Move over Mike Visacki. There’s a new feel-good story of the year contender.
Big Mike pulled on the heart strings when he Monday qualified for the Valspar Championship and cried enough tears to be standing in casual water. The video of his phone call to his dad went viral.
But that was so April and that was before PGA club professional Rob Labritz made his dream come true, earning exempt status on PGA Tour Champions for 2022.
Trailing by one entering the final round, Labritz, the director of golf at the GlenArbor Golf Club in Bedford Hills, New York, carded the low score on Friday with a bogey-free 7-under 64 to grab medalist honors at TPC Tampa Bay. He posted a 72-hole score of 17-under 267 to finish three strokes ahead of runners-up Thongchai Jaidee and David Branshaw.
“I’ve been envisioning this happening. And it did, which is crazy,” Labritz said after achieving his dream of 15 years. “It shows the power of the mind. I’m beyond the moon. I’m almost speechless. I’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this, to know that my golf game held up.”
All. The. Feels. https://t.co/44eURPqUMq
— Adam Schupak (@AdamSchupak) December 11, 2021
If your goose bumps didn’t have goose bumps after watching the video above, well, we can’t be friends.
There’s nothing better in sports than the long shot finally having his day in the sun. Labritz has been a club pro since age 19, wearing an assortment of hats in his day job that leaves little time to concentrate on his own game.
Somehow, he says, he kept his game sharp. Over the years, he’s qualified for the PGA Championship eight times, finishing as the low PGA professional at both the 2010 and 2019 PGA Championships. He is a three-time Met PGA Player of the Year, and his hole-out in the 2013 Professional National Championship was the No. 1 “Top Play” on SportsCenter. This summer, he warmed up for Q-School by winning the Massachusetts Open, Rhode Island Open, the Met Professional Championship and the Westchester Open (at his home club).
So, this was no fluke. Labritz turned 50 on May 31, but he’s been planning for his chance to qualify for the senior circuit for at least 15 years.
“This is what I’ve worked for my entire life,” he said. “Every time I’m out hitting golf balls, I’m thinking of this. I’m thinking of the shots I need to hit to make sure this happens. It’s super important, but it’s super fun, too. I’m doing what I love, and there’s nothing better.”
But PGA Tour Champions is virtually a closed shop. It is geared to provide a mulligan for the stars of yesteryear, so fans can have another bite at the apple of seeing Arnie, Jack and Lee win once again and more recently Fred Couples, Bernhard Langer and Ernie Els.
To protect the stars of yesterday, only five cards are available at final stage. The next 25? They earn the right to try to Monday qualify into events. Labritz had to a jump through a lot of hoops even to have a shot at his dream.
To do so, he had to beat a field of veteran pros and former Tour winners such as Harrison Frazar, Frank Lickliter and Ken Duke. In other words, guys whose day job was to groove their swing all day and only ate what they killed.
Every once in a while, a David comes along and beats the Goliaths: Walt Zembriski, a former steel worker, cattle farmer Robert Landers and beer truck driver Mark Johnson were some of the unheralded players to unlock the door. Labritz is following in the footsteps of club pros Jim Albus, Tom Wargo and driving-range pro Allen Doyle, who didn’t make their mark in the professional ranks until turning 50.
As Labritz sat in scoring after his final round, he pulled his hat low to try to hide the emotions, but it was too late. “I’m not a good-looking crier,” he cracked. He whipped out his black leather yardage book and flipped up a flap to reveal the embroidered words he’s tried to live by: Keep grinding….Always…But look around and enjoy the ride!
Rob Labritz is for all the dreamers.
Raw emotion in the scorers tent plus the note in his yardage book that spurred him on. pic.twitter.com/j3D1ovOnXp
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) December 11, 2021
Those were words on a note (accompanying a bottle of Dom Perignon) from one of his members after he qualified for his first PGA Championship at Hazeltine.
“All the sacrifice, we did it,” Labritz told his wife via a phone call videoed by PGA Tour.com as the emotions and tears poured out.
“I’m going to enjoy this for a while,” he said.
As he should.
“To know that my golf game held up…” and his voice trailed off. He didn’t need to finish the thought.
That’s because it’s evident that Labritz loves being a club pro, but he loves competing, too. As he’d already put it, he’s ready for “the next chapter” and the chance to concentrate on his golf game for once and compete on a more level playing field.
To Labritz, there’s nothing better than doing what you love.
Actually, there is – it’s called doing what you love at the highest level. It’s why Rob Labritz can’t wait to tee it up on the Champions Tour in 2022.
Source: Golfweek https://ift.tt/2V95qPJ