Shell Houston Open : Monday Qualifying 73

Today I finished my round at a +1 73 ... Please don't be fooled. I got off to a boring start hitting all four greens and tapping in each of those 4 putts. I was somewhat upset with not making the putts or even one of them because I spent a lot of time on my putting the last week and yesterday in practice we played 9 holes i made 5 of 7 tries at birdie yesterday to finish 5 under for nine holes. Today I even gave myself a 20 foot birdie putt on hole #4 which is the toughest hole and the toughest pin placement. So a quick recap of what happened today starting after 4 goes like this...

Hole 5 par 5 ... had a 71 yard flip over a bunker and landed 2 yards short on the lip of bunker, chipped it to 3 feet, heavy swinger... and missed. I came back with a birdie on the next and lipped a chip out for eagle on the 7th and tapped in birdie. The par 3 8th i stuck to 12 feet, downhill slight break, i just hit a little too firm, tap in par. Nine I par, Ten I par... The 215 yard par 3 #12 I birdie which was a great birdie and led me to the next par 5 which I lipped out again for eagle (I kid you not ... two lips on chips for eagle) and tap in birdie.

So I'm 3 under through 12 and I hit a great drive down the long 13th, 140 yards... pin right ball was below my feet and I just came out of the shot and it went into the bunker and underneath the lip... i missed par. Up and down for par on 14 par 3 and then another one of my 3 poor shots in scoring position that led to bogey. I had 104 yards into the 15th hole but the wind was blowing hard into my face. I would normally use a 57 degree wedge in that position but because of wind I even went up to a smooth choked down wedge... wind blew and I came up short and didn't get it up and down. So now I was only -1 and I knew that I really needed a miracle now to make it into the tournament. Two putt on the tough 16 for par and then I came to the "easy" 17th... a 318 yard par 4. Usually I would lay up have 100 yards in and a good shot at birdie but in my mind I needed to go eagle eagle finish. So I hit driver with wind blowing back into my face. This shot was a carry completely over water and I found it. I actually found it again on the next hole but I missed clubbed on the next one... the damage was done anyways, I knew I had to get into -5 at least really to have a chance. So I made a 7 there and went to 18 +2 ... I birdied the 18th and there you go a +1 73. In a tournament that round would have been a "disappointing" 69 but really if it wasn't for those three poor shots I made I would have had a serious chance at a spot into the SHO. These things happen and as I see the leader board (and it's not finished as I write) plenty of great players had a real tough time with this hole... At least I can say I didn't just try and come in with a 69 and have everyone say "great score". That would make up for missing the number by 3 or 4. I went for it and was happy how I played... I just wish I could've had those three strokes back. That's the way it is though in these Monday qualifiers... If you look at how the guy who shot 65 (there are 2 at the moment) you will notice they may have made only one mistake... and that's all you really get. When I made it into the Canadian Open I made only one mistake.

So there it is... The conclusion to a 3 month run at improving and chasing my goals. I feel like I have come a long long way from where I was in January and am a firm believer in the idea that i have a great shot at succeeding in this profession. I will be taking the next couple weeks off to go home and visit with friends and family. At that time I will be looking for extra help in sponsorship, so if you are reading this and want to be involved in my pursuit or you know of someone that might be interested please send me an email for details. I will be travelling west in march to make my way to the Canadian Tour Spring Q School... before then I will stop in Calgary to practice with a friend at his course and then onto Vancouver to meet up with Barry on the Canadian Tour. It's not a long way till then and I'm excited for what's to come. It's been a long three months, I worked super hard and the work in paying off. Please keep in touch and keep an eye on the blog ... I'm sure I will be seeing some of you shortly but thanks again for reading and being involved in what I'm doing. It's helped a lot and I will say it again, this is what I want to do and I feel like I'm on the right path.

JS