Seventeen years ago, a young man walked on to the Gustavus golf team as a freshman not knowing what was in store for his future. It quickly turned into a future of success as Neil Johnson enjoyed his Gustie career as a four-time All-American and member of the 2004 national championship team. His triumphs on the links during his time at Gustavus eventually led to a professional golfing career and now culminates with his first appearance on the PGA Tour as Johnson is competing at the Puerto Rico Open against the world’s best golfers.
Johnson won a Friday qualifier with a round of 67 and was tied with Pablo Martin, which forced a one-hole playoff. Johnson made par while Martin shot a bogey, giving the 2004 Gustie grad the qualifier victory and opportunity to make his PGA Tour debut.
Johnson cashed in big last July by winning $100,000 at the CoBank Colorado Open, which has allowed him to play in PGA Tour qualifying tournaments. Now playing in his first PGA Tour event, Johnson will tee it up against the likes of Retief Goosen, Angel Cabrera, and Y.E. Yang.
Johnson has already started the first round and you can follow the live leaderboard here: http://www.pgatour.com/competition/2017/puerto-rico-open/leaderboard.html
Follow Neil on Twitter @neilpjohnson