Sixteen years after earning All-American honors as a golfer at Kansas University, Chris Thompson finally hit the big time Tuesday, putting so many near-misses in his rear-view mirror.
At the age of 37, Thompson is a better golfer than he ever has been, and he has a Thursday tee time in the HP Byron Nelson Championship to prove it. As low-key an athlete as you’ll ever meet, Thompson allowed himself a smile Tuesday.
“I’m certainly excited,” said Thompson, a resident of Lawrence and member of Lawrence Country Club who makes a living playing the mini-tours.
He was excited enough to call wife Jessica and then his parents, Dave and Sharon, of Independence.
“It’s been a long time trying,” Thompson said Tuesday night by phone from Texas. “Half of me is, ‘You finally got here. Let’s see what you can do.’ Now that I’m in, I kind of have to refocus and know that just getting in doesn’t do a whole lot for you.”
That sounds like a guy who feels as if he belongs. And there is a good reason for that. He has played better and better and better the past few years.
And how’s this for a good omen: Former KU golfer Jake Istnick, who was on Thompson’s bag for the successful two-day, one-round qualifying and will be on his bag for the tourney, happens to be a member of TPC Four Seasons Resort in Irving, Texas, site of the Byron Nelson.
Thompson and Istnick had a busy Tuesday. First, Thompson played 10 regulation holes and three playoff holes to qualify. Then he made it from that course to the TPC Four Seasons, where he played another 18 holes, including nine with fellow Jayhawk Gary Woodland.
“I got to see the course,” Thompson said. “It’s a great course. It’s a good test. Scores aren’t going to be very low.”
The pro-am, in which Thompson is not partaking because of his late qualifying, keeps him from playing another practice round today. Complicating matters, the wind was blowing from the north Tuesday, and the forecast is for a wind from the south. So in the way of club-selection notes, Thompson has little to bring with him in the way of local knowledge, other than Istnick, who knows the course and the golfer well.
“It’s huge for me playing it kind of blind, so it’s great to have him with me,” Thompson said.
And it’s great to have two KU golfers playing in the same PGA Tour event. Has that ever happened? Former KU golf coach Ross Randall wasn’t sure, and neither was Thompson. Doesn’t matter. It’s happening this week, giving golf twice as many Kansas basketball fanatics as usual.
“I have some blue adidas shirts, so I’ll come as close as I can to wearing KU colors,” Thompson said. He added that Bushnell has supported him in the past as well, so he’ll probably have something with that word prominently displayed.
He’s stepping into rarefied air, a new type of pressure, but in many ways it’s less pressure than what he’s faced through the years, gambling on himself to make a living playing on the mini-tours and making it work.
Lee Trevino once said, “You don’t know what pressure is until you’ve played for five bucks and you only have two bucks in your pocket.”
Thompson just might handle the pressure so well it brings out the best in him.
Imagine this: Thompson and Woodland walking down the 18th fairway with a share of the lead Sunday, asking each other what they’ve heard about how good incoming freshman Devonté Graham will be at the point for their favorite basketball team.