee shots and the approaches and by the final round, I would be totally locked in.

ROUND 2 - 

Cold start, 45 minute frost delay, but it warmed up quickly.  Highs in the low 60s with light winds.

Started on #10 and had a rough start with 2 bogies on #11 and #13 caused by awful approach shots to the green.  After that start, I fell into a good rhythm and made 1 birdie and 9 straight pars before reaching the short par-5 7th.  My second shot to #7 almost carried the front bunker, but instead it buried DEEP under the lip and I had to take an unplayable (remaining in the bunker and dropping the ball).  I blasted it out to 15 feet and made the putt for par!  Then I hit a 7-iron to 8 feet on #8.  Never once did I imagine not making that birdie putt, but it was one of the few times all week that I misread a putt and had to tap in for par.  I finished the day on #9 with a disappointing bogey.  After 2 shots, I was just off the left of the green and had a straight forward bump and run chip.  I blew it 15 feet past the hole and didn't make the putt.

The 2nd round had a similar ugly finish as the 1st round did and after signing my scorecard, I went to the range to work off some of my frustration.  My caddie and I talked about how frustrating the last 40 minutes of that 2nd round were.  If the ball wasn't buried under the lip in the bunker, I could've gotten up and down for birdie.  Then the putt on #8 really surprised me because I had putted so well inside of 10 feet.  Top if off with a bad bogey on 9 where I failed to execute a simple chip.

After 2 rounds, my confidence in my swing was growing, but I needed to see the results on the course.  With half of the tournament still to play, my caddie said we needed 2 good rounds - not mediocre - but 2 good rounds and we'll move up the leaderboard.

ROUND 3 -

Another cold start (no frost), but temp was around 40 degrees when I arrived at course.  Temperature warmed up very quickly and stripped the clothing layers throughout the day.  Highs in mid-60s with light winds.

First group off of #1 and I was paired with Shaun Micheel, who won the 2003 PGA Championship at Oak Hill CC.

My frustration from the 2nd round had worn off and I was confident that I could put together a solid round and make a bunch of birdies.  I had a goal going into the 3rd round, that if I could hit 6 approach shots inside 10 feet, my score would be significantly lower (especially because my putter had been working so well).  On the front nine, I hit it inside of 10 feet on #1, #3, #6, and #7 - making birdie on all of them except #3.  On top of the better ball-striking, I stole a birdie on #9 by making a 40 foot putt that was straight down hill.  A player in my group had a 45 footer, on a similar line, and I watched him roll it right into the cup.  I followed him in, but I definitely learned from his - my initial read was quite different from my final read.

Making the turn after a 3-under 33, I felt good, but a bad double bogey on #10 (tee shot in fairway bunker, then 3-putt from 15 feet) soured that good feeling.  I quickly forgot about the double bogey and played really well on the last 8 holes, including 2 birdies on #13 and #15.  I made about an 18 foot putt on #13 and hit a lob wedge to about 3 feet from 80 yards on #15.  I had a great chance on #16 after  I reached the putting surface in 2 shots, but 3-putted for par.  I finished with a 3-under 69 and I felt great about how I was hitting the ball, putting the ball, and how comfortable I was beginning to feel on the course.

ROUND 4 -

Warm weather, low 70's.  Light winds throughout the day.

My final round was a very nervous start.  I didn't hit a single good shot on #2 and made a bogey.  Plugged my tee shot in a greenside bunker on #3, luckily got up and down (making a 15 foot putt).  Then on #5 I hit it into the right rough, hit an overhanging pine tree on my second shot and made another bogey.

It was on my walk from 5 green to 6 tee that I started to calm down and play golf like I had the rest of the week.  I admitted that I was extremely nervous, which was normal.  Worse than being nervous, I was fearful of playing poorly and failing to advance through 2nd stage.  Nerves are a natural emotion that everybody gets and having nerves is a good thing.  Fear, on the other hand, is not a good thing.  It clouds your mind with negative thoughts and makes every muscle tight, which severely hinders a golf swing.  I told myself to stop being afraid of failing because my desire to succeed should out weigh that fear by 10x.

            "You want this.  You've practiced to get yourself in this exact situation.  Now prove to yourself that you have the skills, patience, and mental toughness to play 13 great holes of golf."

The pep talk really helped because I played 13 great holes of golf from the 6th tee until the 18th green.  I ended up making the cut on the number, but I definitely had several great chances on those last 13 holes that could've put me way ahead of the cut.

My first birdie on the day came on #7.  I was hole high in 2 shots and hit a perfect flop shot to about 8 inches, tapping in to get one of those early bogies back.  On #8 I hit an arrow 7-iron to about 10 feet, but couldn't make the quick, downhill, slicing putt.  On #10 I hit an 8-iron to about 5 feet, right over the flagstick, but again couldn't make the quick, downhill putt.  Walking to #11 tee, my caddie said that my putting routine was a little quicker than it had been all week, so from that point on I made sure to slow it down a bit on the greens.

The next par-5, #14, I hit a perfect drive, then pushed my 4-iron into the green side bunker.  I splashed it out to 7 feet and thought for sure I'd make another birdie to get back to even-par on the day, but my quick, downhill, slicing putt just slid by.  Do you notice a theme with the quick, downhill birdie putts?  I had a lot of them in the final round.

I finally got 2 straight birdies on #15 and #16, but they were much more unlikely than what I could've done on #8, #10, & #14.  My tee shot on #15 found the trees right, and stopped on pine straw.  I only had about 60 yards to the pin and if I could hit it 50 yards to the top of a ridge, the ball would roll straight down to the hole.  I landed it just short of the ridge and on it's 2nd bounce, the ball checked up, and trickled straight down to the hole - 3 feet away.  My birdie on 16 started with a pulled drive towards the water.  I thought it was wet, but my caddie wouldn't let me grab a new ball out of the bag because he thought it stayed short.  Sure enough, the ball was 1 foot from the water, inside the hazard line, but on grass.  My only shot was a chip shot down the fairway, leaving myself a wedge in for my 3rd shot.  I was standing in wet mud, choking up to the metal on the club, and chipping the ball about 100 yards down the fairway.  It ran just through the fairway and into the rough, but on my 3rd shot I was able to hit a full gap wedge and use the slopes on the green to funnel the ball close to hole.  My ball stopped about 10 feet from the hole and I rolled that putt in.

One birdie from pine straw and another one from the water hazard!

Two great iron shots on #17 and #18 (6-iron and 5-iron respectively) allowed me to 2-putt for pars and shot a final round 71.  I played the last 13 holes 3-under par and only battled for a par on #9 and #13 (making 5 foot putts on both).  The rest of the holes I was staring at a birdie chance.

As fearful as I was for the first 5 holes, I was equally as patient, focused, and controlled for the final 13.  Trust me when I say that the nerves increased exponentially as the day went on, but I remained call and patient, even after those birdie putts failed to fall.  I didn't catch myself thinking about what the cut would be or how many birdies I needed to make.  I was just in my game, hitting each shot, and accepting both the good and the bad.

My focus was so clear that I was able to visualize the shots in the air.  I "watched" them go into the fairway, or land on the green, and I "watched" putts drop into the hole.  In the past, I've had to close my eyes to visualize the shots, but not on that final day.

After signing my card, my caddie and I hung out in the locker room for a while.  He needed a few beers.  I just looked at the leaderboard on my phone, making sure that I was good.  Once my score was posted, my phone started blowing up with texts, tweets, calls, and messages from EVERBODY!  At first I responded to anybody who congratulated me, but eventually I started falling behind.  I'd be writing a text to one friend when another one comes in from a relative.  When my caddie and I left the golf course, we were starving, so we went to dinner.  Throughout dinner I kept my phone in my pocket, but kept feeling it vibrate every couple minutes because of an incoming text or email.

Everytime my phone vibrated, I got a tingly sensation throughout my body.  I smiled to myself knowing that I had overcome a big hurdle during that final round.  I had embraced my nerves, accepted my fear of failure, and allowed my skills to perform each shot.

Not a single person at that restaurant had a better meal than I did that night (and I don't even know what I ate)!

Neil

2nd Stage Starts on Tuesday

2nd Stage of Web.com Q-School begins this week.  I'm in Houston, TX at Deerwood GC.  It's a great course for me, where you have to hit it straight off the tee and the greens are difficult.  If you miss a fairway, you definitely have tree trouble.

For you film fans, this course is where they filmed the movie 'Tin Cup'.  The famous 18th hole in the movie is the 4th hole on this course and it's actually a par-4 (a really difficult one).  I'll try to remember to take a picture of the green, which will probably look familiar and they also have a plaque in the fairway.

Here's a link to the tournament info.  On Tuesday, you can click on the 'Results' tab to see the leaderboard.

Neil