Navy grad can earn PGA Tour card at season’s final Nationwide event
At No. 25 on the Nationwide Tour money list, former Naval Academy standout Billy Hurley III is squarely on the cut-line as he attempts to qualify for the PGA Tour.
At the Nationwide’s final event, the 60-player Tour Championship at Daniel Island (S.C.), Hurley needs a solid showing to remain in the top 25 and secure his PGA Tour playing privileges for the first time.
When asked what it would take this weekend to hold his spot, Hurley laughed, suggesting he didn’t want to think about sweating out a long Sunday, watching the scoreboard and calculating the money-list implications.
“I think certainly a top-10, it wouldn’t matter where anybody else finishes,” Hurley, 29, said.
When last seen in the Washington area, Hurley was struggling in his first season on the Nationwide Tour. He missed the cut in five of his first six events, including the Melwood Prince George’s County Open. But since then, Hurley has cashed checks in 11 of 13 events, with four finishes in the top six. The Leesburg native has won $167,151. During one stretch he broke par in 24 straight rounds.
The difference, according to Hurley, is his head.
“I started working on the mental side of golf, believing in myself a little more,” Hurley said. “I had all the pieces. They just weren’t showing up at the same time.”
The spark came in a phone discussion with swing coach Mitchell Spearman.
“He said ‘Bill, you’re too good to be shooting scores like this,’” Hurley recalled. “That sort of kicked me in the butt a little bit.”
Reading Bob Rotella books and working with sports psychologist David Cook has also helped bring out the best in Hurley, a 2005 Walker Cup player who rarely played golf during his five-year service commitment, which ended in 2010.
According to Hurley, Daniel Island’s 7,446-yard Ralston Creek Course, designed by Rees Jones, will be a particularly difficult test. Hurley ranks No. 128 on the Nationwide Tour in driving distance.
“It’s pretty long and the fairways aren’t running out,” Hurley said. “In that way, it’s not the best course for me.”
But with his new mind-set, don’t count on Hurley believing it, as he will rely on his strengths. Hurley ranks No. 8 on the tour in driving accuracy and No. 12 in putts per round.
“The course does require you to hit some quality iron shots and get the ball in the right place on the green,” Hurley said. “There’s some humps and bumps on the greens and you definitely want to be in the right place. Accuracy will be important there, which will be good for me. I think the greens will get a little tricky, being firmer and faster. And being a great putter will certainly help me this week.”
If Hurley doesn’t succeed at the Tour Championship, he’ll get a second chance to qualify at the PGA Tour Qualifying School in the first week of December. By virtue of his performance this year on the Nationwide Tour, he’s exempt to the final stage.
“Of course I’d like to avoid that,” Hurley said.
