(Reuters) – Keeping himself “grounded” with memories of his daughter, bereaved Nashville golfer Hayden Springer battled his way to a fourth-place finish at Q-School on Monday to earn a coveted U.S. PGA Tour card.
Last month, Springer and his wife Emma mourned the death of three-year-old Sage, their first-born child who was diagnosed prenatally with a severe developmental disorder.
Sage was in Springer’s thoughts throughout the rain-delayed final round at TPC Sawgrass in Florida as the 26-year-old earned one of the PGA Tour cards awarded to the top five finishers.
“It’s kind of one of those things that I think about her, and I just think about her smile,” Springer said.
“Like that’s the thing that I can just close my eyes and think about her smiling, and it’s kind of a grounding, kind of gets you back to neutral.
“Not thinking about golf, not thinking about the last shot, the next shot, just thinking about her and her smile.”
Sage was never expected to make it out of hospital after her birth but was a “fighter”, Springer said. She survived major heart surgery at four months’ old and spent another two months in hospital before returning home for round-the-clock care.
“She was just a very joyful girl, and she really loved her life,” her mother Emma said, wiping away tears in video posted on PGA Tour website.
“I think she just inspired joy in a lot of people, really made a lot of people feel joy and smile just knowing her.”
Springer, who has made only four PGA Tour starts since turning professional in 2019, booked his place at Q-School after topping PGA Tour Canada’s season-long Fortinet Cup race.
Midway through his final round at Dye’s Valley course at Sawgrass, the Texas Christian University (TCU) golfer was well-positioned when a torrential downpour cancelled play on Sunday.
He spent the rest of a nervous day with Emma, a nurse and fellow TCU golfer, and their one-year-old daughter Annie before returning on Monday.
After back-to-back bogeys from the 12th hole, he steadied with a birdie on the 14th but wobbled again with a bogey on the 17th after finding water.
However, a tap-in for par on the last hole was enough to finish joint fourth on eight-under with Mexico’s Raul Pereda, the pair nabbing the last two tour cards.
Australia’s Harrison Endycott won the event on 15-under, reclaiming his tour card after a tough rookie season, ahead of Americans Trace Crowe (11-under) and Blaine Hale Jr (nine-under).
Springer said he had essentially worked his whole life for a day like Monday.
“And you dream about it. It’s like you don’t know exactly when that day will come, but today is the day,” he said.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
