It was done or die for Monday’s qualifying tournament.
Trace Crowe, 26, had one start on the PGA Tour ahead of this week’s Honda Classic – missing out on the 2017 Barbasol Championship. Last year he made 17 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour, the best of which was the T-18. He finished 138th on the tour points list and earned $38,024.
Earlier this week, he shot down 7 players under 65 to qualify for the Honda Classic on Monday. By the time Friday hit, he had hit his 35th hole of the tournament (eighth par-4) and needed a birdie on the 36th hole of the tournament to make his first ever Tour tournament.
Full results from Honda Classic
His tee shot in the ninth par-4 of the PGA National was right. He then landed a short shot, leaving Crowe a 51-foot birdie to cut the number.
Then the incredible happened.
“Me and my caddy were like, ‘Dude, we’ve got to do this,'” Crowe later told Tour. “I played with Sam Stevens, played well with him last year. He raised his hand 6 feet and I thought, “That must be good.”
Crowe was nicknamed Mister Chipinski. He has now earned his first tour paycheck, which will be a minimum of $15,000.
Although Crowe is 12 strokes behind the leader, it’s a week – and a feature – the former Red Tiger will certainly never forget.
“When it was hype, it was cool, man,” he said. “Just getting the chance to play here this weekend and just playing in a golf tournament at that level is great.”
Source: www.golfchannel.com
