Jul. 1—Two months ago, Anders Larson had some concerns about his golfing future.
He was ready to enter the NCAA transfer portal after two seasons at Division I Tennessee Tech, uncertain about what college golf opportunities might be there for him.
Of more worry was a hand injury, which he and a team of trainers and doctors felt initially was tendinitis. In mid-April he hit his driver on a tee box at a meet in West Virginia and felt something “pop” in his left hand. He attempted to play through it, but a week later, he again hit driver on a tee shot at a meet in Alabama and pain shot through his hand and forearm.
It was the last shot he’d hit for Tennessee Tech. A few days later, a surgeon cut a 2-to-3-inch zig-zag incision into Larson’s hand, took out a broken bone and fused his ligaments and tendons onto another bone.
Fast forward to Monday, July 1.
Larson’s college golfing future is set — he has transferred to fellow Division I program Eastern Kentucky — and his hand is healed.
The latest and best evidence of the latter? For a second consecutive year, Larson has accomplished the rare feat of qualifying for a PGA Tour event, the John Deere Classic, as an amateur.
Just as he did a year ago, he qualified in dramatic fashion on Monday. He shot a round of 5-under-par 67 at Pinnacle Country Club in Milan, Ill., to finish in a four-way tie for third place. That left him in a four-man playoff for two remaining spots in the John Deere. No problem for Larson, who showed his poise under pressure to beat out Michael Van Sickle of Wexford, Pa., and Jack Sparrow of Floyds Knobs, Ind.
The Golf Channel will have live coverage of Thursday’s first round and Friday’s second from 3-6 p.m. Saturday’s third round and Sunday’s final round will be carried on Golf Channel from noon-2 p.m., then on CBS from 2-5 p.m.
All four rounds will be broadcast from start to finish on PGA Tour Live on ESPN+.
Larson made 12 pars and one bogey (on the par-4 hole No. 5) on Monday. He steadied himself with back-to-back birdies on holes 6 and 7 to finish the front nine at 1-under-par 35. He made his charge on the back nine, with an eagle on the par-5 11th hole, followed by a birdie on the par-3 12th. He then made four consecutive pars before another birdie on the par-4 17th, and a par on 18 to close his round.
Larson will join a field at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill., this week, that includes four of the top 32 players in the world: defending champ Sepp Straka (No. 24), Jason Day (No. 27), Sungjae Im (No. 28) and two-time JDC champion Jordan Spieth (No. 32). Patrick Cantlay, the No. 8 player in the world, withdrew on Monday.
The field also includes familiar names such as Stewart Cink, Iowa native and former U.S. Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson, and former FedEx Cup champion Brandt Snedeker, whose first career professional win came at the Scholarship America Showdown, at Somerby Golf Club in Byron in 2006, on the then-Nationwide Tour.
Larson, who helped the Pine Island/Zumbrota-Mazeppa boys win the Class 2A high school state title in 2022, continues to bounce back from his hand injury in a big way. He was cleared to fully swing a club approximately four weeks ago. In that time, he has qualified for the Minnesota State Amateur and advanced out of local qualifying for the U.S. Amateur, which will be held at Hazeltine National in Chaska Aug. 12-18.
“When you’re injured and you don’t know where you’re going to play, you gain a little more appreciation for what you have and what you do,” Larson told the Post Bulletin in early June. “For players who aspire to play at a high level, it’s easy to get frustrated and try to perfect the game. When you don’t touch a club for 5-6 weeks, you get a better understanding of how lucky you are to play this game.”
The other players to advance out of Monday’s qualifier include Joshua Creel of Edmond, Okla., who shot a 7-under-par 65; Chase Johnson of West Palm Beach, Fla., who shot 6-under-par 66; and Blake Hathcoat of Fresno, Calif., who was the other golfer to survive the four-way playoff, along with Larson.
Hathcoat had perhaps the most dramatic finish of the day. He chipped in for an eagle on hole No. 17, then birdied No. 18 to get in the playoff. He then birdied the first playoff hole to earn his place in the John Deere.
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