Room to Improve But Feeling Good about Round 1

I shot 69 (-2) in the first round of the Web.com Tour's Utah Championship. Given benign scoring conditions, that score doesn't stack up very well against the field, but I am pleased with how I felt. I was very comfortable and executed well early in the round, but struggled to score and posted ten pars and a bogey in my first 11 holes. From there I had four birdies and a bogey over my final seven holes. I really feel like I'm playing well and am continuing to improve each day. I still feel like this will be a special week for me. I play in the morning on Friday, and I know that if I stay composed and trust myself on each shot, I will post a good score. Come back for some good news in the evening. Thank you for following me!

Working Hard, Getting Better, and Enjoying a Beautiful Spot

Though the beauty in these pictures is absolutely breathtaking, I have had a very focused week of work thus far in Utah. My golf game showed some slight signs of rust on Monday after a very light week of practice last week, but I have improved steadily each day. My practice sessions this week have all been very focused and goal-oriented, and it is amazing how much sharper my game has felt every day. I really feel like I am setting myself up for a very good tournament. 

This week's event is at a course called Willow Creek Country Club just south of Salt Lake city. The course features fairly small landing areas off the tee and greens that require quite a bit of precision. Firm fairways and very firm greens combined with an altitude of nearly a mile high will put a premium on distance control. I feel very comfortable after three days of practicing at this altitude and am confident that I am ready for the challenge.

I did give myself a few hours off from golf on Wednesday morning to enjoy some "Mountain Time"! The first picture above is from the eighth tee box at Willow Creek, and the second picture is from the trail that I hiked. Obviously, this is a pretty cool place.

I get started on Thursday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. I am confident, composed, and ready to have a great week. Keep it here for nightly updates after my rounds. Thank you very much for following me. 

Uniquely Great Week

So, I didn't have the week that I had predicted I would, but the past seven days have been very productive in an unusual way. I had a very light week of work. Soggy East Tennessee weather bogged me down early in the week, and then, rather than being stressed and trying to play hyper-catch-up (which would have been difficult anyway because it truly rained every day), I decided to cash in one of my off-weeks from my work goals and enjoyed a really great life experience with my sweetheart, Alicia. We are pumped because Alicia recently accepted a job at the University of Tennessee, and she moved to East Tennessee on Wednesday. I can't tell you how excited we are to be in the same area code! We spent the last three days getting her settled and cruising around rainy East TN. To know that we are another step closer to starting our lives together is absolutely great!

From a golf standpoint, I'm feeling great, too. I certainly didn't have the week of practice that I like to have consistently, but I did enough to stay sharp. I feel like the relaxation has me recharged and ready to play well. I am on my to Salt Lake City for the Web.com Tour's Utah Championship, and will get there on Sunday evening. This will give me three full days of solid work before the tournament begins on Thursday. I am feeling very good and expect to continue improving.

Keep it here for updates from Utah. Thank you very much for following me and supporting my career!

Highest Web.com Finish... Even Better Coming

Sunday at the Web.com Tour's United Leasing Championship at Victoria National Golf Club was a long day! I teed off at 11:10 in absolutely beautiful weather. The temperatures were very mild for this time of year and the wind was as light as it had been all week. After solid play through the first three holes netted just three pars, I jumpstarted my round with some quality shots and one great putt to birdie holes 4, 5, and 6. I settled back down with pars on 7 and 8 and then a disappointing par on the reachable par-5 9th. Still, I was three under par and playing very nicely. Standing on the tenth tee, the weather took a dramatic turn for the worse. It started to pour down rain, and the officials suspended play. We thought it might be a quick passing shower, but soon realized that pop up thunderstorms were forming all around us. For a while it looked like the final round might actually be cancelled. After nearly four hours of sitting, waiting, and watching, we were told to go warm up because play would resume at five minutes after five o'clock. We warmed up in the rain, but as we headed back to our position on the golf course, the rain relented and we actually had very pleasant skies the remainder of the day. The golf course was soggy but held up surprisingly well. I returned to the tenth tee a little bit nervy and uncomfortable, but I was determined to stay in my routine and trust myself. I swung the club beautifully the entire rest of the day. Though I birdied hole 12 and then hit two quality shots on 13 to give myself another great look at birdie, I couldn't get a run going on my back nine. Two small blunders with the putter led to two dropped shots over my final five holes, but I actually played quite solidly during that stretch. The end result was a final-round 70 (-2), and a tie for 9th place finish.

That is my best finish thus far on the Web.com Tour, and I know that I can do better. I made some very uncharacteristic big mistakes this week--see the triple bogey and two double bogeys--and I feel like I am continuing to improve. I drove the ball beautifully on a tough driving course, and my putter did finally heat up a little bit this week, but I know that I can be better from short range on the greens. All-in-all, though, I feel absolutely great about my game and know that I am continuing to improve. I'll continue to say my signature line: great things are coming!

The Web.com Tour has this week off and then heads to Utah. I'll be there, and I'm pumped about it! I'm going to have a relaxing but thorough week of work, and I'll be ready to play well in Utah next week. Keep it here for updates along the way! Thank you for following me and supporting my career.

Exciting Saturday

My third round did not begin with the most encouraging scores. A nice par on the first hole gave way to a well-executed yet frustrating par on the second. Two quality shots left me 80 yards from the flag and in the middle of the fairway on the par-5 third hole. Facing an easy wedge shot, I completely bladed the ball some forty yards over the green into the water. I made a double bogey. I told myself that I was swinging well and that the poor wedge shot was an anomaly. I was right, and it showed. I stayed patient and positive and continued to hit good shots. The floodgates finally opened for me on the fifth hole. I made a putt from approximately 60 feet up a ridge on the fifth, and I proceeded to chip in twice and make a 25-foot putt over the next eight holes. I stood at one over par for the tournament when I reached the ninth tee box, and I was five under par when I walked off of the 13th green. That was an eagle-birdie-birdie-birdie-birdie stretch, and it was definitely exciting. I hit two great shots on the par-4 14th, but my four-iron approach didn't quite have enough oomph to reach the elevated green and I failed to get the pitch shot up and down. That bogey dropped me back to four under par, and that is where I finished after a very solid effort over the last four holes.

My Saturday round was a great comeback from a tough start. It was encouraging to see myself let go of the large blunder on the third hole and recover so quickly. I'm now in a good position to have a great finish. I'm going to be confident and trust myself in Sunday's final round. Come back for a great report in the evening. Thank you for keeping up with me!

Very Rough in Round 2, but Still in Good Shape

My second-round performance at Victoria National was not good on any account. I did hit a lot of very high quality shots, but I was erratic and made some big mistakes. My day featured a whiff from high grass right of the par-4 6th green (led to a triple bogey), a three-putt from three and a half feet (caused a double bogey on the par-4 17th), and an awful lot of nervous jitters. The triple bogey rattled my nerves, and I was not in good place mentally the rest of the day. With that said, I hit two solid shots on the difficult par-4 18th and easily two-putted for a par to post a round-2 score of 75 (+3). I currently stand at even par for the tournament and have advanced safely to the weekend. In fact, despite my crazy day on Friday, I am just seven shots behind the leader and am in good shape to make a move over the final two rounds.

Though my performance in Friday's round and the mental anxiety I allowed to affect me definitely bother me a little, I still feel very good about the state of my game and am particularly excited about the week of work I have had to this point. I feel great about the practice I have been having, and I am going to relax and let my talent shine this weekend. Great stuff is coming--come back to read about it! Thank you for following me.

Good Start in Indiana

I played beautifully in round one of the United Leasing Championship at Victoria National Golf Club. I hit just two shots all day that I would consider to be bad, and I posted a four-birdie, one-bogey round of 69. The course is demanding but has been softened by much rain early in the week, and therefore is yielding some good scores. My opening round has me in great position, though, and I feel like I have even better rounds to come. I play at 2:22 p.m. central time in round 2, so come back late Friday evening for a mid-way report from this week's Web.com Tour event. Thank you for following me!