What's a week in golf? It started off with another player pinching my caddie, and finished with me walking off the 18th green at the Oakwood Country Club - having required just 30 shots for the back nine - wishing that I didn't have to stop playing. God, it feels so good when you attack the flag and sink the putts, which is exactly what happened in the final round of the Quad City Classic on the way to a 64, the lowest round of my professional career.
It just shows that you should always have faith in your own ability. I never envisaged such a situation occurring earlier in the week when Rick Abcox, my caddie, contacted me to say he was taking another bag. We'd only been together a couple of weeks, but the chemistry between us was so good that I didn't suspect a move was on the cards.
Hindsight is a great thing, but on the Sunday evening of the Greater Hartford Open I got a phone call from Lee Rinker, a player I'd never actually met before, asking me if Rick was around and that he needed to talk to him. And a couple of days later Rick tells me that he's moving to take Rinker's bag. I didn't know what to do.
I was upset about Rick. He worked me hard, and I'd really sung his praises. However, at least he had the guts to contact me personally and explain his reasons. I offer $650 a week regardless of whether I make the cut or not, and he'd obviously been offered more money.
Rick's decision to leave me meant I had no caddie for the Quad City and some local fellow got the bag. It wasn't the same, though, and he was trying too hard on Friday and Saturday, insisting on calling every putt. On Sunday, I simply told him to carry the bag and give me the yardages and I played a lot better. I played so well, in fact, that I shot 64 and have decided to play in this week's Deposit Guaranty in Mississippi - and, since Mark Carnavale is not playing there, I'm able to use his caddie, an Australian who has a good reputation on the circuit.
Anyway, I left Oakwood on Sunday feeling about as good as you can. My game's come back really well and the only disappointing thing about last week was that I let two moderate rounds slip in. On Thursday, I played with Keith Nolan for the first time on the tour and there was a friendly rivalry to our play. Unquestionably, it spurred me on - and I had six birdies and a bogey and hit 17 greens in regulation. I missed just one fairway and my ball striking was really good.
The middle two rounds ruined what could have been a great week. After that 65 on the first day, I was just two shots behind Curt Byrum but I followed up with 71 and 72. Then, I bogeyed the third hole in my final round and I went from being six under par after 16 holes in the first round to being just one under par and right down at the end of the field at that stage.
But I had seven birdies in the next 15 holes and, if there is a day to do it, Sunday is the day. Everything came good and I just let the rhythm flow. I turned in 34, and the run home felt superb. I was hitting the ball a mile. I birdied the 10th, hit a sand wedge 128 yards to four feet for another birdie at the 11th, hit a nine iron 150 yards close for another birdie at the 13th. At that stage, I set myself the target of getting red seven or red eight, to get a few dollars more.
It was a case of mind over matter after that. I got over every shot and just hit it. At the 15th, I had 115 yards downhill to an island green and hit a sand wedge to three feet; and, at the last, I hit a really good three-wood off the tee, with trees right and left, and then sent in a sand wedge shot from 135 yards to 10 feet.
I had a tricky right to left downhill putt on the 18th but trickled it in and, when I walked off the green, there was a gang of kids seeking balls and gloves and autographs. I jumped up more than 30 places, from tied-72nd starting the day to a tie for 35th place and earned a cheque for $7,478. I know I need to earn a lot more to keep my card, but I had 16 birdies in the week and left Illinois with my confidence sky-high, so high in fact that I've changed my plans and will play in the Deposit Guaranty.
The temperatures down south at this time of year are so high, something like 150 million degrees, that I'd planned to take a rest week. But finishing with a 64 in Oakwood changed all that. When you hit that sort of form you keep it going, so I'll now play the next four weeks, take a rest for the week of the US PGA, and then hopefully I'll have a stretch of 10 weeks in a row.
(In an interview with Philip Reid).
