As disappointed as Erick Justesen was after shooting an even 71
in the final round of the Frys.com Open, the Live Oak High graduate
couldn’t help but be optimistic.
Justesen collected four birdies Sunday at CordeValle Golf Club
— offset of course by four bogeys — and had decent chances at six
others, plus a missed 24-foot eagle putt on the par-5 15th. He hit
the fairway a personal-best 57.1 percent on his drive did not hit a
ball in the rough until No. 8.
”
The putter was fine,
”
said Justesen, who tied for 42nd at 5-under.
”
I hit so many edges; hit so many good putts. I’m just
frustrated. I hit way better than even par.
”
SAN MARTIN
As disappointed as Erick Justesen was after shooting an even 71 in the final round of the Frys.com Open, the Live Oak High graduate couldn’t help but be optimistic.
Justesen collected four birdies Sunday at CordeValle Golf Club – offset of course by four bogeys – and had decent chances at six others, plus a missed 24-foot eagle putt on the par-5 15th. He hit the fairway a personal-best 57.1 percent on his drive did not hit a ball in the rough until No. 8.
“The putter was fine,” said Justesen, who tied for 42nd at 5-under-par 279 with scores of 71-67-70-71. “I hit so many edges; hit so many good putts. I’m just frustrated. I hit way better than even par.”
Rather than dwell on missed opportunities, the 26 year old looked at how far he had come both literally and figuratively. He drove more than 1,800 miles straight from his previous stop at an NGA Hooter’s Tour event in Miami, Okla., to San Juan Oaks for the Sept. 29 Frys.com Open Pre-Qualifier, the first of six rounds and 110 holes he would play in 11 days. Justesen advanced at 2-over, and made the Frys.com Open field in Monday’s qualifier at Bayonet Course by tying for third at 2-under and surviving a four-man playoff to determine the last two invites.
Friday Justesen climbed as high as tied for 15th with the likes of Ernie Els. At one point Sunday his name was sandwiched between Tiger Woods and Angel Cabrera on the leaderboard, an encouraging sign heading into Justesen’s run at PGA Tour Qualifying School at San Jose Oaks later this fall.
“I can’t get down on myself on this stage,” he said. “It’s so hard to qualify for a PGA event. … I did qualify. I made the cut. Your putter’s not going to be hot every single week.”
It certainly looked like Justesen was in the zone Sunday after he drained a 24-footer for birdie on the first hole.
“That was like the longest putt I made in the last 48 hours,” Justesen said. “I was like, ‘Yeah, let’s get it going.’ I probably would have been better off hitting it to (within) 24 feet all day. It was just lip after lip; nothing was dropping.”
JD Tibbetts, Justesen’s caddie for the last month, shouldered some of the blame.
“We just weren’t reading anything,” he said. “It was pretty frustrating for both of us.”
Justesen’s tee shots were starkly improved from Friday, when he threw his driver “in the bag for good” after slicing into a bunker on No. 2.
“I got on a roll (Sunday),” Justesen said. “Started trusting my driver, and I hit three or four good drives in a row.”
Justesen also banked a tee shot off the grandstand on No. 17, earning a quick highlight on Golf Channel, but recovered for an 18th he described as the best hole of his two-week homecoming – an even four.
“I had a good drive down the middle,” Justesen said. “I felt a little bit more mature because I was right at 250 (yards out). And I promised myself at the beginning of the week if I had more than 250 out I wasn’t going to go for it. I had 251 to go, so I took a 7-iron and threw (the ball) down the fairway.
“That was a big step for me. That 18th I felt I played like a pro.”
Asked what his career plans were going forward, Justesen nodded at his friends and family and said:
“Probably go get dinner. Then I’m going to bed.”
