Braden Thornberry’s 2019 was a rollercoaster year. When he advanced through Second Stage of Q-School in late 2018 but failed to finish in Final Stage’s top 40, Thornberry found himself on the horns of a dilemma: return to Ole Miss for the second half of his senior season, or turn pro with conditional status on the Korn Ferry Tour. Ultimately, Thornberry made the jump — and when he did, the 2017 NCAA individual champion and former world No. 1 amateur began professional life at the bottom of the totem pole: fighting through Monday qualifiers, angling for sponsors’ invites, and trying desperately to solidify his Tour status. Eventually he played his way into the 2019 season’s last 10 straight events, but by the end of the season, Thornberry found himself just barely on the outside looking in: a top 100 ranking on the Tour’s season-long points list would have secured a spot in the Final Stage of Q-School, but Thornberry finished ranked No. 101. So in October, Thornberry began his climb all over again: he finished eighth at Q-School First Stage and T5 at Second Stage, to advance to Final Stage for the second year in a row. The second time was the charm: Thornberry shot 65 in three of his four rounds — including a final round that began with a 29 — to share co-medalist honors with Curtis Thompson and secure full status on the Korn Ferry Tour for 2020. That leaves Thornberry rolling into 2020 with momentum and the chance to make his schedule as he sees fit.
. . .
LYING FOUR: So how do you feel right now, versus where you felt after Q-School a year ago? It must be night and day.
BRADEN THORNBERRY: Yeah. Last year, even beyond conditional status, I had to decide whether I was going to go back for the spring semester and take the risk of figuring out if I was going to get into any tournaments, whether I could get any sponsor invites, whether my number would get me into any tournaments — that was the really tough part. Now I understand how this stuff works, but back then, I didn’t know how any of it worked; I didn’t know how the reshuffle worked, I didn’t know how any of it worked. Even if I’d finished in the same place as last year, I’d be at a lower stress level. But obviously, getting fully exempt — the week went as well as it could have, some I’m very pleased with it.
LYING FOUR: Finishing at No. 101 on the points list and having to start back at First Stage — how do you keep from getting dragged down in that situation? It would’ve been so easy to retreat into your shell for a few weeks, and obviously you didn’t do that.
BRADEN THORNBERRY: It’s kind of humbling, having to go back to First Stage: you’re right back at square one, with everybody else. It didn’t matter that I played those events last year, and played well in a couple of them; you’re back to square one, where everyone is. I think overall, I’m going to be a better player because of it. I’ve gained confidence. And going back to Second Stage and Final Stage last year, plus First Stage, Second Stage, and Final Stage this year, I’ve advanced through all of them except Finals last year. So it’s given me a lot of confidence that I belong out there, and that my game translates well against those guys. If I’d finished in the top 75 last season and kept my card, then that would’ve been great — but I was talking to my agent and we agreed that in the long run, this is better: I’m tournament-sharp, I’ve gained experience, and I even made a little money at Final Stage. So overall, I think I’m in a better spot playing-wise and mentally than I was from just playing last season.
LYING FOUR: Looking back at the first two stages, the thing that jumped out at me was how consistent your scores were: in all eight rounds, you shot between 67 and 71. Was that strategic, or was that just kind of the way it worked out?
BRADEN THORNBERRY: Well, your strategy is always to play good, so that went well. I was fortunate to get off to good starts in every stage, which was huge. There’s always that threshold number, but if you can be around the lead and worry more about the lead than anything else, it just takes so much pressure off and is really nice. I think I got through First Stage by eight, and through Second Stage by three or four. And then in Finals, obviously breezed into the top 40. Getting off to a good start was the key in all those. I’ve been playing well; through First and Second Stage, I don’t feel like I’d been tearing it up, necessarily, but I had maybe one or two bogey-free rounds in each stage. That shows that I’m in control of my game, and that the short game is good. I’ve definitely taken a lot of positives from it.
LYING FOUR: At First and Second Stage, do you chase the leader differently than you might in a regular tournament? In a regular, week-to-week tournament, everybody wants to win — and obviously everybody wants to win at Q-School too, but at Q-School, the real objective is just to advance.
BRADEN THORNBERRY: Yeah, obviously at Final Stage winning gets you more, and 10th place gets you more than 11th — but at First Stage, you have to find a balance. At First Stage, my mindset was to go out there and try to find a way to win, and I did that all week; and then, entering the final round, I was about six back of the lead, but I was seven or eight clear of the number, so my mindset definitely switched a little bit. Now, if I’d gone out there and shot 31 on the front nine, then it would’ve been a little different and I could’ve chased the leader; but that day was more just about going out there and playing solid golf. I think I shot two or three under, and that was kind of the goal: just don’t make any big mistakes. You do have to find that line between worrying about the lead and also not doing anything dumb; you could find yourself trying to win, make two doubles, and then all of a sudden have to worry about getting through. It’s a fine line, but I definitely think the the less you can worry about the getting-through number, the better.
. . .
LYING FOUR: So how did you feel heading into Final Stage this year, versus last year?
BRADEN THORNBERRY: Well, being an amateur was a little different, but there’s always a lot of pressure. Anyone who says there isn’t a lot of pressure going into any stage of Q-School is lying. If I got there and laid an egg this week and finished 100th — which I think was three or four under par, which isn’t exactly hacking it around — then you’re not going to get into events, and you’re gonna have to Canada or Latin America and figure it out that way. But there’s always more pressure before the event than there is on the first tee. Once you hit the first one in the fairway and get going, it’s just a normal golf tournament — you can just worry about your game and take it one shot at a time. But for those two or three days before, there’s a lot of nerves; anyone who says there isn’t, I definitely don’t believe.
LYING FOUR: What’s the vibe like at Final Stage? Is it more or less tense than First and Second Stage? I could almost see it going either way.
BRADEN THORNBERRY: First is maybe not so tense, because there are a lot of guys at First Stage, and it doesn’t take that much to get through pre-qualifying, so there are a lot of people there who don’t necessarily…I don’t know if expect to get through is the right way to put it, but it’s just the start. And if you get through, great. But Second Stage is probably where you see the most people tense up, because they’re playing for status. If you make it to Final Stage, then no matter how you finish, you do have some sort of status. So Second Stage is where I think you see people get the tightest coming in. And I’ve done it too. I’ve handled it pretty well, but you get tight: your arms start to feel a little loose coming down those last holes. Even this year, when I was three or four inside the number, there’s some trouble out there on those last couple of holes at Southern Hills, and it’s always in the back of your mind that if you mess up a little bit and make three or four bogeys coming in, you might not have a job next year. So I’d definitely say that Second has the most pressure, but obviously, at Final Stage there’s that clear line: 40th gets guaranteed starts, and then there’s uncertainty — if you finish 50th, you might get in some, and if you finish 80th, then you’re probably not gonna get anything. There’s a lot of pressure at all of them, but it’s different.
LYING FOUR: How’d you feel on Sunday morning at Final Stage?
BRADEN THORNBERRY: I would’ve liked it to be blowing harder. The day before, the wind was blowing a lot harder, and I shot six-under. So I was able to move up a lot — I think I went from 24th to second. The courses — they weren’t super-easy golf courses, but they were pretty soft all week, and coming into the last round, it was sunny and 75 degrees with maybe a three-miles-an-hour wind. So I knew the scores were gonna be low, which is not ideal when you start inside the number; you’d rather it play hard, so people can’t pass you. That final round, I think eight-under was the number going into it, but it ended up being 12. And I started at 14, so it’s not like I was way clear of the number. But obviously, getting off to the start I did, I didn’t have to worry about that anymore, and I could worry about trying to beat Curtis — who was in my group. But it was a relief to get off to that start and go from there.
LYING FOUR: Have you ever shot 29 before, as a pro?
BRADEN THORNBERRY: Actually, I shot 29 at Final Stage of Q-School last year, during the first round — I think on the back nine. So I’ve had a couple of good rounds at Final Stage, but I was able to finish it off a lot better this year than I was last year.
LYING FOUR: What’s that like, in a high-stakes situation, and everything is going your way? That’s gotta be a great feeling.
BRADEN THORNBERRY: I was telling somebody the other day: some days you get to the putting green, and the club feels really good in your hands, and sometimes it doesn’t. The club felt really good in my hands on the range. My normal routine is to go to the range for maybe 25 or 30 minutes, warm up, hit every club, go to the putting green for maybe 10 minutes, and then go back to the range right before I play. And the club felt great in my hand; I was hitting it really well. I felt really loose on the range. And then I went over to the putting green, and the putter just didn’t feel great. It didn’t feel awful, obviously, but it just didn’t feel quite as good as it did the days before. But then I got out there and literally made everything. I think I made four or five putts over 15 or 20 feet on the front nine, and everything was going right in the middle with good speed. I’ve kinda learned as I’ve gotten older that your warmup session really doesn’t mean anything in golf. It was definitely relieving to get off to that start. I think I was at 14 to start the day and had it to 21-under after nine holes. Then I could really try to light up the back nine and take control of the tournament. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to play super-great on the back; the putter cooled down a little bit, but still was in a good spot, obviously.
LYING FOUR: Well, 29 is a pretty high bar to set. I wouldn’t feel too bad about not shooting 58.
BRADEN THORNBERRY: [laughs] For sure.
. . .
LYING FOUR: Over your last two or three holes, did you know where you were on the scoreboard?
BRADEN THORNBERRY: I looked on No. 9, and I saw that I had a birdie to take a two-shot lead, I believe. And then I didn’t really look again until 14, which is a par-5 and had another leaderboard. Curtis and I were tied, and then he bogeyed the next hole, so I knew I had a one-shot lead. Then we had a couple of guys finish at 20, but I knew it was pretty much going to come down to us two if we took care of business. On 17, he had about a 20-footer for eagle, and I had about 10 feet for eagle; we both played the hole really well. And he missed, so I had that putt to take a two-shot lead but barely missed it. So we both made birdies, then went to 18, both hit it in the fairway and hit it on the green. He made about a 30-footer to tie me, and I had about 17 feet to win it outright and just missed it. But overall, I’m never gonna be too disappointed with seven-under, even if I did have that kind of start to the round.
LYING FOUR: Sitting at my house, just refreshing the scoreboard on my phone, it looked like when you headed to No. 18, par was going to at least get you a tie for first. Did you know that at the time?
BRADEN THORNBERRY: I knew that I had a one-shot lead on 18, but honestly, I thought that if we tied then there would be a playoff. I really thought when I tapped in on 18 that there was gonna be a playoff. So when we got to the scoring, they said, “No, you’re both fully exempt. Split the money, or whatever.” And we were both like, “OK, that’s cool.” But when we walked off 18 green, we both thought there was a playoff. It was a little bit of a weird environment, because obviously, if you tie in most tournaments, you wouldn’t just call it a tie and call it a day. But I wasn’t too upset with it; obviously, full status is the main goal and as good as you can get from Final Stage, so I wasn’t upset about it.
LYING FOUR: And there are practical advantages to that, right? It’s not just the predictability of knowing you have as many starts as you want. It’s also having a simplified routine next year.
BRADEN THORNBERRY: Right. Last year, I finished Final Stage right around 70th, and it didn’t really get me in anything. I was about 20 spots outside the field each week. After about 55th, you’re really not gonna get in any events. That’s what I was struggling with last year. The reason Monday qualifiers are so important that if you can get in one and play well, since you’re still a member of the Tour, you can still reshuffle up and be able to play from there on in, like I was last year — I was able to play the last 10 events of the year. It’s kind of complicated, and it’s what I was referring to earlier: when I was deciding to turn pro or not, almost having to make an uninformed decision, which is really tricky. But I was looking earlier today at some of your tweets from a few weeks ago, where you said that I’d basically gotten a year of experience for free, and I think that’s a really good way to look at it. Right now, I’m in what would have been my best-case scenario if I’d returned to school — plus now I have the experience of those 13 events that I played, and I know those golf courses already. I think I’m in a really good spot — as good as anybody on that tour next year. I’m definitely excited about it.
LYING FOUR: Oh, definitely. If you could get in a time machine and go back to talk to yourself a year ago and ask yourself, “Hey, in December 2019, would you be OK having full status for 2020?”…well, yeah, of course you would be.
BRADEN THORNBERRY: Yeah. Obviously, some of my friends are already on the PGA Tour, but I’ve tried not to let that bother me. I’ve tried to use that more as motivation: those are guys that I was playing with — and, some of them, beating — a year or two ago, and they’re already on the PGA Tour. That shows that my game is good enough, and it gives me a lot of confidence. I’ve talked about this with my agent and my parents, and I’ve told them that I feel like if I have a full year on the Korn Ferry Tour, there’s a really, really good chance that I’ll get my PGA Tour card. I was able to take care of the first part of that, so hopefully now I can take care of the second part.
LYING FOUR: What do you think you learned in 2019 that gives you a leg up going into 2020?
BRADEN THORNBERRY: The first thing would be just some of the golf courses. I played 10 weeks in a row to finish the year last year, and I was having to learn every golf course each Tuesday — because Monday is a travel day, and then Wednesday was usually a pro-am, and I usually wasn’t in those. So on Tuesday, I’d have to play 18 holes and try to get all my prep in on one day, which is really tough. This year, I’ll be able to plan my schedule a little better and not play as many in a row, so I’ll be fresher and sharper for each event — but also just know the golf courses a little bit. It’s hard to put the experience into words; just knowing the rules officials, knowing some of the players, and just knowing how the tournaments work is the biggest thing. There’s just a little less stress on the whole experience.
. . .
You might also enjoy reading…