Last week, Wes Bryan went out and watched his buddy Russell Henley battle the high winds during the first round of the 2017 Masters.
Next year, Bryan will be in the Masters field.
He was the perfect winner Sunday for the RBC Heritage.
He’s a South Carolina guy, the first-ever to win this event and he did it with a steady back nine performance at the testy Harbour Town Golf Links, where off-line shots turn into bogeys and the big hitters have absolutely no advantage.
Bryan played at the University of South Carolina and now lives in Augusta and he was jacked about earning his way into the Masters.
“Can you believe it?” he asked his wife Elizabeth as she greeted him at the iconic 18th hole at Harbour Town. “It hasn’t sunk in,” he admitted. “And of all places,” said the first South Carolina guy to win this South Carolina event after shooting 13-under par, thanks to a sweet closing 67.
He was the guy who stepped up big over those final nine holes on a day when it looked like no one wanted to don that ugly plaid jacket that goes to the winner. Overnight leader Jason Dufner faltered badly, keeping up the string of 54-hole leaders who have failed to convert at Harbour Town. Duf shot 76 and fell all the way back into a tie for 11th. Get ’em next time, Duf.
Bryan was a shot better than Luke Donald, who used to be the No. 1 player in the world for a while. But Donald will look back at the par five second hole and know it cost him a chance to return to the winner’s circle. He lost his tee shot there, had to re-load and eventually made double-bogey. Donald lost by a shot after shooting 68 with that double to finish second by himself.
Two perfect yardages made the difference for Bryan. “At the 13th, I had 110, a really good number. At the 15th, 90 yards, another perfect yardage,” said Bryan, who earned his way on to the PGA Tour by winning three times on the Web.com last year. He had proven himself on that stage.
Bryan was also grateful for the fact that he won on Easter Sunday.
“I want this to be less about me,” he said, “and more about our Savior.”
Amen to that.
