Sunday, June 26, 2011

Epiphany Leads to Success



Epiphany Leads To Success
by Randy Roberts and Roz Roberts

Two weeks ago Friday, Michael Thompson had just missed the cut at the Fed Ex St. Jude Classic.  Nonetheless Michael was not discouraged. On twitter he declared "For those of you tweeters who might be freaking out about my missing cuts, do not fret. I had an epiphany today and I promise there is better golf to come!". 

The tweet proved to be prophetic as he rebounded this week and shot all four rounds in the 60's (a PGA Tour first for him) including a PGA career best 8 under on the final day, leading to a solo 4th finish at the Travelers Championship.  He had an amazing final round in which he shot 6 under on the closing 9 holes.  The stretch included two amazing approach shots on 16 and 18.  Video of the birdie on 18 is included above.  The birdie on 16, in which he landed his approach within 14 inches was one of the PGA Tour's "Top Shots of the Day".

In an article posted on PGATour.com, he said his epiphany was regarding his driving, which he had been working on with swing coach Susie Meyers.
“My putting’s always been my strength, but off the tee I’ve struggled, and in the last month or two, I’ve really come into my own in terms of being able to hit fairways and get myself in position to hit good shots,” Thompson said.
The excellent finish this week will vault him up the rookie reshuffle list about 15 spaces, which will in turn lead to additional opportunities to play in more tournaments.  Additonal opportunites have already presented themselves, as he was invited to play in next week's AT&T National.  He had been scheduled to have a week off, but as all rookies on the PGA Tour know - plans change.  The 4th place finish also vaults him up the official money list to 119th which is important because the top 125 money leaders at the end of the year earn a PGA Tour card for the following year.

Golfers and fans alike have been congratulating Michael all afternoon.  Follow the Twitter feed on the right side of this page to see the most recent messages.  You can also follow this link to look through the Twitter feed history:
Thompson Tide Twitter Feed


Links
In case you missed them (or just want to see them again) here are the links to this week's scores.  We've also included the link to the reshuffle list and the rookie rankings list which have been updated:
Leaderboard
Scorecard
Reshuffle List
PGATour.com's Rookie Rankings

Articles in Which Michael is Featured
There's been several articles written about Thompson's success at the Traveler's Championship already.  Here's the ones we've found.  We'll post additional links as we find new things.

Thompson Has Career Day - PGATour.com
Traveler's Championship: After Hurricane Katrina Forced Michael Thompson to Transfer He Found His Golf Game - NHRegister.com
What They Said: Michael Thompson - PGATour.com
Thompson Finds Redemption at Travelers - Greenwichtime.com
Ping Tour Report - www.ping.com

Articles in Which Michael is Not Featured but is Mentioned
Jacobson wins Travelers for first PGA Tour title  - Atlanta Journal Constitution (AP)
5 Things: Jacobson’s breakthrough at Travelers - Golfweek (Item #3)
TRips: Monday - alabama.247sports.com (nice blurp halfway down article)
Jacobson wins high-energy Travelers Championship: A fan’s reaction
 - sports.yahoo.com (not a lot on Michael but an interesting article nonetheless)

Links to Photos
Professional Photos from Getty Images
Photo from Golf.com

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