Bill Murchison Jr. had no idea why he couldn't hit his driver.
And the problem came at a most inopportune time: the week of the PGA Professional National Championship. He didn't allow it to get him down, letting a positive mindset take over.
"I just stood there thinking, 'OK, you know what? Just let nothing bother you. Whatever happens happens, and just try to do the best you can,'" he said.
Murchison said he got by with the "best scrambling I've ever done in my life" to shoot 73. Following the round, he went to the range to correct his driving woes, hitting 200-300 balls. The extra time on the range did not help, but he credited his iron game, putting and mental fortitude for helping him make the cut by two strokes. Taking a look at the leaderboard before the third round, he felt he could make a run over the final 36 holes.
"I realized I'm only three shots out of the top 20," he said. "If I can just post something 2 or 3 under par, I could maybe move up to about 30th or 25th."
But his 2-under score went a lot further than he thought. Murchison's 70 vaulted him into 13th place headed into the final day of play. Knowing where he stood, he made a promise to himself that he wouldn't look at the leaderboard at all. It wasn't an easy task.
"I was fighting toward the back nine," he said. "It kept trying to creep up in my mind, 'OK, we might be going to Kiawah' and I kept having to block it out. I said, 'I committed myself to not thinking ahead. Just focus on this next shot' and I really did a good job of that."
When Murchison drained a 10-foot putt on the final hole for his second consecutive 70, he finally let go of his emotions. He finished in seventh place, which clinched a spot in this year's PGA Championship at Kiawah Island. It was even more special that one of Murchison's best friends, Alan Baranowski, was on the bag.
"He said it was the week of his life, and it was definitely one of the best golf weeks of my life as well," Murchison said.
The assistant golf professional at Towne Lake Hills Golf Club in Woodstock plans to make at least two trips to Kiawah before the PGA Championship begins Aug. 9. He also will play in a pair of Georgia PGA events in the coming weeks, experimenting with different types of shots he may have to hit at Kiawah, such as hitting more fades off the tee instead of his usual draw.
It will mark his first appearance in a PGA Tour event, following in the footsteps of his father, who played on tour until 1997. The 28-year-old played Nationwide Tour events in the early 2000s before crossing over into teaching. The dream of a pro career still lingers, and he will head to Q-School this fall.
"I don't want to give up," he said. "There's something inside of me that's not letting me give up, and I'm going to keep pursuing it as long as I can."
