Knoxville Open - Final Round

We put ourselves in position and had our chance. After getting off to a rocky start, pulling two six irons in a row, Kevin settled into the round and played well. We made the turn at one over for the day (37) and made birdies on 10, 12, and 13 to get within one shot of the lead with 5 holes remaining. On 14, our tee shot found the fairway bunker only 115 yards from the hole but we caught a bad break as the ball finished close to the edge. Kevin could not get his left foot into the sand at address and had to stand with it outside the bunker on a severe downslope. As he swung the wedge, his left foot slipped down the slope and his natural reaction was to come up out of the shot. He thinned it over the green, out of bounds. We then had to drop another ball in the bunker, slightly plugging in the sand, he hit his next shot heavy into the greenside bunker. When we got to the greenside bunker, we found the ball buried just over the front lip of the trap and he had no backswing. We had to play the ball out sideways away from the hole. The end result was a quadruple bogey 8 and our chance of winning was washed away in a matter of 5 minutes. It was a horrible feeling because we did nothing wrong. He worked hard all week to get himself into a position to win the tournament and it all ended because of a lie and stance.

We question why things like this happen, it sucks and it really stings the psyche. But after a few days, we have to look at the big picture. Kevin played well enough to win the golf tournament. We finished 2nd in putts per green in regulation and led the field in birdies. Golf is a process. We are now back in Pittsburgh (Mylan Classic), site of his last win on the Nationwide Tour. We should have a lot of confidence heading into this week and if we continue to build on what we are doing, we'll have another opportunity this week.

After Sunday's round, Kevin and I both went home. He is flying into Pittsburgh this afternoon (Tuesday). I drove up yesterday after taking Alex to his first day of school and Geraldine out for breakfast for her birthday. We are going to meet this afternoon for a nine hole practice round and then we are in the pro-am tomorrow afternoon.

Knoxville Open - Third Round

We had a tough front nine. After opening with a birdie on the first and being one under through 3 holes, we made a bad club selection off the tee on number 4 and hit a perfect 3 wood through the fairway into the water hazard. That mistake led to a bogey and then a bad swing off the next tee sent our tee shot out of bounds. After re-teeing, Kevin hit some great shots and was able to make a 10 footer to save a bogey. We finished the front nine with 4 pars and shot one over (37).

The momentum finally changed on 10 when Kevin chipped in for eagle. We were able to follow that up with 3 more birdies and came in with a 5 under par (31) on the back nine. The 4 under (68) puts us 16 under through three rounds and t-2nd. The leader is one shot ahead at 17 under.

Today was a perfect example of why it is so important to stay patient and keep a positive attitude. You don't have to be perfect. Kevin overcame a poor course management decision followed by a bad swing but worked his way back into contention. When he showed up in Knoxville on Tuesday, he had only one goal for the week....WIN. He has done all the right things so far and we are 18 holes away from reaching our goal. We'll try to give ourselves 18 more opportunities tomorrow and see what happens.

We tee off tomorrow at 1:00 with John Mallinger.   

Knoxville Open - Second Round

We had another solid day. Kevin got off to a great start with birdies on the first two holes. He continued to give himself great opportunities at birdie but was unable to connect. A poor swing with a six iron on the par 3 sixth hole led to our only bogey. Kevin was in control all day with the only difference from yesterday being the putter. But he stayed patient and birdied three of the last 5 holes to finish the day at 4 under par (68).

Our 12 under total leaves us tied for 4th going into the weekend. We tee off tomorrow at 12:50 with Brain Bateman.

Knoxville Open - Nationwide Tour

Kevin went home after the Wyndham Championship on Sunday. He took Monday off and I played in the NC mid-am qualifier in Winston Salam, NC. I'm happy to say that as bad as my game has been, I was able to shoot one over par (73) and qualified. I now have two weeks to get ready. The NC Mid-Am is being played at River Run CC in Davidson, NC on Sept. 9-11. I'm looking forward to the challenge.

Kevin and I arrived in Knoxville on Tuesday afternoon. We hit a few balls and then went out for a nine hole practice round. On Wednesday, we played off site at Rarity Point with Garrett Willis, Andres Gonzales, Keith Nolan, and few other of Garrett's friends. Unfortunately for Kevin, he had me as a partner and we got "killed". It was not fun.

But that all changed today and we had fun shooting 8 under 64. Kevin was in control. He only miss hit two shots all day. Both of those misses were iron shots that needed to be hit full with a draw. He got ahead of them and hit blocks with no turn to the left. But they were both left in decent positions. He was able to get the first one up and down and made a long birdie putt with the other. Kevin putted great. He received a tip from good friend, Scott Brown earlier in the week. He made an adjustment in his setup and he rolled it great. He made 9 birdies and had two great par saving putts on our 11th and 18th holes which kept the round intact.

We tee off tomorrow at 1:20.

Wyndham Championship - weekend

Kevin played well this weekend with the exception of a four hole stretch during Saturdays round. With rounds of 71 - 68 on the weekend, we finished four under par for the week and tied for 59th.

Unfortunately, we did not qualify for the FedEx playoffs. The PGA Tour will now be in the playoffs for the next five weeks. Because Kevin is a full time PGA Tour member, he has the option to play any Nationwide Tour event during this time. We have decided to play the next two weeks in Knoxville, TN and Pittsburgh, PA. After Pittsburgh, Kevin will take a few weeks off before the PGA Tour's Fall Finish. The Fall Finish consist of four events beginning in Las Vegas and finishing at Disney in Orlando, FL.  

Wyndham Championship - Second Round

It was another solid day. Kevin's ball striking was better then yesterday and we managed our way around the course nicely. We struggled once again with the putter and failed to make putts. We had a bogey-free round (67) with only three birdies.  Two of the three birdies were 2-putt birdies. Its hard to maintain a positive attitude when putts are not falling but we just have to keep giving ourselves the opportunities.

After the round, Kevin had a good practice session and then worked out. When we finished, I left and found a golf course to get a little practice in for myself. I was feeling good about things until I took the family to play putt-putt after dinner. I'm embarrassed to say, my wife beat me and my kids almost beat me.

We tee off tomorrow at 9:06 with Joe Durant. 

Wyndham Championship - First Round

It was a solid day. We didn't do anything special but we managed the round and gave ourselves some good opportunities. We were just a few putts from having a great round. The ball striking was a little shaky to start the round but Kevin hit every fairway and green on our final nine holes. The back nine 33 got us back to even (70) for the day and keeps us in the tournament.

We tee off tomorrow at 8:40am

Wyndham Championship (Greensboro, NC) - Practice

Kevin and I arrived Monday morning and played in the Monday pro-am. We both had a nice week off and we're ready to get back at it. This is the last event before the FedEx playoffs. We will need a top 2 finish to have a chance to make the playoffs. Our back up plan is to play the Nationwide Tour next week in Knoxville, TN and then go defend at the Mylan Classic in Pittsburgh, PA the following week.

On Tuesday, we played a practice round with Jim Renner, Andres Gonzales, and James Driscoll. It was a solid day all around. After lunch, we went through our practice routine and called it quits about 4pm.

I have the family with me this week so Kevin gave me the day off on Wednesday. I spent the morning with them swimming at the pool and then headed out to play my own practice round. I am trying the NC Mid-am qualifier in Winston Salem, NC on Monday so I met up with my friend, Dennis Woolard, and we played our practice round. I've only played one round in the last six weeks so I have a lot of work to do on my own game.

We tee off today on number 10 at 1:40pm.

Reno Tahoe Open - Round One

The day got started off on a good note. After a good warm-up session, Kevin played solid on the front. We only missed one green and turned at even par. The back nine was a different story. A blocked 3 wood off of the 10th tee finished up against the lip of the fairway bunker and we could only advance it about 20 yards down the fairway. We failed to get it up and in from about 90 yards and the bogey was the start of the struggles. We were only able to find 2 fairways and 1 green on the back nine. The short game could not bail us out and the final result was a 5 over par round 77.

Some good news is the top 70 after the first round falls at 1 over. We can still work our way back into the event with a solid round tomorrow. We'll probably need a 4 under par round to hang around for the weekend but it's definitely possible. Time to get back into hitting fairways and greens.

Reno Tahoe Open - Practice Days

Kevin flew in from The Greenbrier on Sunday night. I was not able to get here until Monday evening. Kevin went out to the club on Monday and practiced. He was excited to find Jose Maria Olazabal practicing his short game. Kevin asked a few questions and the next thing you know, Jose is explaining his technique and giving Kevin a short game lesson. What a great opportunity to learn something from a two-time Masters Champion who learned his short game from the greatest of all time, Seve Ballesteros.

On Tuesday, we played a practice round with Colt Knost, Andes Gonzales and Chez Reavie. Kevin was not happy with his ball striking and was very aggravated with how he was hitting it. After a long, tense practice round, we went to the range and worked on it. It was a tough day on both of us but we left the golf course with some positive thoughts and we were looking forward to getting back at it on Wednesday.

Today, we decided to get our work done on the golf course so we played nine holes before the pro-am at 6am. Kevin hit it great. We had a nice practice round with just the two of us. He was able to hit some extra tee shots and get some work in around the greens. It was exactly what we needed. After a little breakfast, we went through out normal practice routine (shooting balls, chipping and putting) and finished up around noon. Kevin was chosen for the Sponsor Value Program this week, so he had a meet and greet function at 2:30. He left to get his workout in before his function.

We tee off tomorrow at 8:50 with Sunghoon Kang and Creighton Honeck.