Posted on 03/27/2009 2:08:45 PM PDT by mdittmar
Back when Steve Wilson was halfheartedly trying to make the PGA Tour,he often wondered what it would be like to play at the Masters even though he had no real expectation of ever making it.
He's finally going to get the chance to find out after earning a trip to golf's most prestigious tournament in a way he didn't envision in even his wildest fantasies.
"Plans don't always work out the way you expect them to," Wilson said.
Four years after notifying the USGA he was giving up his pro status, the 39-year-old gas station owner from Ocean Springs, Miss.,will be teeing off on April 9 with Tiger,Phil and the gang among the azaleas at Augusta National.
Call it the cart path less traveled.
Wilson earned the trip by winning the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at Milwaukee Country Club in a rout last September. He never trailed in his final three matches, took a four-hole lead to start the championship match and one-putted 14 times over 32 holes.
For winning, he gets automatic entry into the Masters, exemptions for several amateur tournaments and will skip a round of U.S. Open qualifying.
His goals at Augusta are simple: First make the cut, then aim for the top 16. That would get him another year in the tournament. He also intends later this year to make a run at the U.S. Open and likely will play in the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship and the Mid-Am, a tournament for amateurs over 25 to which he now has a 10-year exemption.
He tried off and on for 10 years to make a pro career work. He played a few Nike Tour events, but never went to qualifying school and just sort of gave up when life got in the way. There was a son, Gavan, to raise and a business to run.
(Excerpt) Read more at golf.com ...
I need to find some of these amateur tournaments that give you a pro tourney exemption.
And when you win start practicing putting in your bathtub.
LOL !
ML/NJ
The Masters is a special case in this regard, I believe. It is a conscious effort to honor the tradition of amateur golf.
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