No Laying Up - Golf Podcast - NLU Podcast, Episode 241: Scott Harrington

Episode Date: August 21, 2019

Scott Harrington is headed to the PGA Tour for the first time after 16 years in professional golf. We go through the ups and downs of mini tours, the Nationwide/Web.com/Korn Ferry Tour, all the way to the final putt in Portland that sent him to the big leagues. He also goes into great detail on his wife's brutal struggle with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, and how players from the Web.com Tour gathered together to support the Harrington family. If you're looking for new guys to root for on the PGA Tour, 38-year old rookie Scott Harrington is your guy.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'm going to be the right club today. Yeah. That's better than most. How about in? That is better than most. Better than most. Expect anything different. Better than most! Ladies and gentlemen welcome back to the No-Lang-Up podcast. Joining me today is Mr. Scott Harrington. Scott I know you've done a lot of interviews in the last couple weeks. Is this the most media request you've ever had in your entire career? I would imagine so. Oh no, I think my, you know, my 14th place show in the 2000 and 8th, greater witch doll

and probably coming into a little more, but you know, this is a close second. Well, I've just so sorry we missed you back in the, in the 8th, but we're glad to catch you now, but your story's been pretty, pretty well covered, but man, I think this is the only Only podcast I've ever prepared for where I actually like teared up a little bit while reading and getting prepared for it So I'm excited for people to hear your story I know some people have probably read about it, and I know we talked about You getting your card at the in Portland a few weeks ago But you are headed to the PJ tour next year and we're gonna get to all that stuff

But I want to hear you know you've been playing golf professionally for 16 years. This is your first time heading to the PJ tour. I'm curious. Do you have any stats that you've kept every year on how many professional events you've played in, miles you've traveled, hotel nights or anything like that that you can wow us with? Well, that would just be depressing to me. But no, I mean, I have,'t I mean I do know on the nationwide

slashweb.com slash corn fairy I've played them all and I know I'm somewhere in the 190s just on those tours but that also doesn't count the you know pretty much most of my 20s I mean I did have some nationwide tour like a couple of years when I was a lot younger my 20s I wasn't any good but I did have some nationwide tour, like a couple of years when I was a lot younger in my 20s. I wasn't any good, but I did play on the tour and on the nationwide tour back then. But I mean I spent a lot of years on the many tours, pretty much played all of them, a couple of the ones that folded. I've kind of seen it all except at the highest,

you know, the highest BGA tour level of, you know, I've kind of experienced it all. I feel like the ups and downs and all that. But I don't keep track of the mileage or events played. I feel like that would just put me into a dark fun. That's good to say. I'm actually kind of thankful that you haven't. But you are, no need to fret.

You are going to be just a few weeks here. You're going to be playing in your first PJ tour events. But let's go back way back to the beginning, kind of your background on golf, where you went to school and kind of what your expectations, I guess, for professional golf were immediately after college, as you turned pro. Sure. I mean, I grew up in Oregon in Portland. I was a good junior player.

I mean, I was a good regional player. I mean, I would say I wasn't super well and nationally. But I was a very good player on the West Coast and the Northwest. And I had plenty of opportunities to go to a lot of great schools predominantly in the Pac-12. And but ultimately, I decided to go to Northwest Western. Team was really good at the time. Luke Donald had been there a couple years. The team was kind of top five in the country. We had a great coach. And you know, I went there. I went away for school, loved it. It was something I

I'm really glad I did. But you know, I had a good college career. I you know, probably not spectacular. I never was an all-American. My senior year, I was probably pretty darn close. But, you know, I had one college win, maybe a few seconds, and you know, played on some good teams. And, but really, you know, I knew I was going to turn the pro. However, I also thought the journey for me was going to be a bit of a long one, just because I wasn't a campus kid or anything like that.

And frankly, so my first Q-school I ever went to was the fall to final stage, which was frankly a shock to me. Back then, you were playing for a PGA to record at the final stage. I played poorly there. But that got me under the nationwide tour at the time. I was a conditional status player. It wasn't getting a lot of starts, but I was getting some opportunities and missed. I don't know how many. I have it here if you wanna hear.

I, you played in 19 events in 2004 and you missed 16 of the cuts. Okay, so I probably missed, I started my career out there missing. I'm just gonna guess, seven, eight, or nine, or 10 cuts in a row. I don't know how many it is, but then the first cut I actually made was in

Wichita and I actually played a great final round. I remember I was paired with Bubba Watson and played a great final round and got into a playoff. I was in a four-man playoff and ultimately lost predictably, but you know I tied for second and you know that really excited me a lot and but I didn't really take any of that momentum with me the rest of the rest of the year I think I yeah I've got to enjoy the fruits of that second a little too much I carry over for about a month and a half and ultimately I finished just outside the top hundred and lost all my status on the tour and you know back to the mini tours after that for about three maybe I don't know for four years or something like that. So what's yeah I have you you missed your first eight cuts and then you finished time for

second and then you missed your next five cuts after that so it's a bit hit or miss. So all right so you go back to the mini tours what is what's life like at that point I mean are you trying to Monday into any nationwide events at that point? I mean, are you trying to Monday into any nationwide events at that point? Or, I mean, so I imagine you're just jet setting, running all over, flying, driving anywhere, just to play anywhere that'll have you. Pretty much.

You know, I think I'm not gonna have to Canada, the old Canadian tour the following year, but yeah, playing a lot of the Gateway Tour in Arizona was a real big one back then. There you could actually make some money. And, you know, yeah, I just did that. And, you know, I had, I think I had a little, I had some success, not not a lot. But, ultimately, I think it was 2008, I got back onto the web. I think by this, I think I think it was a nationwide tour and maybe mid seasons switched to web.com.

And you know, it got back onto that tour. And again, played really, I played really poorly that year. I mean, I think I was conditional again and you know, I wasn't getting many stars and did virtually nothing. Trying to mundit qualify every, you Monday qualify every event that I wasn't into. And you know, that's just, that's a tough, it is really tough being a conditional player

because you're... No rhythm to it at all, I imagine. Yeah, you know, you're trying to, you're trying to Monday in deterred events, but you also are trying to, you know, get in, play many two events, you know, you need to get in some competition, get in some three round events, four round events, anything you can, just, you know, playing a bunch of

Monday qualifiers isn't really indicative of, it can really beat you down, because you can, you can be playing pretty good and have nothing to show for it, you know, it's such a crap shoot, trying to get in those things, and then, you know, when you do get in, you have all this pressure you're putting on yourself, especially as a conditional player, because you're trying to make some money and get into the reshoffle. You just don't know when your next chance is going to be. So, I think that was OA, that was a bad year. But things for me really started to kind of take off around kind of probably that following

in 2009, 2010. I didn't get back onto the web.com until the middle of 12, but I had about two or three years there. It was right around probably age 29, 30, where I really started to kind of figure things out. And what does that mean? I mean, what was going wrong at that point and what was the turning point or what changed in your game? I'm sure part of it was my game, but I think part of it was just I was getting a little older and You know, I went back in my mid-20s, I mean, I was kind of like a lot of guys Having fun playing professional golf and taking it seriously, but you know, it's just you know that you probably enjoying social life a little too much

And you know, maybe not putting, you know, I thought I was working hard, but probably not doing everything that I need to be doing and just, you know, kind of falling into the rut that, you know, it was pretty easy to, you know, a lot of our tournaments on the mini tours are during, you know, they might be a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and then you kind of have your weekend, I don't know, make some bad decisions or whatever you want to call it. But I just think I just got just think I was just getting older and I was just maturing a little bit.

And it was kind of like one side started to have quite a bit of success at the miniature level in those years. You kind of was getting a taste of it. Like it really made me want more. And like I wasn't, you know, when I was younger, I'd have success and I would kind of be content a little bit maybe.

But I got a little bit older. It was like I'd have the success and I was really starting to I was winning a lot of many to our events and making Actually like making pretty pretty darn good money. There was still pretty good money in some of these You know you're making 25 grand a lot of these tournaments for these wins and you know these years I it seems like I was contending every single time I played and I'd win three, four a year and have a bunch of seconds and turns and some pretty big fields. And it just kind of kept me getting more motivated. It's a lot better than, like, then say, middleing and missing a ton of cuts on the web doc or a nationwide tour at the time, I would imagine.

Absolutely. I mean, and also around this time, I was able to be really fortunate to be able to join up at Whisperock in Scottsdale where I live. And I got to be around a lot of guys who were killing it at the highest level. And I got to play with, I mean, they were in my daily games. And I kind of got to see that like, yeah, I'm at this many tour level. On paper, it looked like I'm a long ways away from where they're at, but I could tell that my game stacked up really well.

And to be able to go out there and play with, you know, the Ches Revis or the Kevin Strillman's, or I mean, there's a Jeff Ogle Vs, there's tons of them up there, and I played with them all the time, and I saw that, you know, hey, I'm beating these guys, you know, as much as they're beating me, and I stack up pretty good. But during this time, I kept, I would go to Kyoto,

I would have these great years, and you know, we had a bunch of tournaments and do really well, and I'd go to Cal. I'd have these great years. And we went a bunch of tournaments and do really well. And I'd go to Q school. And for about three years in a row, I'd flame out at a second stage. And it'd be really disappointing. Because at that point, I felt like I was really ready to get back on the web.com tour and go make a run

of the tour at the main tour. And unfortunately, I just kind of stuck for a few years playing the playing the miniatures and well I imagine too it's got to be kind of what you just touched on there you know when you're playing the mini tours you're around guys that are playing mini tours right and it's as much as you know that you had success out there it's not where you want to end up obviously so you're not no Joel Damon said something really interesting when he was saying he's playing the Canadian tour. You know, he was partying pretty hard and he's been out there four or five years and he started

to look around and be like, oh yeah, the guys that are really succeeding out here are not hanging around us that are going out every night. They're the, you know, total. So like you can get in this, like, I imagine getting the games in Whisper Rock, you saw the habits and this particular things, those guys did really well. And you would learn from that as well, seeing that your game stacked up pretty well as it was, had to be an enormous confidence builder. Yeah, absolutely. You just have to look at yourself really honestly and be in kind of, you know, like,

hey, and I feel like I've done, I've been going about this for a long time. If you really honestly yourself about, you know about what your inefficiencies are, whether it's in your game or in your lifestyle or in your practice habits, and I feel like there's plenty of players most of whom don't ever end up making it. They might not look at their games, their life very honestly. They think that they're working harder, working at the right things. But I mean, if you go out there and you do the same stuff

every single day and it's not, and you're not really making the improvements that are necessary, I mean, you need to change things up. And, you know, yeah, so I mean, I went through a little bit of that and you just gotta be honest with yourself when it comes to that stuff. And, but there's no doubt, I mean me being surrounded by guys who are around my age and really doing

well. I could see a difference in them. And yeah, surely a lot of those guys still like to have their fun and whatnot, but I'm saying they have their priorities or an order. And I just needed to adjust that a little bit. But really for me, I feel like it was once I got a taste of like kind of some sustained success, be it at a, at the major level, I just, I kind of just wanted more. And every time I would, you know, win a tournament or finish second, I would just be that much more

excited to go do it again. It was pretty, it was pretty addicting. All right. A quick break here for maybe the most excited I've ever been to make an interruption to the show. But wait till you hear the synergy on this one. But hopefully you guys saw the news that broke on Monday regarding Steph Curry. There was a great article in The Washington Post and how he is personally funding and basically starting a golf program,

both men's and women's at Howard University. He met some kids that played golf, kind of, were trying to form a club golf team at Howard and found out that they did not have an actual program there, and he's personally writing a seven figure check to sponsor the program for six years with the hopes that the program can become self-sustaining at that point, which is pretty incredible. And Callaway is a part of the deal as well. They are gonna be the exclusive equipment provider for Howard.

They're gonna be fitting the entire team, both the men's and women's teams and providing them with equipment throughout that time period. And you'll hear later in the show as well as what Steph Curry's relationship is with Scott Harrington and how he also helped out their family when they were in need. It's a pretty amazing story that you're going to hear coming up. Shout out to Steph Curry.

I continue to be impressed with his involvement in the game of golf. I do encourage you guys. I retweeted the link that Chad shared this yesterday on Monday regarding the Washington Post article. I do recommend that you read it. I'm not a big fan of the Grow the Game hashtag. I've talked about that a lot, but this seems to be an honest and true step in the right direction. It was something that he did not have to do.

And it's a really inspiring story. So shout out to Steph Curry for that. And for Callaway for being the equipment provider for Howard. Now let's get back to our interview with Scott Harrington. Well, yeah, and I had this question down and I think you may have kind of already somewhat answered it. I was expecting the answer to be yes, but it doesn't seem to be because of the success you had in the mini tours. But in that time period, you know, in the late, in the late, like 2009 to 2011, were you ever considering giving up on professional golf

or at any time during your time on the mini tours? Did you ever, were you ever close to hanging it up? Um, not. I, the answers know, but it was also, you know know back then I was pretty reliant on sponsors and People helping me out because I cuz financially, you know probably up until that point You know I wasn't breaking even at least for those first, you know I turned pro in 2003 and for those probably the first six years. I mean I was I was far from breaking even and for the first six years. I mean, I was far from breaking even. And we actually kind of made a decision. I might have had one or two good years on the mini tour. I kind of

always decided that as long as I wanted to keep playing and as long as financially I could make it happen, whether it was, at that time, I was with sponsors, and then I was going to keep doing it because that's what I really I it's what I really want to do and hey it's a it's a it's a great life when things are going well and you know and I still thought I had I knew that my good golf was good enough it just back then my bad my average golf or when I didn't have it it just wasn't remotely good enough and that's kind of why it was so many missed cuts and is very very hit or miss but As long as I could you know keep paying the bills and

Then I was gonna keep going and but but around that time you know sponsors You know the people who had been with me a long time it kind of started to dry up and really ultimately after maybe one or two good many two-year years kind of at my late 20s around age of 30 I ended up going out of my own and paying for it all myself and that was a big I knew that was kind of a that was gonna be make or break I mean you know like you go through a rough two three four-month stretch and I mean that gets very, very costly.

So I made that decision to go it alone, and fortunately I played, I kept playing well and had a couple more good years on the mini tours, and was pretty profitable and was able to kind of self-sustained my career. But the drive never really went away. The lifestyle didn't bother me. I kind of, I'd been doing it for frankly my whole life, traveling and going going with college and just all that stuff. I don't really love the travel and everything. It's just I've been doing it so long that it's

a part of what we do. And at the time I wasn't married yet. Love the travel and everything. It's just something doing it so long that it's just a part of what we do and You know at the time I wasn't married yet. I was you know, so I didn't have those, you know, the kind of the ties at home keeping me here and Yeah, I stayed pretty much pretty driven and always wanted to do it as long as I could keep the lights on well That's kind of what I wanted to get into next to was you was, you know, it's, you met you, who would soon become your wife in 2011. So what's it, what is dating life like for a guy that travels all over the place and is playing mini tours? But how do you make the sale to, uh, to Jennifer who ended up becoming your wife?

Yeah. I remember when we went out, I was, so I was still playing, uh, I was on the mini tours, but doing well. And it is a bit of a you know she knew she knew some some golfers and she kind of knew a bit about about kind of what I was doing and she also knew that you know I'm sure I've never actually really asked her about you know what what she thought of what I did at the time being you know a mini tour golfer.

And you know in Arizona there's a lot you you run into a lot of those people it's easy to meet those guys. There's no fascination with being you know a professional golfer here in Arizona because there's so many around here you know most of them aren't really aren't really you know aren't really crushing it. But she didn't have, she didn't have any issue with it, but fortunately, like, kind of right after we started dating, it was really like that next year where I kind of had my big break, so to say, and he was in 2012. I was still, I still had no status on the web, but I've been doing well. And, you know, I, by Monday, qualified into the web.com event in Springfield, Missouri, and lost in a playoff there with actually another Northwestern golfer.

And that finish, I saw I got solo second in that event, that finished the money I made, and that gave me status on the tour for the rest of that year. And I played well enough to be an exempt player on the tour the next year. So there wasn't that much time. It was probably only seven, eight months that we had been dating. And before I kind of got on the web,

but I mean, she knew at that point, my lifestyle would settle down. And I was really into my golf. And you know, it hadn't become any kind of issue or anything in my travel. And she was coming out to some tournaments. hadn't become any kind of issue or anything in my travel. She was coming out to some tournaments and it was probably kind of fun for her to get out of Arizona and come to some tournaments and watch. But yeah, no, it'd be an interesting question for her.

What do you think of my profession at the time, my prospects at the time? But fortunately, she just loved me for me. But she's always been confident that in my ability and I would ultimately make it. We didn't think it'd probably take this long, but she's been there ever since day one. Well, I was going to say, I had that on the list, too, to ask you about how out of nowhere, you was only your second event that you had played that year in 2012 and you finished second at the price cutter But that just goes to show like why guys go out to Monday qualify like you can catch lightning in a bottle And it's the only way into some of these tournaments and it's a

It's a stressful lifestyle and you can like you said earlier You can play really well in Monday qualifiers and have nothing to show for at the end of it because you got to just take it so deep on that one day. But you're kind of the prime example of what somebody that made it out the other end of those. So you start, you said you've retained status and you kind of maintain status through a number of ways on the Cornfairy basically since 2012 if I'm understanding it right? Yeah, looks like a couple of conditional years in there maybe but there was there was one year probably around 15 or so there was one year that I had admittedly a bad year I ultimately finished 100 on the money list which was actually huge if I would have finished

101 I would have had nothing but I finished 100th maintained conditional, albeit a very poor conditional card, but the next year I was able to get a sponsor exemption into an event and do okay, and I Monday didn't do an event and did okay, and those two finishes let me reshuffle, and I fortunately played well the rest of the year after that, and was able to, you know, get my full exam status back. But yeah, for the most part, since 2012, I've been able to pretty much, you know, pick my schedule and be an exam player. And, you know, yeah, so I mean, I feel like I've been a, I've been a good, a great player. I haven't been a great one. I've been able to qualify for our finals pretty much every year

and the exception of one. And be a full-exempt player. Be a guy who now I was making a lot of cuts. I didn't have a lot of great finishes. But I was making kind of 70% of my cuts. I've finished 25th place finishes, the case will top 10, but not many. But I was doing fine.

And every year I was giving myself a chance at the cornberry finals to get a PGA tour card. And I'd come up short and then go back out of the next year. Well, and that's something we harp on on this podcast whenever we get an opportunity to. I mean, we live in Jacksonville where a lot of Cornfairy players live and just a few guys that we have starred in our apps and root for every week. People don't understand how hard it is just to maintain status on Cornfairy.

So you kind of are not somewhat dismissive, but at least somewhat dismissive of being a solid Cornfairy player, Torin retaining that status, but that is not a guarantee. I mean, I see, you know, there's guys that we root for, they're in their 40s that just lost their status for next year on the corn fairy and it's a tough life and it's not something to be taking for granted, but all because of the things you said earlier about how many years you spent playing mini tours for just dying for some status on the cornfield tours. And I think I had enough years. Like I did appreciate what I was accomplishing.

Like you said, like it is an accomplishment to finish top 75 and be a full exam player. And I had, and I feel like even to this day, like I've, I had so many years playing many tours where all I wanted was to be on this tour. Or I mean, not all I wanted, but you know that was the next step and I just that I Still appreciate being on this tour and how difficult it is and I've also watched it become This tour has gotten so much stronger in the last you know since I came back out here in 2012 And especially since I started you know my since I came back out here in 2012 and especially since I started, you know, my first year in 2004, I mean, the quality of play is just getting better and better. And I mean, the margin between the PGA and the

corn fairy has just never been thinner. I mean, it is, it is just razor thin, the difference. I mean, really, the difference is just, is I kind of feel like in most degree, it's just, yeah, those top 50 in the world, top 16 in the world deck, those guys, yeah, they're better. I'll of feel like in most degrees just yeah those top 50 in the world top 16 the world like those guys yeah they're better I'll I'll say like there's no question I mean they're they've just been doing a longer and they're probably a little more talented mentally sharper and yeah they're they're great they've earned those rankings but I mean you start going down past you know 100 in the world to all the way to pretty much a thousand I mean there's there's virtually no difference in those players.

But to go along with something you're just saying, like I just, just in Portland, I Thursday, Friday, I was playing with a friend of mine, Brett Druitt, and he was on the PJ tour, I think, either last year or two years ago, really a good player, very solid. And we were talking, and because he hasn't had the greatest year,

at the time going to Portland, he was right around the hundred bubble. And we were talking during the round. And he was just kind of talking about his year a little bit. And he was telling me how he really felt like he had played good golf this year. He felt like his game had been really strong. Just the difference, I don't know how many cuts

he told me he had missed by one. And then just little things in tournaments, just one mistake here that little things in tournaments, just one mistake here that keeps you from finishing. Set a finish of 10th, you finish 28th. Those kind of finishes, while it's still, you can finish 25th and have it feel like you had a good week. But those differences, they're so slight, but they make such a big difference at the end of the day.

And ultimately, he ended up having a pretty strong week in Portland and moved up the list. And I think he'll have, I think he has to go back to Q-school, but it just shows. He said, and he's a very good player. And he's like, I feel like I've played pretty darn well this year. And yet, he was probably 98 on the money list going in.

I mean, just like you said, it's such a fine line between what we consider a successful year and on paper or a non-successful year. And really, the difference for me is, I have kind of lacked for a number of years kind of those top threes that you need. Yeah, that's what I was just going to be able to say is you can play a lot of great golf finish T20, 80% of the weeks weeks and if you don't have the huge finishes It doesn't do anything for you and I was curious to get pick your like if you think you know the current system with points Like for corn fairy and the FedEx and the way it's done

It's just you know, I just the more I look at it and I go back and forth on it, because I know you need a lot of points to, and as a reward to somebody who's won a tournament, but it just seems crazy that, you know, you get 200 less points for finishing second at a corn fairy event. If you finish one shot behind one other person, it's the difference in 200 points. That difference seems really, really big

for having guys livelihoods kind of depend on that. You know what I mean? Is it the best representation of who's playing the best golf is my question? Well, it's a tough one. I think, I mean, now the points are pretty much the same. It's a similar breakdown to what the purse is. You know, second place gets roughly 60%, maybe 65% of what the winner gets. And, you know, they've had this structure for so long. And it just, what really kind of is tough, and this happens in our tour all the time, is you might lose the tournament by two shots.

I think I actually did this. I think in Lafayette this year, I did this. I lost the tournament by two shots, yet I finished tied for sixth with like, you know, three guys. I mean, you're talking, come into the last two holes of the chance to win and, you know, I finished fine, you know, par, par, or something like that. And, and next year, you're getting tied for six points. And yeah, you're not, it's a nice finish, but probably not quite indicative of how well you played, but I think it is fair. And I think I'm a big fan as are pretty much all the players of the point system in general. I think we were real happy to finally

go from money to points because on our tour, our fields are the same. Like pretty much everybody plays almost every event. So our fields are 90% the same. You play the same people every single week. On the PGA tour, the field that say the Byron Nelson is a lot different from the field at the memorial. And so all our tournaments should be weighted the same because we're beating the exact same people just because one tournament happens to have a $550,000 dollar person, another $800,000 dollar first, you beat the exact same guys. So I think in there have been too many instances where there would be guys who want to turn them in. I remember a couple years ago, James Drisco, one, our event in Nashville and it was a five. It was the lower, you know, it was a the lower Persevent 550. He got maybe 99,000 for the win. If he had won, he'd

beat the same guys as everybody else who won a tournament beat. And at the end of the year, he ended up miss, he ended up not finishing top 25, my like six or seven thousand dollars. And if he would have won literally any other tournament, he would have found his tour card, but just so happened, it was just unlucky that it happened to be won with a smaller purse, you know, he didn't get his card. I mean, that's just, that's kind of unfortunate, you know. So, I think it's good every tournament's way the same. Yeah, no, that'll make sense.

So I think this is probably as good a time as any to kind of transition to the part that I know you've been getting asked about the most over the last few weeks. And I think the golf channel did a pretty amazing job telling your family's story. They're coming down the stretch. But going back, I want you to, if you can, walk us through kind of the sequence of events in the timeline that eventually led to your wife's diagnosis. When did she start realizing things were not quite right with her and how long did the

whole process take before she was finally diagnosed? Man, it's been, I would say at this point, it's probably been going on for about three and a half years. I would say it was about a year and a half before she actually got diagnosed that she just wasn't feeling right. And just noticing she's very in tune with her body and just noticing things, fidget-whether it's fatigue or muscle aches or... To clarify, it's a Hodgkin's lymphoma. I didn't mention the actual diagnosis, but sorry, continue.

Yeah, so you know, she just hadn't been feeling and she's a very healthy girl. She takes care of herself. She's always eat very clean and big, big, and clean. Just very, very healthy. For a girl who was in her mid-30s, this just didn't seem right. She saw many doctors who studied all sorts of stuff. And pretty much we never really, you know, we'd get some opinions from people, but people, I don't know,

when people, doctors didn't seem like we're really taking her all that seriously, it just seemed like her symptoms were very general. And there were things that could be any, any number of things. So, I mean, so many tests run and blood works. And that means there was just so much stuff and we were never really able to pinpoint it but she's pretty, she's pretty much got

after it online and as a lot of people do when they're trying to figure out something that's going on with them and that can lead you into some interesting things. You can pretty much with them and that can lead you into some interesting things. You could have a headache and then an hour later, commence yourself, you have a brain tumor when you get too deep online. One thing that kept coming up in all her research with all her symptoms was lymphoma and you know she would mention this to doctors and and you know nobody nobody thought this that that was going to be that that was going to be the diagnosis they didn't really take it all that seriously but you know she ended up ended up getting in for a biopsy. Somebody finally kind of ordered one up to check things out

and to look for this. And this was actually about probably a month or two before we were getting married. And she was very nervous. She was pretty much convinced that she had cancer. And but the biopsy came back negative. And we were thrilled and very you know very happy we got married and we kind of had this weight that was seemed like it had been lifted off our shoulders

a little bit but the fact remained that she still didn't she still didn't feel very good at all and over the course that was in December of 16 I believe and over the course of like the first half the next year, her kind of some of her symptoms were only getting a little bit worse. And ultimately, another doctor ended up ordering a different kind of biopsy, which this was like end of summer of 17, and that came back positive for Hodgkin and Slim Phoma. So that was pretty much right towards the end of my season that year. Actually, we found out right before I was about to start

the web finals at the time. And yeah, so that kind of started the process of we attacked it with chemo and which was which was pretty brutal. We did about three or four months of chemo and she was able to get into remission which was great. But then you know you go you then you get these scans every six months to check for you see to make sure your cancer is gone. And the first scan she got at her six month mark came back, came back positive that her that her lymphoma had returned. And that was about May of may of last year. And so yeah, that's when I had to take take time off.

And yeah, so what what how do you possibly make a decision at that point? I mean, I guess this, I don't want to say the decision was easy, but your instinct was immediately you had to be home. So what do you do with the tour, what happens to your status, what happens career-wise, and then what happens for you personally? So pretty much, I found out I was in Knoxville, Tennessee, playing our event. It was a fry.

She was getting her test results on Friday the day I was playing my second round. And I think it's been written about a little bit, but I'm sure she wasn't going to let me know what we were expecting very positive results. There was only a 10% chance of recurrence. And but we had kind of agreed she wasn't going to bother me during the round. She was going to let me play. And then ideally she was going to give me the good news when I got done. But I knew her, I knew she would text me as soon as she got the good results.

I had my phone on all around. I kind of noticed that nothing was coming through. And I kept checking my phone and yeah, I just, you know, I'm sitting on the back nine. I think I was literally like, kind of on the cut line. I just said, you know, I was trying to make the cut. And I was, but I was getting off freaked out that, you know, she hadn't let me know. And sure enough, I finished the round and, you know, talked to her immediately. And obviously she broke the news to me that, yeah, it had come back and it was brutal. I knew at that point that I was, because the first time she got it, it was right at the end of my season.

And we weren't starting treatments till after pretty much right at the end, you know, when I was essentially done with the finals. But this time, the timing, there's never a good timing for this stuff, but there was no doubt, I mean, it wasn't even a question. I was gonna stop playing. I went to our next week, our next event in Greenville, South Carolina mainly because all the tour brass, I just needed to sit down with them,

talk with them about this stuff, talk with them about this stuff, talk with them about my options for my playing status. So I went there and met with Dan Glod, who was the Commissioner of the Time in Marty Caffey, and we talked about it a bunch, and fortunately they have a provision in place called a family medical crisis crisis a family crisis medical extension And which I 100% qualified for and was able to stop my stop my season without Losing my status. I would just kind of it's kind of the same conditions as a regular medical if you terrier ACL or something like that and or your ACL or something like that. And yeah, so I stopped immediately

and went home for the, yeah, that was pretty much home by June and because we had to start, we had to start treatment soon after and parents right away. It was a brutal process, went through about four months of chemo. This, the chemo she was doing did not,

did not work, did not get any results, so they had to switch up the regimen again. Started a different chemo, did that for about two and a half months, and fortunately that did. That did work, got her in her emission, which was awesome, but then we had to do a, she had to do a bone marrow transplant, which I wouldn't wish done anybody. It was a brutal, just an absolutely brutal process that unfortunately is kind of necessary when you have a relapse with lymphoma. And yeah, I mean, that was just a, that was a pretty dark, I mean, the whole summer and

fall was an awful time. And fortunately, she was able to fight her way through that and that pretty much got us to that took us up to Right at the beginning of this season. I mean, I actually couldn't go to our first event the Bahamas because She wasn't well enough and Yeah, I mean, but she wanted me to start this season with everybody else because she knows She knows that you that if I wait till March or April to start playing, she wants me to get on tour as bad as I do. She understood that we don't have tons of tournaments out here.

We don't have 35 events. She knew that if I'm sacrificing three months of the year, I just got to play that much better. To get top 25, I mean, much, I mean, even top 75 would be, it could be a bit of a chore if you're starting so late, especially with the Rust I was gonna inevitably have. Yeah, well, there's a lot to touch on there. I think, well, one of the things I think I read

in the golf world article about you and your situation was what requiring with the bone marrow transplant, the quarantine that was provided. I was wondering if you could take us kind of through, because you touch on how dark of a time it was, but really, it's kind of hard to really understand without some of the details that were in that really kind of shocked me, and I was wondering if you could

tell us about that. Yeah, so essentially essentially in that process, I mean, the bone marrow transplant, there's some stuff you gotta do beforehand, you go through what's called high dose chemo, you do it, I think she did it for about a couple of weeks. That makes you very ill, but then, so they're pretty much taking your immune system

down to zero, and then you're admitted to the hospital and you're there for pretty much three weeks. And yeah, so you have zero immune system and they just have to be crazy paranoid about everything. I mean, just everything you're putting in your body, germs, all that stuff, because you're just incredibly sensitive. If you get any kind of virus or, I mean, this stuff can be lethal. And there was, yeah, her caretaker myself,

I was going to be the primary caretaker, obviously, but her parents and my parents were also around. We got schooled in the class. You go to that teaches you on how to care for a patient with the susceptibility that she was going to have. But yeah, we kind of got the hang of it. It's a lot of work she required. So she went to the hospital.

They obviously, she was monitored by nurses 24-7. But visitors, yeah, we could visit. She kept her circle really small. It was pretty much just a media family. And you know, our friends, our friends, all have, you know, they all have kids and you know, anybody who's been around a kid, you know, especially a baby, you know, with how much stuff they contract, being their kids, being in schools. Anybody who had kids pretty much had to stay away, which pretty much took all their friends out of the picture.

And I mean, yeah, it was just, it was, and didn't go along with all this. I mean, there would have been a lot of sickness throughout all this, but I mean, the time in the hospital was, I mean, man, it's it's tough to even think about like just seeing her, you know, a couple weeks straight where you pretty much can't have any solid food and everything you put in your body essentially comes back up. I mean, it's it's a it was a tough deal and we were fortunate. I mean, we had amazing care. We were at the Mayo Clinic here in Scottsdale. I mean, just great nurses, great doctors, great staff. I mean, that's a kind of a thankless profession.

And that's it, man, what they do is pretty amazing. And they deal with a lot of different, difficult circumstances and patients. And, you know, man, that's a tough job. But we saw firsthand kind of how important those people are and, you know, we couldn't be more thankful for everybody that, you know, helped her through it. But yeah, there's no doubt it was a tough time. And so that went she got released from the hospital, she still had major, major restrictions because her immune system was still next to zero for quite a while. It takes a while for that to build back up again. So yeah, during the next couple months that she was home, she still

worked, she did somebody with her 24-7 and you know, still had to kind of have the same parameters in terms of food and germs and making sure that it's washed and cleaned and... Yeah, I mean, all that. But, you know, we got pretty used to it. We had a pretty good system between me and her parents and my parents. And yeah, we were able to kind of, we were able to get through it.

It kind of became like a little bit of a new normal as unfortunate as it was, but yeah, we made it through it. Well, and one of the things also that stuck out to me about the story was the support you received from some of your playing peers as well. I was wondering if you could tell us about that. Yeah, I mean, now that's something that was really special for us. Part of going back to Greenville when I had met with the tour and talked to them about

it, you know, as part of my medical, you know, when guys go on a regular medical, there is usually a bit of some financial assistance, you know, based on your prior years play, you qualify for medical, you know, based on your prior years play, you qualify for medical, you know, you get paid a little bit, and it's not on the R-Sew, or it's not much at all, but it's something coming in, and, you know, but for this particular type of medical, since it wasn't my own, it wasn't an injury to myself,

we didn't qualify for that. So we were, yeah, I mean, we were looking, we were in a pretty, you know, it was going to be tough. I don't know how, or if we could have done it financially, I mean, these medical bills are intense and not to mention just trying to keep our lights on and all that. And, you know, it's kind of been written about, but Scott Langley's a friend of mine here in Scottsdale and he was on the player board at the time when our tour. And they actually had a meeting in that weekend Greenville and he brought up the idea to the

pact. You know, hey, is there any way we can help the Harrington's out with some of that, you know, financially over the course of however long it may be, and then everybody to their credit, like everybody thought it was a great idea. The tour brass decided that they were, you know, going to do put their full, you know, full weight of their tour and the PGA tour behind it and really try to help us out. And I remember when, you know, when Dan Glott, the commissioner, I mean, he told me that, that was what they wanted to do. I mean, I start, I mean, I start, I'm not a cryer

and I just, I kind of start crying right there and I was just like, man, this is crazy unbelievable that you guys want to do this. And it took a huge burden off of me. I mean, you know, for her, you know, our concern, 100% was just doing whatever was necessary to get her better.

And you kind of worry about the other, you know, the other things, how you're gonna pay for, you know, all that, you worry about all that later. I mean, the first and foremost is just, let's get her healthy. But yeah, I mean, on this tour, you know, I'm still, I'm still I'm still living year to year can't can't afford to have a bad year and you know, much less just stop playing.

And so for them to do that was crazy special. But even at that point, I still thought, you know, hey, every little bit will help. But I mean, my expectations were, I mean, they wanted me to kind of try the best I could to budget out exactly what, or that the rest of that year was going to look like with all our medical bills and living expenses, their goal, I mean, their goal was to, was to get us covered for everything. So essentially, I could start out whenever I was able to come back pretty much being the same financial situation that I was when I started it. And, but I still thought that was extremely ambitious and I just, you know, I just, I, I knew every bit would help,

but I mean, I didn't have, I had no clue that it would kind of take off the way it did and that people would really like rally so hard around us. And there were some, yeah I mean the players Obviously it's started with players both on the PGA tour and and corkberry you know chippin and and and and that all meant so much just because I know what it's like to be a player on this tour And we don't have a lot of disposable income and you know guys just chippin in whether it's 20 bucks or 50 bucks And some a lot more. I mean, there were guys, Sam Burns made an unbelievable pledge that, and I literally had never been met Sam Burns before. And I think the first week they had the fundraiser up, he pledged, I think it was $100

of birdie for the rest of the season. And that was, there were still probably 12 or 15 events left in the year. I mean, like a gesture like that is just unbelievable, especially for somebody that you don't even know. And then there were some tournaments that did things for the R.O.M.A. event, did a big thing, a social event where they raised a bunch of money for us during the event and then obviously the Ellie May classic and Steph Curry came along right

at the end of the season and kind of put us over the top of our goal and I mean just the whole thing is still gets me emotional thinking about it. I've thanked guys a hundred times. I mean, we couldn't be more appreciative of the tour. I mean, the way they stepped up, you know, didn't just have the idea to want to do this and then to put everything they had into it. And then there were stuff behind the scenes. I mean, they just, stuff nobody else was aware of. mean, just the the weekly calls I'd get from our commissioner or

other people with the tour guys who work on the truck, our operations truck, I mean, everybody just constantly checking in, making sure, you know, seeing how we're doing, making sure that, you know, we're doing okay. You know, nobody forgot about us. It's just a testament to this tour. You know, people always talked about how this tour is very kind of like a family and much kind of closer knit than the PGA tour guys. Everybody's kind of separate kind of doing their own thing. On our tour, I mean, everybody's just, yeah, we're competing against each other every week, but at the end of the day, I mean, we all care for each other and they'd ever just stepped up to want to help us out. And then I'll always remember, I actually came back and played one event in the last year.

I played the event in Portland. It kind of worked out with her. She was during a week when she was feeling pretty decent and didn't need, you know, she wanted me to go play and it's a special event for me just because it's in my hometown and I went up there and like the reception. The reception I got from the players was I couldn't, I mean, I was hard to even put into words, I mean, I remember playing a practice round and guys who hadn't seen me in a long time literally like walking across other holes to come over? They see me in the far away on a hole. They like walk across the hole and like give me a hug and you know ask

how things are going and I mean it was the response was just crazy and it's something Something that I will always cherish and never forget and to everybody who contributed or prayed for us or all that stuff was just so appreciated and yeah man it's pretty darn special. Well I mean you and I have never met before and I was emotional watching the cornfer- the event there in Portland, the Winco, where you got your card,

and like reading about your story more made me more emotional. So I can't imagine the emotion that kind of went through, that you went through with all that. For somebody that's just a golf fan, that I've kind of gotten the smallest possible taste of it, I can only imagine what it's like for you. But I mean, we've told this insane story to date

and we haven't really even touched on your season this year, which is how you end up qualifying for the PGA tour. I mean, at the end of 2018 with all this going on and your wife starting to feel better with the beginning of the season this year, and you go right back out and start playing with very little practice, how do you possibly get back in a golf mindset?

What did, did you have to change anything? Like how did you go from all of that to playing the best golf of your life, maybe? Well, it's kind of strange. So throughout all of last, once I stepped away, more or less that entire year, I got out, now I didn't get to play any golf. I mean, I played literally

like zero holes, but pretty much darn near every day, I would get out for like an hour. I mean, it was very little, I wasn't grinding. I was literally just like her, you know, her parents or somebody would come over, take over for for me and I'd run out to the golf course and I would just do something and at the time it was more just to kind of clear my head a little bit and just get you know just be able to step away for a minute but I was able to just like hit you know just hit some balls and it just kind of kept me in it just a little bit. And now periodically get to see my coach, Boyd Summer Hazen. We were kind of, I was working on some stuff. And towards, I was kind of getting ready to start the season, I really felt like, Granite

hadn't played any golf or had competed. And I knew there was going to be rust, but I felt like I was kind of ready to go. It's the weirdest thing. I mean, I had a weird suspicion, or not a suspicion, but just, I knew, I had this feeling, I just knew this was gonna be the year. And now, now, barring, we had some hurdles to get over, we had to make sure she had a scan

that was coming up in April, I knew that was gonna be a huge deal. And I just knew like, if things, if that went our way and she was still cancer-free and we were, we were, and we could move forward after that, I just kind of knew that I was going to get it done this year. And I got off to a bad start. I missed the first three cuts I played, all, you know, the Bahamas and Panama and Bogotan. And I was definitely, I was competitively rusty.

It, you know, I'd never really gone through a break like that. I'm in golf. And, but even through that, I just, it was just so strained to me every year that I've been playing. I've always thought, being a year like, oh, this is going to be the year blah, blah, blah. But it was just strained to me. I just had this sense no matter how maybe slow the start was I just kind of the sense that this was going to be the year and I now I

didn't really think it was going to be in the regular season I kind of figured out would just you know hey make the make the finals and you know then I would get it done the finals in and this was going to be it but I don't know if there's divine intervention or karma or something, but I'm just kind of crazy to do it. I know if I talk about it more, but I mean to do it, like in my hometown, with all of my family there, with, you know, and friends, and with just everything that we've been through and to have for there and just, I mean, like their storybook and then there's that. I mean, it's like a movie, man.

Like, it's still, it's recent as it is. It's, it's still hard for me to believe that, that, that this is the way, it's, uh, that, this is the way it happened and this is the way it's turned out. I mean, you know 38 year old PGH or rookie, you know coming off You know just kind of we've been through Helen back in the last couple years and I mean, yeah, it's it's hard for me to believe well so coming into Portland You're locked up for your status for corn fairy next year

So you're you're free wheel for your status for Cornfairy next year. So you're free-wheeling in a certain way, but at the same time, you've got to finish, I don't know how it ended up playing out, but at minimum, I think you needed a top two, right? I don't think third would have done it. So at the beginning of the week, I need, if everybody around the cut, or if the absolute minimum I needed was a solo third,

and that is with everybody on the bubble missing the cut, or if the absolute minimum I needed was a solo third. And that is with, you know, kind of everybody on the bubble missing the cut. And I mean, I think I was a couple hundred points, or I think I was maybe a hundred, I don't know how, maybe 180 points back of 25th spot in a solo third gets you 190. So like at an absolute minimum, if everything fell right, the solo third was it, I kind of was going into the week, you know, assuming I needed a piece of second, but it really at that point, now I knew I had been playing well, I had had a third, a few weeks prior, then I had a 28th and 11th, the week before, I really liked how my game was, but still, you know, when you're a second place finish, I mean, that's

not, you know, that's a damn good week. And, but I had, you know, with my situation, I can't remember, I was about 38 on the points list, I think, and, yeah, I mean, it was truly like a go for broke week, I mean, I was kind of quoted and saying, you know, hey, like, six plays doesn't do anything for me. Eighth plays doesn't do anything for me. I just wanted to go out there and play, I was playing well enough to be, to play real aggressively. And, you know, got to put myself in a really good position after Friday. And then things got kind of real. Because, you know, when you're starting the the week I wasn't really feeling pressure. I was just kind of freewheeling it and but then hey now you're now I'm in the final

group on Saturday and you know with a little bit putting myself in a legit and bit spot to to make this happen but I still had you know I still had a lot of golf left and let's just say you can come in saying you're freewheeling it but said there, I mean, like it's now you're dealing with nerves. Like it's a real thing, it's right there for you. I mean, for you, going into Sunday, say, were you more nervous than any other moment in your career? I was more nervous on Saturday. Okay.

And I don't know why. I can't explain, I was very nervous on Saturday to start. My appetite starting Friday evening pretty much went to zero You know, there's a lot of anxiety around that Saturday around. I mean, I just knew you know people had kind of turned out for me All week I they always kind of do and I played that event. You know, we don't have a lot of professional golfers from Portland And you know, we they kind of they yeah, they'd been out cheer and heart all week and I knew, you know, Saturday I get to the first tee and there's a few hundred people just around the tee box,

you know, waiting to watch me tee off. And I don't know most of them and you know, everything was kind of amplified. And I was very nervous, but I came out on Saturday just by the nerves and got off to, I was like, 300 through four and just like didn't miss a shot. And with all the nerves and got up to, I was like 300 through 4 and just like didn't miss a shot. And with all those nerves and ended up playing a really good around, a shot 65, and to be able to do that with all those nerves that I was feeling gave me a lot of confidence

for Sunday. Now I still expected to be extremely nervous on Sunday, but just with how I handled everything that day, I just, I felt like it was just my time and I just felt like I wasn't going to let anybody kind of take it from me. I just, I just kind of had this, now granted, I was still barely eating, you know, very nervous. I wasn't like that comfortable, but it was just a feeling I had that Sunday was going to go really well for me, but it was still such a weird Situation starting Sunday because I'm trying to I'm in the final group and I'm trying to win the golf tournament But yet I can't drop very far at all

But stepping up to the first tee on Sunday. I was weirdly comfortable I was just kind of ready to go and I definitely I was not shaking on the first tee shot or anything like I wasn't Saturday. I just felt I've probably I was playing great and I'm gonna go out there and get it done And I you know look I only shot two under Wasn't my best round of the week, but I mean I played awfully well and more importantly just hit some really big shots down the stretch kind of in the most you know the most intense moments and it's something that I'll be able to if that that might be the most difficult round off to play in my entire career. I mean that might be to be able to come

through you know in in that moment is something I will always be able to have in the back of my mind, I mean, I just don't know if I will ever play under that much pressure, even the final round of a major, if I, you know, hopefully get in the contention and won. I don't know if like, I mean, this is literally playing for my career, trying to accomplish something that I've strived for my entire, my entire life, whether from a kid to playing 16 years of pro, and to be able to come through and accomplish that, I truly don't know if anything will ever approach that in terms of nerves and how much is writing on it. When you're in contention of major, maybe you don't win, you still make the shit ton of

money and you're like, it's like, hey, you just move on. I mean, I'm at a point, you know, I'm still living year to year and, you know, wondering if I'm, yeah, there's doubt whether I'm gonna get there and you don't know how many opportunities you're gonna have like this. And yeah, I mean, I was able to come up with the shots and the puts when I needed them.

And yeah, I mean, I'm always gonna have that in the bank. Yeah, well, I mean, again, we emphasize this as whenever you get a chance to as well. But like, I know you've had more career earnings on many tours and things like that, but your career earnings from PGA Tour being at the web.com Tour or Cornfairy or Nationwide is just, I think, 784,000.

And if you retain your card next year, you'll more than double that career earning total. Next year, like that's so much more of a possibility that is out there on the PGA tour for you. It's starting soon. I mean that's, I want to give people on those listening something to look forward to this fall. I mean we're going to, we're in the week of the tour championship and the amount of money that's being handed out this week is just absolutely insane. But the new season is starting very, very quickly and a lot of the graduates

in the corn fairy tour are going to be stacking these fields and playing for more money than they've ever played for in their entire lives. And it's going to be really, really awesome to watch. But coming down, the stretch on that 18th hole, I mean, you just, did you just gas that driver on 18 hard? I mean, what's, I actually tried to kind of... So it's a hard tee shot in the sense that you have all this and environmentally sensitive area to the left. It's just, it's hazardous that you can't play out of. But you nearly need, if you want to have a good shot in that green, you need to kind of challenge that left side a little bit.

And fortunately, I was kind of hitting nice draws all the way with my driver. You know, you can certainly kind of bail out the the right but it makes it a much tougher second shot. You kind of have to cut it around these trees. But no I mean I've fortunately I've kind of always hit that T-shot pretty well and I hit a great T-shot. But I was actually trying to smooth it a little bit more. I mean I wasn't you know I was trying to kind of stake and pose and just kind of put a good you know kind of smoothish swing on it. But yeah, I mean, I caught it.

Fortunately, you know, I kind of, you know, lengthwise, I'm kind of in the upper, you know, probably 10 percent. And yeah, I got down there a really long ways and I only had, I had a perfect angle and didn't really have to hit any kind of, I couldn't really hit a draw, but I just kind of had to keep one straight. And, you know, I only had two or3 to the front and 207 to the hole and But that that pin as as you know you guys probably saw on TV I mean there could be some crazy. There's no good mess on that hole except short. You need to hit that thing

Right, you need to hit that in online, but keep it short That's that pin for the nervy shots that have to happen on that green is cruel, really. It is, it really is. And unfortunately, I watched, I was in the fairway and we had a delay. I watched Vincent have some problems there. But I knew, I mean, I've played this event enough times and I've played play this course enough times. I mean, I kind of, I knew the deal with

that pin, you can't hit it. If you hit it in the right bunker, you have to play away from the hole or else, you know, you were kind of risking what happened to him, and if you miss it left, you know, you have this, you have some really tricky shots down there. So even though I knew, once I, you know, once I saw that Vincent had some trouble, I mean, I knew that I could make par and Finish solo third, which was gonna do it for me, but still That's a that's a shot that has given me fits over the year I just any any pen on that green. I've hit so few good shots of that green You know, and you certainly know all this in the back of your mind. I mean, yeah, there's the positive self-talk and all that. But I mean, hey, it's a shot I struggled

with. There's no doubt. And I was just fortunate to have a perfect number. I was hitting a six iron. And I had a perfect number where I could hit a good full little baby cut six to keep in and it should not get past the front edge. Because that's when the trouble kind of comes in if you get it Not if you hit it too far or if you you know, it's probably not it's gonna go somewhere where it's awfully tough up and down And you could you could look a little bit silly. I hit the shot. I mean, it's the best shot of my life I hit just I held this six iron that just stayed dead straight, stayed right at it and finished about two inches off the green, round the front edge. I had about 12 feet for eagle, you know, at that point I needed three puts to get my card and I just lost that putt up there

at about six inches and tapped that thing in. And I think there wasn't even a thought in my mind about trying to make that eagle puttilot. I was the probably the most satisfying six-inch plot of everything. And what, I mean, your wife comes out on the green golf channel, just zooms in on you guys and doesn't say a word, but what's said between you and your wife at that moment? Oh, man. I mean, so I tapped in, you know, I remember I just, I was in a little bit of disbelief after I hold out, and I know they kind of kept the camera on me and I've seen the clip and I went on the side of the green and I just squatted

down and closed my eyes and I just couldn't hit me just like a rush. Everything we've been through and well I mean kind of my whole career This taking this long and then like everything That we've been through the last two years and I just sat there for probably 30 seconds while my playing partner was finishing And it just it was a pretty amazing feeling and then I remember we were shaking hands on the green And then I just we were shaking hands on the green. And then I just got really, I was just pumped. And I'd let how the pickle said something, you know, it was yelled something, come on,

or something like that. And I was all excited, and we're walking off the green. And then she starts, I see her, and she starts walking towards me. And I remember I just kind of, I just kind of went limp, I feel like. And I just kind of fell into her. And you know, I think she was crying

and you know see how we're hugging and you know I just remember she she's kind of like crying and laughing you know so happy and I remember she sent him me she's like we're going to the PGA tour and I was just squeezing her probably way to her and I just I mean I just told her I I love you so much and when we kind of stopped hugging you know I walk I to a home and I just, I'm just told her, I love you so much. And when we kind of stopped hugging, I walk a little more with the green and my brother's there and some of my best friends and my parents and other players are sitting there right behind the green.

And everybody, I could just tell how happy other players were for me. I think they just kind of respect, respect the journey of me doing this for so long. And, you know, obviously they know everything we've been through. And to see how happy everybody was and to do it in front of so many people that played a big role in getting me there. I mean, it's just, it's crazy. Every time I see the clip, I still get shivers. I'll never forget that moment. Unbelievable.

Intense. No, it's insane. Every time I start to get discouraged about the direction of Pro Golf or the oversaturation of things on the PGA tour, dreams do come true. And that's the part of the game that I think all of us love the most. And I'm curious. Yeah, and I think that's why, you know,

like so our story obviously like took off a little bit. And I mean, I way more than I ever expected. I mean, obviously it's always a golf story. They reported on the golf channel, but the way, the way things kind of took off nationally, and it just, you know just went all over news broadcasts and ESPN and today show, like every, I think people are attracted to that. There's so much just the story and the journey and the comps and goals and going through

adversity and just people in this day and age of so many negative, so negative and combative and just to see a truly great story that can inspire people whether it's sticking with your goals and just pushing and pushing through or the personal You know the personal struggles that everybody you know everybody deals with stuff and I can see why people would be you know attracted to it But it's still it's hard to believe that it's you know been kind of come through for us and that you know We're the ones that everybody kind of wants to You know read a read about or see a story about and yeah, you know, we're the ones that everybody kind of wants to, you know, read a

read about or see a story about. And it's pretty nice. No, it's truly inspiring. I'm curious though, what, uh, with PJ Toursies and right around the corner here, what are you looking forward to the most about PJ Tours life? courtesy cars? That's up there. For sure, you know, like literally last week in Columbus, I show up at Davis second

there. I'm getting late at night and I have a reservation and I walked I walk up there and they don't have any cars And I'm like what the hell I just made this reservation eight hours ago. How are there no cars? So no, I mean that's there's no There's no question. Yeah courtesy cars will be very nice But however with that said, I think everybody, in whatever, you know, whatever you do in life in business, in sports, you always want to compete against the best if you're a competitor,

and which I am and everybody that does this is. And you want to go against the best, you want to see how you stack up, and that's absolutely, you know, that that's absolutely what I'm looking forward to. I mean, people kind of do shy away from talking about the financial aspect of it, but realistically, I'm 38 years old and I'm looking for, I want to, I worry about, I want to set my family up. I want to be, I don't want to be like, you know, live year to year. And I'm looking for it to plan great and giving my family security.

And, you know, that's a big part of, you know, I don't, you know, when I was a lot younger, it was, oh, I want to be number one in the world. I want to be number one in the world. You know, at this point in my life, I'm not trying to be number. Yeah, I still think I can be a great player on PJ tour for a long for for quite a while well into my forties and But I don't have these like dreams of being number one in the world anymore I want to be I want to be successful and I want to do what I love and I know what it's like to be low on cash

and worrying about entry fees. And I've been kind of at the depths of professional golf and played all of my tours. And yeah, I mean, that's certainly a side that there's obviously a little some great opportunities out there in that regard. But also, beyond that, the golf courses and this tour, I've always felt like my game, Trent will translate a lot better to the PGA tour than does the Cornfairy mainly just

because the golf courses. I'm kind of, yeah, my ball striking and driving is the strength of my game and, you know, when put me on a 7,400-yard golf course with rough and a lot of trees. I like my chances. That's probably what I'm looking forward to. Well, on that note, you don't put yourself through all the years of the entry fees and all that to hope to break even. You do it because it's a risk so that you can have a great financial payout. I don't think there's any issue. I don't think anyone has any issue with anyone addressing that or saying that. I mean, you don't do it for 16 years, you know, thinking like, oh, well, hopefully one

day I'll make six figures. It's no. It's time now to, you know, to really cash in on the hard work you've made. So get out there and make a bunch of cuts and make it happen and stay out there for a long time and that's going to for sure happen. Yep, I certainly hope so. I hope it's on the report too. Alright, man, we're going to let you go.

This was a little longer than I was planning to take you, but that's an incredible, incredible story when I know you've told a lot of times of the last few weeks, but we really, really appreciate you sharing it here and you got, I can't imagine a large, large number of the people that downloaded this one are gonna be rooting for you and your family going forward. So thanks for taking the time. Well, I certainly appreciate it.

And look forward to come back on. Hopefully, we can tackle some lighter topics and choke around a little bit. And hopefully talk about some success that I'm having out there on tour. But now I really appreciate you guys having me on and let me tell my story and just kind of everything we've been through. It's real special to be getting some of this recognition and doing a long time and pretty much an anonymity.

It's very cool for us and you know we appreciate you guys telling our story. Well I'm also on that note obligated to tell you to tell your brother he will not be receiving any discount on any merchandise for his ambush marketing and wearing the no-ling advisor at the found around in Portland. I was listening about that. I saw him I think that morning I was like, is that the link up Pfizer? He's like, yeah, he's like, usually he's kind of company man out there rocking my, you know, rocking the pink headwear, you know, team Harrington P.N. and our home club in Portland.

But I was like, oh nice. That's old. Well, yeah, again, it will not be any discounts for that. Just want to make it very clear that would be illegal. So, but Scott, thanks for the time again, time again man and best of luck we'll speak soon alright thanks a lot beat a right club today that is better than most

that is better than most. How about in? That is better than most. Better than most.