Life has a way of slamming you in the face.
Chase Seiffert was the first alternate at the Korn Ferry Tour’s LECOM Suncoast Classic last week, but he never received word that he had made the field. So he spent the week preparing instead, and it appears that it is paying off at the Honda Classic.
Following last week’s performance, the 30-year-old traveled three hours across Florida to the Atlantic coast in the hopes of qualifying for the Honda on Monday. In a 16-for-1 playoff, Seiffert missed out on the tournament’s third and final berth, but his disappointment didn’t last long, as Tyler Duncan withdrew shortly after.
“I came here to practice as soon as we concluded the playoffs and got the call that I was in,” Seiffert said on Friday. “So it was a huge relief, a weight off my shoulders, knowing I didn’t make it through the playoff but was still able to compete.”
The world No. 385 is doing more than simply playing in his 57th Tour start after two rounds at PGA National. He’s T-6 at 5 under after a second-round 66, five strokes behind leader Daniel Berger. This is the same event where he finished in the top three for the first and only time on Tour a year ago.
“”I’ve had tremendous success at all of [Jack] Nicklaus’ golf courses, dating back to my amateur days,” he added. His lectures, for some reason, appeal to me.”
For the second year in a row, the former two-time All-ACC Florida State Seminole earned conditional status on the PGA Tour by ranking 138th in the FedExCup standings last year, partly because to his T-3 at the Honda Classic. He’s missed two cuts in four starts this season, and his best finish is T-22 in Bermuda.
Seiffert’s situation for next season could be improved with another strong performance at PGA National. And now that he’s sneaked into the field, he’s hopeful he won’t have to worry about trying to qualify for this – or any other – event on Monday again.
“We were kind of prepared as if we’d get in,” he explained. “First alternates nearly always get in that early in the week, especially at a venue like this.” “So we were planning as if we were going to get in, and we were fortunate enough to do so, so it was good to switch from anxiety to enthusiasm and simply prepare for the week, get ready to go.”
