7 weeks to go and then the Playoffs

Hey guys.. it’s been a while since I have posted and this will probably be my only post until the playoffs. The game has come around and I’m playing some good golf. I’m 74th on the money list with 7 regular season events to go. The Top 75 make the playoffs of the Web.com Finals. It’s been a great ride so far and the season is flying by. This week we are in Salt Lake City, Utah Playing the Utah Championship. A beautiful course that you have to keep the ball in the fairway and make putts. That usually helps at any golf course you play, but you will need it this week and next week in Boise. It’ll be a shootout.

Here’s the remaining 7 weeks of the regular season:
Salt Lake City, Utah
Boise, Idaho
Kansas City, Missouri
San Francisco, California
Springfield, Missouri
Knoxville, Tennessee
Portland, Oregon

Maybe I’ll post again soon, but you guys can keep up at pgatour.com/webcom

Mexico and Midland

There were two first for me over the last two events. My game has been coming around the last 4-7 weeks and the scores were slowly starting to reflect it. In Mexico, I made my first cut. It was a long time coming. To get the monkey off my back it felt great. Also, I was playing alright that week, but there was still a lot of sloppy play. Careless bogeys, bad decisions off tees and such. I made the cut and knew how much better I should and couldve played – silver lining.

This past week I was in Midland, Texas. Home of the black gold, tumbleweeds, and some pretty good Mexican food. The golf course was an old style country club.. tree lined fairways, doglegs, really good par 3s, and a lot of wind and dust. The fairways were runways. I shot rounds of 73-68-65 and was tied for 7th when play got suspended the last round due to extreme wind. They counted the first three rounds and I finished tied for 9th. First Top Ten this week. Solid week and looking forward to teeing it up in  Valdosta, Ga this week.

Chitimacha Louisiana Open

I played pretty well this week in Lafayette. I still didn’t manage to score as well as I should have. I fired 72-68 and missed the cut by one. I had a 12 footer to make the cut on the last hole and just ran it by the edge.

I’m being pretty short on this post because it has been a long month on the road. It was a good trip and it flew by. I didn’t play the golf I wanted to play, but this game is funny. I played better than all my scores and today was a day that was more like it. It’s on the verge of being really good and I have to stay patient and keep my body in form for the road this year. It’s not the start I wanted or envisioned, but there are a lot of good things going on and some things that are so close to being where they need to be. A week off before this coming week and then off to Mexico. It’s time for some good rest and practice.

Panama Claro Championship

We’re in Panama City, Panama this week on the 3rd leg of the 4 week stretch. It’s not what I imagined it would be.. tons of skycraper condos. I guess I knew there would be a bourbon street smell and temperatures like MS in June, but those didn’t hit me until I got here. I like it though. The foods been good and it’s laid back. Pretty easy to be laid back when you have three things on one’s mind though… golf, eat, sleep.

The course is a good track. It’s something between a Laurel CC off the tee and a Canebrake into the greens. It’s going to be a good test in the wind. I tee off at 12:50 on Thursday and 7:55 on Friday. Lookimg forward to a good week and putting the game together!

Carlos Sainz Jr on 8 tee

Brasil Championship Recap

So this week in Brazil there was a lot of good things going on. It was the best I’ve struck the ball since December. I couldn’t be more excited with the adjustments I made going into the week and looking forward the rest of this 4 week stretch. I hit 30/36 greens and had so many 8-20 footers for birdie. Unfortunately, I couldn’t seem to roll them in. A lot of lip outs, misreads, and a few poor putts. I’ve been working hard on putting for quite sometime and that’s usually the best part of my game

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It’s just a matter of time before it clicks and seems easy. It frustrating to miss the cut with how well I struck it, but that’s the game I play. There are a ton of positive things from this week and it’s right on the edge from coming all together. I have two more weeks on the road in Panama City, Panama and Lafayette, Louisiana. These next two weeks will bring some good golf and get the ball rolling for the year!

Brasil Championship

Tomorrow is the start of the Brasil Championship and the golf course is great. It’s tight with some heavy rough and slick greens. All bermuda grass too! I feel right at home on it. The name of the game is fairways and I’ve had some great work since Chile. I tee it up at 8:00 on Thursday (6am central time) and 12:50 on Friday. I really like playing this course and excited to get started.

On Brazil.. it a different place. 22 million people in Sao Paulo that speak Portuguese. English and broken Spanish gets a gringo nowhere. I’m lucky to have met a guy last year in DC that turned out to live a mile from Sao Paulo Golf Club. He’s my caddy, translator, and driver for the week. To be half way around the world in one of the biggest cities in the world, it’s a small world. I’d like to thank Felipe Cocco for doing that this week.. one of the smartest dudes I’ve ever met. I’ll post again at the end of the week.

Chile Classic

This week was the Chile Classic in Santiago. Truely a beautiful city and an awesome place to be! The weather and views of the Andes Mountains couldn’t have been better. If only the scores were as good as the place! I played much better than what I scored, but the numbers were pretty pathetic. 72-77. No bueno amigo! I had trouble off the tee and put myself in some poor positions into the greens. There were a few bad breaks thrown in there, but that’s golf at times. Both rounds I threw an easy 4-7 shots away. The game is good though. I had a quick session practicing today and then played another club in the city to get on the golf course. Some timing working on ball position with the longer clubs and hitting some wedges like I should was a great reinforcement that it’s really close. I’m excited about next week in Sao Paulo, Brazil and hope the weather is kind to us gringos.

Where’s your focus?

I got the ball rolling for the 2014 season this week in Bogota, Colombia. It’s a pretty unique place. If any of you guys want to pick up 30-40 yards off the tee just hop on a plane and come play some golf here. We’re at 8,000 feet elevation and the ball goes 10-15% farther. Drives of 330 and 7 irons flying 190, pretty wild!

So on the topic ‘where’s your focus?’. I had a good week of preparation and was ready to get going. I had a different last range session on Wednesday, but I was excited to get started. Why was my focus based on outcome and thinking of score the first round when I know that’s not how you play good golf? I’m not sure, but I am glad I nipped that thought on the first round of the year. During the second round, I graded myself on how well I ran my routine after every shot to get in the mind frame of focusing on that. I played like I did the last 5 months of last season. It’s disappointing to miss the cut and post a first round like I did. It’s also exciting to realize how important it is to understand where your focus is on the course to play the game like it’s suppose to be played. It’s a long season and to realize how important that is in the first round of the year is nice.

The next trip is in two weeks to Chile, Brazil, Panama, and Louisiana.

Waste Management Monday Q

It felt good to get back in competition today in Phoenix, Az. There were over 120 guys for 3 spots into the crazy Phoenix Open this week and I posted a -2 par 70 at McCormick Ranch Golf Club. I played some ok golf out there, but it felt really good to compete and tee it up. I didn’t qualify for the event but I’m feeling good about heading to Bogota, Colombia in 2 weeks for the first Web com Tour event. I’m staying out here a couple more days to play some rounds of golf in the desert sun before I head back for a week and get ready for Colombia.

2014

The 2014 season is on the verge of kicking off and everything in the offseason has been great besides the weather in Mississippi. There has been some really good practice and workout sessions indoors over the last month and now I am ready to start sharpening up the game on the golf course. I leave January 23rd to sunny Arizona and go to the PING Factory to finish out dialing in the new I25 Driver and then do the Waste Management Monday Qualifier. I’ve had cabin fever all month. I am ready to start teeing it up daily and working on my game on the golf course. The body, mind, and swing feels good and its all about putting in the reps on the course now. I believe its going to be a great year and I’m excited to get going in South America in a few weeks!