Mylan Classic (Pittsburgh, PA) - Round 1 and 2

I met Kevin Wednesday morning for the pro-am. We had a good pro-am/practice round as we got acquainted with the golf course once again. With softer fairways this year, the course is playing a little longer but seems to be in better condition then years past. After the round, we spent some time practicing and getting back into the routine after a few days off.

We had an afternoon tee time on Thursday and Kevin got off to a great start. Starting the day on the tenth, Kevin birdied 11, 12, 14, and 17. He added one more birdie on the par 3, 5th and we finished the day with a 5 under par - 66. It was a solid, no bogey, stress free day. We finished the afternoon hitting a few balls on the range before calling it a day.

Friday's 7:30 tee time welcomed us with some cool temperatures. We haven't seen temps this cool in a long time but it didn't take long for it to warm up. Kevin had another great day ball striking. After barely missing the green on number one, he hit 16 of the next 17 greens. Unfortunately, the putter would not cooperate. We could only manage one birdie through 10 holes before we found some trouble on the par 5, 11th. After a drive down the left side of the fairway, the balls kicks left, hits a cart path and then bounced through the rough into a water hazard. After a drop, lay up shot and then a wedge to 25 feet, we ended up three putting for a double bogey. Running a little hot, Kevin let the putter go at the bag and the bag won. I decided not to tell Kevin until he hit his tee shot on the par 3, 12th. After hitting a 7 iron to about 15 feet, I let him know that the putter was bent and we would not be able to use it for the rest of the day. He decided to putt with his three wood and he did pretty damn good with it. He made two birdies and one bogey to finish the round at even par (71). His five under total leaves us in 13th place heading into the weekend.

We tee off tomorrow 11:27 with Marc Turnesa and Aaron Goldberg.

Knoxville - Final Round

Kevin had a great day. We started the day in 51st place, shot 64 and finished in 14th. Kevin had another great day of ball striking and we finally made a few putts. The day was started with a nice chip in on the first hole for birdie and Kevin never looked back. The only time we were in a bit of trouble was on the par 4, 15th hole. After the drive finished in a fairway bunker, with his stance up close to the lip, Kevin missed the green right. But a great semi-flop shot to 4 feet saved the par and kept the round together. We finished the day off with another great up and down on the par 5, 18th after our second shot finished left of the green. That up and down gave us our seventh birdie for the day with zero bogeys. The hard work he has been putting in on his short game is paying off. It is keeping the bad days around par or better and the good days in the 60's.

After the round, we both grabbed a quick lunch and hit the road. I am excited to have Monday off at home so I can take Albany and Alex to their first day of school. I will drive up to Pittsburgh Tuesday and Kevin flies in Tuesday night. We will meet Wednesday morning for the pro-am. It's going to be fun to return to a place where we have so many great memories.

Third Round - Knoxville (Web.Com)

It was another solid day of ball striking but for the second straight day we could only manage two birdies. Through three rounds, Kevin is ranked 3rd in greens hit but 72nd in putting and 67th in total birdies. His one under par (70) today puts us at 5 under total and in a tie for 51st place.

We tee off tomorrow at 8:42 paired again with Russell Knox. When we finish, we both will go home for a few days before heading up to Pittsburgh. Kevin is scheduled to play in the Wednesday pro-am next week, so we will use the pro-am as our practice round.

Update - (PGA) Greensboro and (Web.Com) Knoxville

Last week Kevin played the last event before the FedEx playoffs at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, NC. It was nice to have another event close to home as we both had family and friends with us. At the start of the week, it looked like Kevin would need a top 5 finish to make it into the playoffs. We started the tournament a little loose with the driver and we struggled getting the ball in the fairway during the first two rounds. But Kevin's short game and putter once again kept us in the game and we made the cut on the number. The ball striking was much better on the weekend and we managed a great round of 66 on Sunday. Finishing the week t-46th.

When it was all over, Kevin finished 153rd in the FedEx Cup standings. Now the Tour will play the FedEx Playoffs over the next six weeks which will include four playoff events, a week off, and the Ryder Cup. The next PGA Tour event for us will be the start of the Fall Series in Las Vegas during the first week of October. We have four events remaining on the 2012 PGA Tour schedule.

Since we will have some time off, our plan now is to play a few Web.Com events. This week we are in Knoxville, TN and then we will play the Mylan Classic in Pittsburgh, PA next week. Kevin won the Mylan Classic two years ago and had another chance to win last year. Playing near the lead all week, we found ourselves only one shot behind playing the 72nd hole, eventually finishing 5th. After the Mylan Classic, Kevin will take some much needed time off and prepare for the Fall Series. His time off will allow me to play in a few events of my own which will include the NC Mid Amateur and a few major club events at Mimosa Hills. It will be fun for me as I start preparing for a little competition of my own.

This week in Knoxville has been solid. Kevin has hit the ball well so far this week with rounds of 67-71. Today's round was a little frustrating as we hit 16 greens but could only make two birdies. This week's golf course on the Web.Com Tour is set up much easier then the normal PGA Tour courses we have seen all year. With softer conditions, wider fairways, thinner rough and a shorter golf course; Kevin has given himself great opportunities. We will just need to make a few more putts over the weekend and we can move right up that board. We tee off tomorrow at 9:45 with Russell Knox.

Reno - Tahoe Open

This week can be summed up as "vanilla". We played ok, hit it ok, etc. I feel that most, if not all, of our mistakes we made this week can be blamed on being tired. Five weeks in a row had Kevin mentally and physically tired. It was tough to stay focused.

Kevin's 12 point total finished t-63rd. We had to take two double bogeys this week when our ball stayed up in a tree on two separate occations. Some people will play an entire career without having a ball get stuck in a tree and It happened twice in two days for us.

When we finished today, Kevan and Brittany found out that their flight this afternoon was cancelled. They were rebooked on a later flight tonight. I am also flying the red eye home tonight. We are all looking forward to a week off before Greensboro.

Reno-Tahoe Open - Practice

Scoring this week will be the Modified Stableford System. The player with the most points wins.

Double Eagle: 8
Eagle: 4
Birdie: 2
Par: 0
Bogey: -1
Double or Higher: -3

Our practice sessions have been short and sweat this week. This is week number five in a row and the energy levels are low. Monday was a day off for Kevin. He arrived late Sunday night from Canada and spent the day with Brittany in Tahoe. I could not fly out until Monday, so I spent the day traveling. We met Tuesday morning for breakfast and then headed out to the course. Kevin had a workout and then we started our practice. After some short game work and ball hitting, we played nine holes with Scott Brown and Bobby Gates. The elevation at the golf course is 5500 feet. The ball travels 10-15% further in the high altitude so that will be an adjustment all the players will have to deal with this week. Since we played here last year, Kevin made the adjustment quickly and we had a good practice round.

Another affect the altitude has is oxygen. The lack of it at this altitude makes the body feel tired and sluggish. We were the second alternate for the afternoon pro-am, so we arrived late morning to start our practice. We did not have to play, so we went through our normal Wednesday practice. We had a nice 4 hour practice session and left mid afternoon for some much needed rest.

Our tee times this week will be 1:50 Thursday and 8:50 on Friday. We play with Peter Tomasulo and Gregor Main.