I keep telling you I want to remain positive on this blog, but I may take a day off today.  I'll start with the picture.  I just got home from the pre qualifier for the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens which I missed getting through by ONE shot.  On the second hole of the day I was going back to my cart to put my towel back in the basket and I caught my hand on a sharp edge and cut the top of my hand really bad.  So in the beginning of my round I had to deal with a bleeding hand on top of everything else I was dealing with.  Anyway I teed off today at 9:42am.  It was one of those days I could tell from the first tee shot that par was going to be a good score.  I was battling against 111 guys, of which the top 14 would advance to the Monday qualifier.  Usually these pre qualifiers are an organized system to weed out the guys that shouldn't be there.  Unfortunately for me today I was one of those guys.  The temperature starting out today was 40 degrees and the wind was blowing a steady 20MPH.  I knew if I could just get through the first half of my round well I would be fine because the sun was shining and the weather would warm up.  I can deal with warmer temperatures and wind, but when its cold and windy it presents quite the challenge.  It is a double edged sword because I can either bundle up and be warm, which restricts me from swinging, or I can dress lighter and swing freely, but be cold.  I chose the latter and was freezing.  I struck it really well today on the whole and hit a total of 14 of the 18 greens in regulation.  Problem was the 4 greens I missed I failed to get up and down on each of the four occasions resulting in 4 bogeys.  My bogeys all came in my first ten holes.  I was in a similar position to last week in Cancun where I knew I had put my back against the wall and I had to make a move quick coming in or I wasn't going to make it.  I battled my way back down the stretch which I was proud of.  I birdied my last two holes of the day and finished with a one over par 73 thinking I may have backdoored my way through the qualifier.  As it turned out I was sitting in a tie for 14th place as the last group of the day came in.  Low and behold one of the guys shoots exactly a 72 and knocks me into 15th place, one shot and one man out of playing on Monday.  So what did I take out of today?  A bloody hand, 4 1/2 hours of freezing, and a last second blow to knock me out.  Not making it through a pre qualifier is a really tough pill to swallow.  It more or less makes you feel like for the given week you aren't even good enough to be allowed to play in the Monday Qualifier.  This would be the equivalent in the corporate world of being told you aren't even qualified to get your chance at an interview.  Enough with the negative talk, its off my chest and its time to move on.  I'm meeting with my instructor Brian Mogg Saturday morning and we are going to sort out my short game.  Had I gotten just 1 of those 4 balls up and down on the missed greens I would be in a whole different mind frame.  My upcoming schedule is finally about to start getting busy again.  Next week is the start of the Hooters Summer Tour in Ocala, Florida.  I really, really, really want to get off to a good start this year like I said a few post back.  I believe this is going to be crucial to my success this year getting started on the right foot.  I'm seriously not that far off from where I was about last August where I couldn't help but shoot a score in the 60's.  It is frustrating in the same sense though that I am just one or two shots away each round from getting back where I was and I can't put my finger on it why I am throwing away these shots.  The answer I know comes from sticking to my routine and grinding it out on the practice tee.  I'm really close and I am excited to try and figure it out this weekend and early next week before the Hooters event starts up next Thursday (March 4th).  I encourage everyone to keep track of my progress at http://www.ngahooterstour.com/.