Eye On the Ball: Following Jake in Florida

I just returned from five weeks in Florida. Folks in the Sunshine State are really living the good life down there.

I’m sorry I’ve been remiss in my Reporter coverage of Jay “Jake” Card III and his experiences on the Korn Ferry tour. While I was relaxing in Florida, Jake was performing as well as he’s ever played. It’s always a pleasure when searching for his name on the leader board, because it is always among the leaders.

Remember, Jay is now a regular on the Korn Ferry Tour. The Korn Ferry (KF) is the most prestigious golf tour in the world outside of the PGA Tour. The KF is one of the best ways to get a chance to compete on the PGA, with many players on the former tour good enough to be playing on the latter.

The KF is the developmental tour for the United States tour. It features professional golfers who have not yet reached the PGA tour or have been on the PGA, but lost their card with poor play.

Formerly the Web.com tour, the unusual name comes from the two founding members, Lester Korn and Richard Ferry.

Jake cashed two nice checks in February, which propelled him to 23rd on the money list. He finished well in Bogata and then flew into Tampa to play the next day. I drove over from Orlando to spend a day watching him play, which was my highlight event this winter.

He played great at the Lakewood National Golf Club the entire tournament. On the 18 holes that I watched, he never hit a bad shot.

Jake shot all four rounds under par, and at one point was second by one shot. He made it exciting for the gallery from Shelter Island who showed up to watch him play.

At Lakewood, Jake ended up finishing sixth and receiving his second substantial check. The next day, he drove to South Florida to qualify for the tour’s weekly event, the Honda Classic. They only take three qualifiers out of the 160 players, and Jay missed by one stroke.

As David Doyle put it, “It seems the petty ills of life do not disturb his equanimity.”

I will try to keep you informed on Jake’s progress and his goal to keep competing against the best players in the world.