Long road back: Brad Fritsch on track to return to PGA Tour

From Colombia to Mexico to Indiana, what a long successful trip it’s been for Brad Fritsch.

The professional Canadian golfer just landed in Indianapolis after an endless day of travel that began in Leon, Mexico and included a pit stop in Atlanta.

“I’m a little tired,” says the Ottawa native. “It’s been a long couple of weeks, but a really successful couple of weeks, so I can’t complain.”

Travel and jetlag are par for the course for professional golfers — especially those toiling on the developmental tours below the PGA TOUR.

Fresh off his first career tour title — a playoff win in Cartagena, Colombia at the Servientrega Championship Presented by Efecty event two weeks ago — Fritsch added a T2 this past week in Mexico. After his win in Colombia, the outpouring of texts and tweets of congratulations overwhelmed Fritsch.

Now, it’s a sure chip-in the 38-year-old will return to the PGA TOUR in 2017. Entering the event in Colombia, Fritsch stood No. 108 on the money list, far away from Top 25 needed to secure a PGA TOUR card for 2016-2017. Now, he has moved up to No. 2, behind only Bryan, and a return to the PGA TOUR for 2016-17 (where he played in 2013 and 2014) appears in the cards.

What’s the secret to Fritsch’s recent success? He’s been working with his coach on straightening up his drives; he says course conditions were ideal for his game. “The wind was blowing 40 miles per hour, and even though I don’t love it, I feel my game is well suited to these conditions. I also had a favourable draw on the Friday.”

This past weekend in Leon, Mexico at the El Bosque Mexico Championship presented by INNOVA, Fritsch held the 54-hole by two over Wesley Bryan. When the final scorecards were added up, Bryan had won by four shots.

This past week, his mental game was more in focus. With his card closer to a guarantee, he putted with more freedom and it allowed him to be a little more aggressive on some holes.

While disappointed with not closing the deal this past weekend in Mexico, like Jordan Spieth at The Masters, it was a poor shot that found the water that was the turning point in Mexico. That’s golf. One hole can change the leaderboard quickly. The eventual winner (Bryan) made birdie and he made double-bogey. “All of a sudden I was in chase mode and I never caught him,” Fritsch said. “Wesley played fantastic. He hit many wedges inside three-feet into a tough wind.”

“It’s a little foreign to me,” Fritsch says of being in his current position. “I’ve never got off to this great a start, especially on the Web.com Tour. It’s nice playing with confidence since I’ve almost secured my card now.

Fritsch says it doesn’t mean he is going to play with reckless abandon, but it does allow him some leeway. “I can just play my game and ignore the results. Sometimes, when your back is against the wall, you can get stuck looking at the leaderboard a lot.”

At the start of this season, Fritsch looked at his schedule and wasn’t sure whether the U.S. Open or RBC Canadian Open were going to be a part of his summer plans since there are Web.com events both those weeks. His approach was that if he was in a good/average position, he would consider playing in these tournaments. With his play the last two weeks, it’s now an easy decision. He’s signed up for the U.S. Sectional Qualifier at Canoe Brook Country Club (North and South Courses) in Summit, N.J. He picked this site because the Web.com is in the Dominican Republic the weekend before and he figured it would be an easy flight to New York City to play.

He’s also hoping to get a sponsor’s event to the RBC Canadian Open, which returns to Glen Abbey this July.

“That’s always an important and special event for me to play,” he concludes.

This week, Fritsch is in Evansville, Indiana, at the United Leasing & Finance Championship, an event he always enjoys playing, and one that was won last year by Smylie Kaufman, who played in the final pairing at this year’s Masters.

“It’s a good course and very difficult,” he says. “The winner is usually a few over par … it’s not your typical scoring week. I haven’t had a ton of success here in the past, but feel that it is made for my game.”

After five of the first six events were played across Panama, Colombia, Brazil and Mexico, the Tour takes root in the U.S. for the remainder of the 2016 season, except for a quick jaunt to the Dominican Republic for the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship in early June.

Following his runner-up finish yesterday, Fritsch was grateful to Canadian fans and offered this thanks via Twitter: