Q-School Finals - Final Round (Earning His Card Back)

Wow, what a great performance from Kevin. When I met Kevin in the morning, he was relaxed and focused. I could tell his back was feeling better because his rhythm was perfect right from the start of our warm up. He was swinging great and I knew he was ready for the challenge.

We got off to a hot start with birdies on 2, 4, 5, 7 and 9. He was hitting it so well, four of the five birdies came from inside 10 feet. We made the turn at 5 under par (31). His only "mediocre" swing came when I steered him away from the pin from 147 yards on the par 3 - 8th hole. Under the circumstances, it was one of the most impressive nine holes that I've seen.

The back nine was a little more conservative. We added one more birdie on 11th when he just missed an eagle putt from about 25 feet. That was offset by our only bogey on the tough 13th. Kevin closed it out with a great par putt on the 18th and we finished the day five under (67). Our 12 under total moved us into a tie for 11th. That means our 2012 PGA Tour "ranking number" will be almost exactly the same as last year when Kevin finished 11th on the Nationwide Tour money list.

2011 has been a wild ride. We had more then our share of lows. At times, lower then low. But I believe it made him into a better player. The thing that impress me the most about Kevin is his determination to continue to learn and improve. He has worked extremely hard with Rickey on his full swing and he continues to learn and understand the different shots in the short game. The old saying "what doesn't kill you, will make you stronger" fits us perfectly. I believe when we look back on his career many years down the road, 2011 will be the year that built him into a world class player.

I want to thank everyone for following us through out the year. All of the support has been amazing. It was great seeing most of you throughout the year at the different tournaments and I'm looking forward to seeing you all again next year.

Q-School Finals - Sixth Round (Tournament Course)

I don't have much time since I am about to catch a flight home. Kevin played an awesome round of golf today and shot five under par (67) to finish t-11th. I will post another blog tomorrow when I get home. Thanks to everyone for all of their support this week. Kevin and I are blessed to have such a great support team.

Q-School Final - Fifth Round (Stadium Course)

The weather conditions were ideal today. Kevin's three under round (69) moves us back into the top 25. Our -7 total is tied for 24th with one round to play.

Kevin played solid all day. He continues to drive the ball great hitting every fairway and only missed three greens. Unfortunately, we bogeyed all three holes when we missed the green. His back is still not feeling right. He said he has a constant "ache" and he has trouble getting through the ball on a few swings. After the round, he had more physio.

Strong winds are once again in the forecast for the final round. Some reports are 30mph while others are saying 15mph. Either way, we will have some challenging conditions and we will be prepared for anything.

We tee off the final round at 8:45 with Roberto Castro and William McGirt. Round six, here we come.

Q-School Finals - Fourth Round (Tournament Course)

It was one of the toughest days I have ever had on a golf course. We woke up this morning to cold and windy conditions. With winds blowing consistently 35mph, it made for an absolute brutal day. Kevin drove the ball great but we had a terrible time judging the yardages into the greens. We tried to manage the game but at times the conditions made us look foolish. But, with patients and attitudes wearing thin, Kevin's short game kept us in there. At the end of the day, we were only two swings (9th and 17th) and two three putts (4th and 10th) away from shooting a great under par round. Instead, we finished the day at 3 over par (75).

We now have fallen outside the "top 25 number". Our total of 4 under par is tied for 28th with two rounds to play. On a positive note, this was Kevin's first round over par since early October at the Fry's.com Open. He is still playing great. If we just stay focused and relaxed, we'll be fine.

We tee off tomorrow on the Stadium Course (10th tee) at 8:10. We are paired with Dicky Pride and Scott Parel.

Q-School Finals - Third Round (Stadium Course)

It was a cold start to the day with the temperature in the upper 40's as we started our warm up session. Kevin was having trouble getting his back loose and warmed up so he was a little stiff starting the round. A great 35 footer for birdie on our first hole (10th) to start the round helped get the round going. Kevin added two more birdies through the first 5 holes with a 3-putt bogey mixed in and we were 2 under through 5. Unfortunately, we could not make another birdie for the rest of the day.

It was one of those days where we "rode the fence". He hit plenty of good shots and good putts that hit the holes. But then we also had some missed shots on some good scoring opportunities. When we add it all up, we finished the day with a one under par round (71).

Tomorrow we move over to the Tournament Course. We play in the same group and tee off at 9:44 on number 1.

Finals - Second Round (Stadium Course)

We woke up today to 25-30 mph winds and gust up to 40 mph. The perfect desert weather turned nasty as temps hovered around 55 - 60 degrees with no sunshine. It was a completely different day.

Kevin was able to get off to an incredible start with a hot putter. Yardage and direction control was extremely difficult with the gusty winds and it made hitting greens next to impossible. But a nice short game and a hot putter took a bit of the pressure off. Kevin started the day with a nice 15 foot par putt on our first hole and never looked back. He only had one 2-putt green through 11 holes which also included two holed putts from off the green. His total of 10 putts through 11 holes put us 4 under for the day through 11 holes.

A missed green with a 2 iron on our 12th hole led to our first bogey. And then a miss judged pitching wedge on our 16th that only flew 88 yards finishing in a water hazard led to a double bogey. It was a tough way to finish off the round. We managed the game well all day with the exception of one bad mistake on our 16th. But on a positive note, Kevin's one under par round (71) on a difficult day kept pace. Our -6 total leaves us in 9th place and only 4 shots off the lead.

We tee off tomorrow at 8:28 on number 10 of the Stadium Course. We are paired with Jeff Maggert and Dean Wilson.