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ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Tim Herron is fully aware he’s on the back nine of his PGA Tour career, the 18th hole in fact, and that his best days on the best circuit in professional golf are long behind him.
No one has to tell him he hasn’t had a top 10 since 2016, a win since 2006. His dry wit and good nature is still evident despite his overall game not being close to what it used to be. And the man affectionately called Lumpy is still, well, lumpy.
He’s cashed just three times this year but he’s far from feeling poorly. He hasn’t been wallowing in self-pity. Instead, he’s been downright giddy as he eyes a second life in the game he’s loved since his youth.
The PGA Tour Champions can’t get here fast enough for Herron, who won four times back in his heyday, including victories at Bay Hill and Colonial. The tour has been his target for some time, the salvation to get him through some rough times trying to keep up with the players on the PGA Tour, many half his age.
When Herron turns 50 the first week of February, he’ll be setting up a new residence in the land of golf and is confident he’ll feel right at home with the elder statesmen of the game.
Still, Herron wanted to take one last go-around on the PGA Tour and in doing so, brought along some youth for the ride. And things so far at the RSM Classic at Sea Island Golf Club couldn’t have gone better.
With his son, Carson, on the bag, Herron shot 6-under-par 64 on the Seaside Course Friday and coupled with his opening 70 on the Plantation Course, easily made the cut at 8 under.
Yes, he’s six shots behind pace-setter Tyler Duncan, but Herron is eagerly heading into a weekend of play for the first time since May. And he hasn’t lost sight of the target on the horizon, for he isn’t suddenly thinking the PGA Tour is still in play in the future. He’s had two great days but he hasn’t become delusional.
“I’ve been looking toward the promised land all summer,” Herron said about his impending debut on the Champions. “I’ve missed seven cuts in a row. I just wanted to go out with a bang, and I could do it with my son, so how cool is that? Not many people can do that.
“It’s been awesome. He’s had fun. He probably wants to play golf this afternoon so I have to get him to a golf course.”
Well, Carson can give his dad a run for whatever money they’d play for. The youngster is 17 and carries a +1 handicap. His target is to play college golf. But he gave up a top-flight junior golf tournament this weekend in Orlando to carry dad’s bag. The smile on his face after the second round told everyone he made the right decision.
“It’s awesome,” said Carson, who plays golf for Minnetonka High School in Minnesota. “I love doing the yardages for him. He trusts me most of the time. I only messed up once, on No. 7. I walked it off wrong, but he still made birdie.”
Herron quickly pointed out his son saved him quite a few times in the first round. Seems Herron kept thinking he was on the other side of the course and kept coming up with the wrong yardage for his approach shots.
“I was on the wrong hole five times,” he said. “Three holes in a row the pin was on 28 (yards) and I was totally on the wrong hole and he was like, ‘Dad, come on, man, you’re on the wrong hole.’ So I’ve messed up more than he has.”
But nothing’s been wrong with the putter.
“It’s nice to make some putts,” he said. “On the weekend, I can’t wait to just let it go. Because I haven’t made a cut in forever, you end up kind of playing chess trying to keep the stress off where you’re not hitting 5-foot comebackers the first two rounds. I’m too old for that crap.”
But he’ll be just the right age in about 10 weeks and has circled the Chubb Classic in Naples, Fla., for his first start on the Champions, another in Tucson, Ariz., two weeks later, and then another in Newport Beach, Calif., the following week.
“I’m just excited to get out there. I can’t wait,” he said. “I know it will still be hard, but there’s only 78 guys to beat out there and I hit it just about as far as most of those guys. I just really need to bear down on putting and have some fun.”
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