Second Thoughts

PGA Tour veteran OK in minors

Injuries forced Jonathan Byrd to play on the Web.com Tour after losing his PGA Tour card, but he used a positive attitude to make the experience enjoyable.
Injuries forced Jonathan Byrd to play on the Web.com Tour after losing his PGA Tour card, but he used a positive attitude to make the experience enjoyable.

With five victories, Jonathan Byrd had such a productive PGA Tour career that spending any time on the developmental Web.com Tour never crossed his mind. His only stop in the minor leagues was in 2001, so long ago that it was known as the Buy.com Tour.

But year after his playoff victory in the 2011 Tournament of Champions at Kapalua, Byrd had wrist surgery. He missed three months to start 2013, and his game and confidence slowly eroded to the point he was trying to make cuts, make money and keep his job.

"You stop trying to bring your best, and you're trying just to stay out here, and that's no way to play," Byrd said last month at the RSM Classic. "The tighter you hang on, the farther you get away from what you're doing."

With nothing but past champion status offering him limited starts, his best option to regain a full PGA Tour card was to spend a year on the Web.com Tour. That can be a tough pill for someone who had never come close to losing his PGA Tour card before the injury.

Byrd, who turns 39 in January, brought with him an attitude that is worth emulating for anyone who winds up in that spot.

"It was humbling," Byrd said. "To go back to the Web was difficult. There's so many reminders every week that you're not where you want to be. But I tried to embrace it. I didn't want to be the grumpy old tour player talking about how great it is on tour and how bad it is out here and how good I used to be. I made friends out there. I enjoyed it. I focused on enjoying the competition."

Byrd turned down a half-dozen exemptions to PGA Tour events last year. He finished 48th on the money list (the top 25 get PGA cards), and he didn't earn one of the 25 additional spots from the four-tournament series at the end of the year.

Even so, he was upbeat about his progress. Besides, being around a bunch of kids in their early 20s has helped.

"You've got to play good to beat these guys," he said. "But what I've learned from being out here so long is that I've got what it takes. Guys who have won five times on the PGA Tour, it's a short list. I've got something in there that's good enough. And I still think it's good enough."

Bowl unbound

Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey have taken a lot of heat since they announced their decisions to skip their respective teams' bowl games, and it seems like Fournette is tired of hearing it.

On Tuesday, Fournette shared a photo of him with his daughter on Twitter that featured a not-so-subtle message: "Only person I owe something too."

Former Notre Dame star Jaylon Smith tore two knee ligaments in the Fiesta Bowl last year. The injury resulted in him slipping down the draft board and missing his entire rookie NFL season. What happened to Smith might lead to more players choosing not to partake in bowl games.

"In fairness to Fournette, he is battling a foot injury and not 100 percent healthy," wrote Steve DelVecchio of the website larrybrownsports.com. "Still, you have to wonder if he and McCaffrey are starting a trend."

Sports on 12/21/2016

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