Last week in Gainesville, Georgia ended on a wet note.  The tournament ended with only 36 holes completed due to the torrential rains over the weekend that kept us off the course.  That ended up putting me in 44th position when all was said and done.  It was frustrating knowing that I was playing the way I needed to make a nice move up the leaderboard, but mother nature had different ideas.  I had a couple of days off in between my next event in Conover, North Carolina, so I decided to go visit one of my great friends Barr Blanton in Durham.  He is in grad school at Duke so I had time to go check out the campus with him and as the pictures above indicate we ventured right into the fabled Cameron Indoor Stadium and had a blast.  If you were wondering about the first picture, it was snapped prematurely as I was still about 2 seconds from reaching my vertical apex.  Haha!  The best part is we shot hoops for awhile inside so I can now say I have made a 3 pointer in Cameron Indoor Stadium.  Check that off the bucket list. 
    I arrived at Rock Barn Golf and Spa in Conover, NC yesterday and began my preparations for this week's event.  It is a severely undulating golf course that will test your walking ability as every hole has severe elevation change.  The weather for Thursday and Friday once more calls for rain and chilly conditions.  It is Spring time so this is something I better get used to.  This is a course where you really don't have to hit a whole lot of drivers, so I am looking forward to dissecting this course hole by hole the next 4 days with a great gameplan of keeping the ball in play with sensible club selections and then hitting a plethora of crisp iron shots and finishing it all off with a great week on the greens.  That is the game plan, now I just need to go out and execute and most importantly not be deterred in any way shape or form mentally from the sour weather that will be a factor this week.  

    I am sitting here in my hotel room in Gainesville on Saturday morning having played 3 holes in my third round.  We are under a weather delay that is keeping us off the course until Sunday morning.  As professional golfers, we have a lot of time on our hands.  Our skill set reaches a broad spectrum that branches out further than just the course.  We are expert meteorologists, knowing what the temperature, wind direction, and barometric pressure is at any given second.  Next to truck drivers, pro golfers are the next best road warriors behind the wheel.  I would venture to say a mini tour golfer on average will put 40,000 miles on his car each year in total.  That is the equivalent of driving from Los Angeles to New York City just over 16 times.  Finally, a pro golfer could put a travel agent to shame.  We can tell you what the best hotel rate is in each city, the top 10 restaurants around a 15 mile radius of any zip code, and the airport rental car counter staff knows alot of us by name. 
    Well sorry for rambling, but I have nothing but time today to do whatever it is that I want.  That is the beauty of living in the United States and being my own boss.  I can go to the donut shop and order 15 donuts right now and drink 4 Red Bulls to wash them down if I was so inclined.  However, I am going to do my best to be productive.  I have been doing a great job of staying on top of my fitness on the road so I am going to hit up the gym and then more than likely indulge in an afternoon matinee at the theater.  Hopefully I can update you tomorrow night with a good report on my 3rd round, which I have a sneaky feeling will end up being the final round of this tournament due to the weather.  Anyway, adios from Gainesville, Georgia.  Home of the $7 Magic Dragon Chinese Restaurant, best buffet south of the Mason Dixon.  See I told you so about that travel agent thing!  ;)

    Greetings.  Day one from the Hooters Tour in Gainesville, Georgia is in the books.  What a crazy day it was.  I teed up in the very first group of the day at 7:45am in cold, windy, and firm conditions.  That triple threat is not the combo that yields low scores.  I shot a two over par 73 today and that score by days end will not in any way kill me.  Granted I did hit quite a few clumsy shots today, but on the whole given the degree of difficulty I can not be too hard on myself.  Today was a day where I felt drawing on my past experiences in competitive golf really was able to help me.  The greens today were as firm today as the greens in Scotland I faced last summer at the British Open qualifier.  The wind and temperature mimicked the cool, breezy conditions I faced last Fall in Spain at the European Qualifying School.  Finally the greens were quick and had an "Augusta Nationalesque" type of speed to them.  So playing today was alot like taking a test in college that I had prepared and studied for.
    Even more so I think today is a great day to keep in the memory bank heading forward.  Q School which is played each Fall more times than not will present conditions very similar to this weather wise.  The majority of my professional golf is played during the summer time where the courses are very hot and the greens are slow and soft because the greens have to be watered to prevent them from dying.  So playing on days like this will undoubtedly be beneficial for my preparations at the end of the year for Q School.  I look forward on getting back out on the course tomorrow and once again enjoying the challenge this course is presenting this week.   

    The Ocala event is in the books and I finished off the tournament in style.  It is always tough finishing off a tournament when you are out of the running for winning the championship, but I had a lot to work on and I posted a solid 2 under par 70.  The two shots that stuck out for me today were two drivers off the deck that I scorched going for both par 5's in two shots on my back nine.  This is a shot that has ZERO room for error and your swing has to be fundamentally sound mechanics wise to execute and I pulled both shots off perfectly.  The only downside to today was I lost lunch to two of my friends Jack Newman and Matt Harmon.  We bet each other that the man with the low birdie total had to buy lunch and I only registered 3 birdies.  It was a fun bet and I have no complaints because I played steady all day even though I didn't tally many birds on the card.
    I am currently in St. Simons Island, Georgia.  Tomorrow morning I am going to be testing the new Titleist equipment on the Trackman launch monitor at Sea Island.  I am really excited to work my way into some new clubs and resolve a few equipment issues I have.  This is always an important process in pro golf and I am excited to get to work tomorrow.  I would relate it to Nascar.  A crew and driver for any given team in racing doesn't just show up on raceday without having gotten dirty in the garage under the hood.  The same goes with golf.  It is critical that you trust your equipment and work with clubs that not only suit your eye but are fit correctly to your particular swing.
    After tomorrow I will head home for a week of rest.  I have been down in Florida for exactly a month and have a lot to be proud of in terms of improvement.  I played in 3 Monday qualifiers and was unable to get through any of them, but I played steady in 2 of those 3.  I also played in two Hooters events this past month, making the cut in each and showing flashes of brilliance in each event.  Going forward I just need to keep improving my consistency and flat out just string together 4 consecutive rounds.  Just this past week I really played some decent golf all week besides 9 holes in my third round.  As long as I can keep improving at the rate I have been this past month there is a great reason to believe when I return to the Hooters Tour in two weeks in Gainesville, Georgia I will be in great shape to put myself in contention at week's end.  Take care and I'll keep you posted on my progress moving forward.  Cheers!

    Hello.  I just got back to my room after playing 27 holes of golf today.  I opened the tournament with a one over par 73.  It wasn't a good round, but it at least kept me in the tournament.  The second round was filled with some ups and downs, but I steadied the ship on my back nine this morning as I finished my round and closed with a 69 to put me in 24th place heading into the last two rounds.  I teed off in my third round and kept the momentum going early.  I was 3 under par (5 under for the event) through my first 7 holes and got myself right back into contention in the tournament.  However as soon as I finally had shown my face to the leaders the wagon wheel fell off and I began leaking more oil than Exxon Valdez.  I closed with a 42 on my back side and turned in a 77.  This round really hurt today because I was calm and confident and ready to take control of the event, but the golfing gods had it planned another way.  I am going to once again keep my spirits up and forget about what happened.  That is all I can do moving forward.  Unlike last week where I had a bummer third round and carried that  poor play over into the 4th round, I want to make every effort possible tomorrow to close this tournament out the proper way.  I am going to play great tomorrow and get right back on the horse and ride off out of the Ocala sunset with the last laugh.  Thanks for reading.

    Hello.  A bummer 77 today left me 7 shots clear of the number I needed to qualify for the Puerto Rico Open.  I was surprisingly fresh this morning even though I didn't get into bed until 2:30am in the morning due to travel.  The course, Bahia Beach Resort and Golf Club is cut out of a dense jungle.  All 18 holes keep you on your toes because one wayward shot and your ball will find the jungle where I wouldn't even dare attempt to go find my golf ball.  I struggled basically in all aspects of my game today so there wasn't just one area of concern.  I did make it a goal today to be mentally focused.  I wrote in my yardage book to "Think with clarity and trust your talent".  I did that today on every shot, but I just didn't execute.  That I am okay with.
    One highlight I would love to share with you was after my round I got to have a 10 minute conversation with the legendary course designer Robert Trent Jones Junior, who designed the course.  It was great to get some insight on to how he designs a course and what it is he does to challege professional golfers through his architecture.  He shared some wonderful insight that proved useful for the memory bank and he left a lasting impression on me.  I head back to Florida tomorrow where I will be preparing for the Hooters event in Ocala.  It is at a great golf course that suites my game tremendously.  It is very important for me to keep moving forward and not let one bad round here and there bring me down.  I've got a couple days to sharpen the ax so to speak and put my best foot forward in round 1 in Ocala Thursday.  Now it's time to go out there and get into contention for a win.

    I am going to make this quick.  My flight to San Juan is boarding.  I made it to a 8pm flight after finishing my round today in Tallahassee.  I shot a 74.  It wasn't pretty, but I am looking forward not backward.  I hit a lot of great shots this week, just struggled on the slow greens.  My driving, iron game, and chipping were much improved.  I can't wait to go play a great round tomorrow morning in San Juan at 9:50am.  I'll update you with my results.  I better go because I can't qualify if I don't get on this plane.  See ya!

    Three rounds down in Tallahassee.  I made the cut yesterday with a solid 69 in round two to get me to 2 under at the halfway point.  However, I struggled today to a 75.  I hit the ball great thru my first 12 holes today but just couldn't get any putts to fall.  On 13 I hit a slight pull that hit a tree and bounced 40 yards straight left out of bounds.  It was a miserable break that led to a double bogey.  I followed that with an additional bogey on my next hole.  The only area of concern thus far this week occurred during this two hole stretch.  I let the bad break affect my attitude and I am dissapointed in that.  I should have made a bogey on the 13th and I rushed through my second shot on 14, leading to a bogey to further the downward spiral.  I am going to have more bad breaks in the future, and I have got to role with the punches and keep a level head no matter how terrible a break I may receive.  It is through these learning experiences that I get better.
    I have one more round tomorrow.  I may be far from the lead, but I can use tomorrow as a great day to get better and get right back pointed in the correct direction.  Other than the two holes I spoke of I have done a hell of a lot of great things this week.  I leave tomorrow night for Puerto Rico for the PGA Tour Monday qualifier.  I am more than likely going to be taking a 11:30pm flight that gets me into San Juan at 3:30 in the morning.  It is going to be a quick turnaround straight to the course Monday morning.  Lucky for me I played the course last year.  I am very excited about playing a great round Monday even though my all night travel excursion will make things quite interesting.  It is all a part of the life of a professional golfer and I wouldn't have it any other way.  I want to give a shout out finally to the 3 Mizzou alumni that followed me today in Tallahassee.  Phil Strebeck, Mark, and Woody.  It is always great to have some support on the road, especially coming from some fellow Tigers.  Keep you posted.  The game plan is a great day tomorrow followed by a great day Monday.  I look forward to updating you with some good news.