Bad News

I don't really know what to say or how to feel yet. I played my heart out and enjoyed every minute of Q-school this year, but in the end I just came up one shot short of advancing to the Final Stage. I have never been better mentally on a golf course than I was the last two days here in Houston at Second Stage. I never got ahead of myself or thought about a score that I needed to shoot. I never got down, discouraged, or scared when things didn't go my way. I just gave my full attention to every shot and really did have fun under the most intense pressure that I have ever felt on a golf course. My execution was not great this week. I missed quite a few shots here and there, but I never stopped believing that I would make it. I didn't make it today, but I still believe that I will reach my goal of playing on the PGA Tour soon.

I played solidly today, but missed a few birdie opportunities and made too many mistakes to get the job done. A poor iron shot into the first got an awful break when it plugged deep into the face of a front bunker. That led to an opening bogey. Poor mid-iron shots on the 9th and 14th holes resulted in my other two bogeys of the day. I offset those bogeys with three birdies, but again failed to convert birdie opportunities on any of the par-fives. The one that really stings right now (and has me feeling a little heart-broken as I write this) came on the final hole of the day. The 18th is a long par-five, but the tees had been moved up two tee boxes so that it was actually reachable in two shots. I wasn't thinking about score, but did know that a closing eagle or birdie would give me a chance to advance to the final stage. I missed my drive badly on the heel of my driver, and the short tee shot left me no chance to reach the green in two. I laid up down the fairway but advanced the ball closer to the green than I had intended to and left myself a very difficult 65 yard wedge shot off of a very tight lie to a hole cut on a downslope just over a bunker. I gathered up my courage and confidence and executed one of the greatest wedge shots of my life, settling the ball just three feet behind the hole. I just couldn't calm my nerves over the putt, though, and shoved it into the right lip and watched mortified as the ball spun out of the hole. In the end that putt would have been enough to push me through to the final stage, and it is the only putt that I missed all week from inside of five feet. I want it back so badly, but there is no use in thinking like that. The bottom line is that I played fairly well for the week but made a lot of little mistakes here and there and one big one on the last green. I'm not far at all from where I want to be and I know I will be there soon, so I will just keep my head up and keep moving forward.

My disappointment right now is great, but I can honestly say that my belief in myself is still growing. I know that I'm good. I know that I belong at golf's highest level. I know that I can make it there.

I'm not really sure what comes next. I'll take a little time to figure that out and set some new goals moving forward, but you can bet that good things are in my future. I can't wait to share more good stuff with you. Thank you for following me and cheering for me. I really appreciate everyone's support. Check back in a couple days to see what's happening.