SUNDAY on the Links . . .

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Oct 15, 2023, 11:04 AM [ in reply to Re: SUNDAY on the Links . . . ]

Marshall®:

Former Clemson star Jacob Bridgeman takes fast track to PGA Tour
Bob Spear
Fri, October 13, 2023 at 8:00 AM EDT

Clare Grant/The Columbus Dispatch/USA TODAY NETWORK

“Jacob Bridgeman looks back at the first step in his plan to earn a place in professional golf’s major league with satisfaction and looks ahead to set new goals and expectations.

“Mission accomplished,” he said of his fast-track advance from an All-American career at Clemson to earning a place on the PGA Tour in a mere 17 months. “The next thing now is to focus on the future.”

Bridgeman grew up in the hotbed of junior golf in Inman and played his first tournament at age 7 — in the category for 8- and 9-year-olds — and his achievements on the course have spiraled upward since.

“Golf has always been in my blood,” he said, “and playing on the PGA Tour has always been my goal.”

He reached that milestone with a 14th-place finish in the year-old Korn Ferry standings. His season of consistency featured four top-five finishes and a couple more top-10s plus leading the Tour in scrambling and top-15 placement in total driving and greens-in-regulation percentage statistics.

This season, he noted, came after starting the year “with no great status.”

His senior-year performance at Clemson (2021-22) earned him second place in the PGA Tour University ranking, which provided immediate access to Korn Ferry events.

“I played in eight (Korn Ferry) events, starting in Raleigh, and did OK,” Bridgeman said. “I got my feet wet learning about professional golf — the travel and such. I learned a lot.”

He also played in a couple of the PGA Tour’s 2022 fall events, making the cut in both. But a 45th-place finish in the Korn Ferry qualifying school left him with limited 2023 status.

Nevertheless, he seized the opportunity, “playing well at the start of the (2023) season and that set me up (with full status) for the year,” he said. “I know my game is good enough. I had a really consistent year” — making 20 the cut in 20 of 24 tournaments.

His Clemson achievements require no embellishment. He ranks second in career stroke average, first in rounds in the 60s and shares the record with five individual wins in a program that has produced such stalwarts as Lucas Glover, Jonathan Byrd, D.J. Trahan, Chris Patton and Charles Warren.

Obviously, competition is stronger now. Maybe 10 to 20 players could realistically expect to win a college tournament, but every player is capable of winning in the pros.

“My biggest adjustment was not being prepared for the amount of golf” on the Korn Ferry Tour, Bridgeman said. “I played seven weeks in a row at one stretch, and that’s a challenge mentally and physically.”

By finishing in the top 30 on the Korn Ferry points list, he will be able to map of his 2024 PGA Tour schedule. “There will be plenty of opportunities before (the) Pebble Beach (tournament),” he said. “Playing well early will be important.”

Resting from the long grind and fine-tuning his game will be his mission between now and his first 2024 tournament, the Sony in Hawaii. His work with instructor Scott Hamilton improved his driving accuracy — “20 percent better, a huge jump,” he said — and carrying that into a new season will be crucial.

“I’ve always believed in myself,” Bridgeman said. “I never thought I would not make (the PGA Tour.) I thought it would just be a matter of time.”

Now he’s there — with new goals and expectations.”

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