Hello from back in the Bay Area! We’ll start with the good stuff first, and I finished in solo-3rd place at the Ellie Mae Classic at TPC Stonebrae, which all-but-secured my PGA Tour card!! I shot 65-63-68-69 for a total of 15 under par, carding 22 birdies and 2 eagles in one off my most offensive weeks of the year.
I came to the Bay Area early and played my old home course, Sharon Heights, with Scout. Pictured is the par-3 6th hole, where I made my first par and my first hole-in-one! I felt much more rested, and got some good work in preparing for the event.
Stonebrae was one of the toughest walks of the year, and after a great 65 to start out the tournament, we started our second round at around 6pm because of fog delays in the morning. I played 9 holes that evening and then came right back for 9 more in the morning, shooting a career-best 63 and vaulting up to 2nd place. I took a quick nap, and went right back out for the 3rd, round, again shooting another round in the 60s.
I was very nervous Sunday morning, knowing that a round under par would likely get me my tour card. I got off to a good start, but a ball that got a terrible bounce on the 10th hole ended up 1” out of bounds, costing me two shots. But on the 15th hole I hit a 2iron from 292 yards to about 6’ for eagle, making the putt and moving me clear of a big tie at -14. With a par-par-bogey finish, I ended up solo 3rd, with enough points to almost guarantee me a PGA Tour Card.
Here are a picture of me with Travis and my local Bay Area crew, as well as the aftermath of a McNealy celebratory dinner- lots of ice cream of course!!
I headed to Portland on Monday morning, knowing that I wanted to play well and not leave my fate up to someone else’s play!