Rozner: Web golfers fighting for shot at big time

Those who are among the very best at what they do rarely sit around and wonder how they do it.

And if they're professional golfers, there's even less of a reason to think about it.

Golf is eternally humbling and karma lurks like that filthy bag towel you haven't washed in 10 years.

While admitting that math was never a strong suit, when you live in a country of more than 300 million and you're one of the 300 best at what you do, well, that sounds pretty good.

You're on your own as far as percentages.

Still, the guys on the Web.com Tour who invaded Ivanhoe over the weekend put on a display of amazing golf amid fierce winds, baked greens and the sixth-toughest test on the circuit.

Among them, Chris Naegel looked as good a bet as any to make a big run, considering he finished sixth at the Rust-Oleum a year ago and carrying the form he flashed in the days leading up to the tournament.

But by 7 p.m. Friday, Naegel was back in St. Louis.

He had beaten the weekend traffic out of Chicago and won the race to get home in time to see his 3-year-old boy Graham before the toddler went to bed.

That was a victory. The rest of Friday was hardly so.

This witness can attest that Naegel missed one green in 36 holes of practice Monday and Wednesday. And then arrived at his first hole Thursday afternoon, the tricky 10th, a hard dog right that finishes over water and into the teeth of the wind.

He pulled it a bit and behind a tree. As in directly behind a tree. As in, stymied.

"That's golf," Naegel said with a crooked smile and a shake of the head. "I don't even know how to describe it. Bizarre.

"Last week I played well and this week I was hitting it so well and excited for a course I love. Then, it's an Easter egg hunt."

The first shot of the tourney led to a triple-bogey 7.

"A foot right and I could have hit it on the green and made par," Naegel said. "Instead, you chip in the fairway, plug it in the bunker, run it across the green and … "

He didn't have to finish the play-by-play.

Six over after four holes, Naegel played the last 14 in 5-under par Thursday and still had a chance going into Friday, but the 34-year-old never got it going and went home early to see his boy and wife, Lindsey, who is due with their second child in a couple of months.

Finishing top 25 in the regular season or top 25 in the Web playoffs earns a PGA Tour card for next season. It's instantly life-changing.

"For sure, your mind wanders a little bit. You kind of question what you're doing on days like this," Naegel said Friday. "But I have such a great support system at home.

"I know if I play great they're gonna love me and if I play bad they're gonna love me, and everything's gonna work out just fine.

"You have to tell yourself there's 25 weeks. You play every week and you just have to get hot for a couple weeks and everything else is erased."

At the same moment Naegel was driving off the property Friday, Brady Schnell - who played a practice round with Naegel on Tuesday - found himself short and right of the par-3 fourth at Ivanhoe. With his ball resting against the second cut, Schnell took a few practice swings, accidentally tapping the ball.

No one would have ever known. He was opposite the spectator line and the marshals. No TV camera was in sight. But there was no hesitation. He immediately signaled to his partners that he had hit the ball.

"I knocked it 3 inches. It's a shot," Schnell said. "Last week was the first time I've ever done it. Now, I've done it again. Can't believe it."

Integrity is a fundamental part of the game, as is concentration. The 32-year-old Iowa native and wife, Jenn, are expecting their first child in about six weeks, but Schnell says the impact has only been positive.

"As far as money goes, having a family is not cheap," Schnell said. "We're not making nearly as much as (PGA) Tour guys. From that aspect, there's more pressure.

"But the only thing that really matters is when you're over the shot, are you thinking about the right things? I've always been decent at that. Make a good swing and pick the right shot.

"Going into this year, I wanted to take it more shot by shot, not get upset as much, be a little more accepting."

Then he smiled and said, "I started marking my balls in different way. Put 'H.J.S.' on the ball. His initials."

Harvey James Schnell.

"Kind of a nice little reminder," he said. "Good things are on the way."

As for his game, Schnell finished T-42, not what he wanted, but part of the process as he tries to reach the next level.

"I once heard someone say the difference between the Web and PGA is five feet," Schnell said. "They hit it five feet closer. That's experience, but that one shot can also be an inch difference.

"I've never been in the position to say it was just one shot this year, but for some guys it is just one shot between being here and being there. I hope to give myself that chance one day."

Schnell and Naegel are just two of so many grinding away on the Web, fighting for their opportunity at the big tour and the big money, knowing there's a family at home to support.

And knowing that it only happens one shot at a time.

brozner@dailyherald.com

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