|
(Reuters) - Michael
Visacki, a longtime mini-tour player who qualified this week for
his first PGA Tour event, realised a lifelong dream on Thursday
by competing in the opening round of the Valspar Championship in
Palm Harbor, Florida.
Visacki, who drained a 20-foot putt in a playoff at a Monday
qualifier to earn the final spot in this week's field, birdied
the par-five first hole at Innisbrook Resort's Copperhead course
en route to a three-over-par 74.
"Yeah, it was awesome," Visacki said about his 334-yard drive at
the first hole. "I thought I was going to be a little bit more
nervous than I was but I felt calm, had a good warm-up session
and striped one right down the middle."
The 27-year-old Visacki became one of golf's feel-good stories
of the year after the emotional phone call he made to his father
to say he would be making a start on golf's most lucrative
circuit was caught on video and went viral.
And despite a whirlwind week during which he was thrust onto the
pre-tournament interview schedule with the likes of world number
one Dustin Johnson and number two Justin Thomas, Visacki was
able to get a good night's sleep before his big day.
"Last night was a little bit easier than even really even the
Monday qualifier, actually," said Visacki. "I had barely got any
sleep that night, but last night was probably the first night
that I've actually gotten some decent sleep this week."
Visacki feels his first taste of PGA Tour life will be nothing
but beneficial.
Playing on a Copperhead layout that is about an hour from his
home in Sarasota, Visacki followed his opening birdie with three
consecutive bogeys and reached the turn in two-over-par 38
before mixing two bogeys with a birdie on the back nine.
"I hope that it gives other guys like me inspiration to keep
going, because I know a lot of guys that just give up, they're
like, you know, I'm not good enough," said Visacki.
"Just kind of forget about that and focus on you know how good
you are because you're still trying to do this for a living and
just one shot at a time."
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Ed Osmond)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
|
