PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Conner Godsey was counting down the days until he would leave for Argentina for a stretch of events on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica beginning with next week’s Buenos Aires Championship.
But now that he’s been grounded as all six of the PGA Tour’s circuits were put on hold due to the coronavirus global pandemic, he will deal with this detour on his aspiring journey to the PGA Tour with frequent visits to TPC Sawgrass to work on his game and play in matches against numerous fellow pros who lives in the area.
“We all try and beat everybody,” Godsey said as he played the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass earlier this week. “We’ll play as many games as we can and you stay competitive as much as you can.”
Godsey is in a different financial boat, however, from those who were in the field at last week’s Players Championship, which was canceled after the first round along with all tournament play until at least mid-May.
Each player in the field received $52,000 as half of the $15 million purse was paid out. Since turning pro in 2014, Godsey has made about $55,000 as he’s traveled the back roads on the PGA Tour’s developmental circuits – the Mackenzie, Latinoamerica and Korn Ferry tours. He’s also played five mini-tour events this year and made another $7,000.
“Right now it’s not a huge deal,” Godsey said of his financial standing. “There’s definitely some uncertainty there, but I have some money saved up and some backers helping me, as well. I completely understand the decision to cancel events. It sucks not being able to play but it’s a good opportunity to work on things and try and get better. It’s hard to make a whole lot of money on Latinoamerica but I’d like to have the opportunity. It would be nice to make a little extra cash.”
The 27-year-old left-hander, who is 2089th in the Official World Ranking, missed the cut in his lone start this year on PGA Tour Latinoamerica at the Estrella del Mar Open in Mazatlan, Mexico. Victor Lange was also in the field; he left Mexico March 9 to return to South Africa and tested positive for the coronavirus March 17. According to a PGA Tour statement, Lange has no symptoms and is expected to make a full recovery.
Godsey doesn’t know Lange, doesn’t even know what he looks like, so he doesn’t know if he came in contact with him.
“I’m not worried about myself getting sick but I would hate to have it and spread it. If I show any symptoms I will get tested,” Godsey said. He also will hold off on going to see his niece; his sister gave birth on Monday.
Instead, he’ll keep his mind on his game. He hasn’t dealt with an extended absence from competitive golf since he left college seven years ago, so he put together a blueprint to follow that he hopes will improve his game.
He has new putting drills to work on after consultation with his putting coach, John Graham. His swing coach, Tim Cook, came up with drills Godsey will work on concerning arm structure in his swing. And he’ll hit the gym with new exercises after talking with his fitness instructor from Diesel Fitness in Tampa.
“You can’t go into this blind,” Godsey said. “You know you’re going to have at least 10 weeks off and you have to figure out how you can get better. I would rather be playing tournaments, but I’ll enjoin the practice and the process of trying to get better. We just have to play it day by day.”
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