I DON’T believe in skipping stages in someone’s golf development. From the beginning of a golf career, you have to go through milestones. You start playing club golf as a young child and get your handicap. Then you’re travelling to junior events and, if you excel, you play open-age amateur events as a precursor to the elite, international amateur circuit. You slowly go through these stages and I don’t think skipping them treats you well. It’s why I didn’t necessarily feel ready to compete consistently on the PGA Tour until I became a member through the most recent Web.com Tour Finals.
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IT MIGHT SOUND STRANGE THAT A GOLFER DIDN’T IMMEDIATELY WANT TO GO STRAIGHT TO THE BIGGEST AND BEST CIRCUIT. But I remember feeling that if I got my card through the 2017 Web.com Tour Finals then I would have potentially skipped one of those phases. I had played 10 events on the PGA Tour courtesy of sponsor’s invitations and did quite well. (Luck made six cuts from 10, which included a tie for fifth at the Quicken Loans National, to earn $US362,230). I then played Web finals and didn’t secure one of the 25 promotions on offer. But I wasn’t actually that unhappy about it. I said to my (then) caddie ‘Bussy’ (Matthew Tritton), “I don’t know if it would have been great for my development to go straight out to the PGA Tour in 2018.”
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I FELT PLAYING ONE SEASON ON THE WEB.COM TOUR WAS GOING TO GIVE ME MORE OF AN EDGE AND ACT AS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE – AND IT DID. I learned a lot more off the course than anything because this past year was a grind. I’m happy I did go through that and I look back on that as something I had to experience in my development as a tour player. I think the fact I pushed through Web finals and came out on the bright side has put me in a good spot, mentally, for my promotion to this current PGA Tour season.
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I GUESS I’M AT A POINT WHERE I REALLY HAVE TO LOOK AT TOUR GOLF AS MY CAREER, WHEREAS LAST YEAR, WITH THE SPONSOR’S INVITES, IT WAS UNCHARTERED TERRITORY. No one expects a rookie to secure a card through invites and so there was less pressure. This year I’ve got that added pressure of trying to keep a PGA Tour card. I’m still not that worried about it because I realise this is only my second year as a pro; I’ve got so much time and things I need to learn. This is a 30-plus-year career and you have to be patient. People in other industries take years and years to secure high-paying jobs and I don’t think tour golf is that different. Having said that, I’d prefer not to spend any more time on the Web.com Tour and, ideally, I’d like to stay on the PGA Tour for the rest of my career.
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THIS IS MY FIRST SEASON AS A FULLY FLEDGED MEMBER OF THE PGA TOUR AND THAT MEANS I’M BACK AT THE LEARNING PHASE ONCE AGAIN. Every week I’m rocking up not knowing the course and that’s always a challenge. But it’s something every newcomer has to go through on tour, so you try to put a great team around you and do the best you can.
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MY RESULTS HAVE BEEN MIXED IN THESE FIRST FEW EVENTS OF THE NEW SEASON, BUT IT’S JUST A MATTER OF WARMING INTO IT AND GETTING TO KNOW THE GOLF COURSES AND THE TYPE OF PREPARATION THAT WORKS BEST FOR ME. I have always seemed to thrive under pressure and it’s certainly there, given those of us in the Web.com Tour graduate reshuffle get re-ranked five times throughout the PGA Tour season. I’m confident I’ll adapt as I have throughout the various stages of my career up until this point. I’m pretty lucky to be able to call this my job.
– written with Even Priest
