Start off as a Monday Qualifier, shoot 66 in the final round of the Valero Texas Open, and poof you are in The Masters. Canadian Corey Connors did this exact thing. He is only the 4th player in history to accomplish this feat, but its not the second time he will make a trip to Augusta National. I have said before that the Valero Texas Open is the most important tournament for all journeymen and yesterday I was proven correct.

You have better chances to be struck by lightning than winning a PGA Tour event as a Monday qualifier.

The odds are astronomical, and if Corey Conners holds on to win the Valero Texas Open, he will be just the 4th player to do that in the last half century. #ValeroTexasOpen pic.twitter.com/Cq8a9CmzeH

— Pete Pappas (@PGAPappas) April 7, 2019

Of course this rags to riches story is exciting, but that is only half of it. It was the way he shot his way into The Masters that was the most exciting story of last weekends events. Yesterday, it looked like he was going to run away with whole event until the sixth hole. Take a look:

What a score card! Shooting a 6 under 30 on the back nine to win by two strokes was quite amazing. His dramatic turn of events during the last 9 holes is akin to comeback is history. One of my favourite:

Francis Ouimet wins the 1913 U.S. Open. I love it when we compile these lists and there’s a hands-down No. 1. In this case, just about everyone agreed, there has been no bigger upset in golf than when 20-year-old Francis Ouimet — an amateur — defeated two of the game’s brightest stars at the time, Britons Harry Vardon and Ted Ray, in an 18-hole playoff to capture the U.S. Open on his home course, the Country Club in Brookline, Mass. Ouimet became known as the, “father of amateur golf,” in the United States.

https://www.pga.com/news/golf-buzz/9-of-greatest-upsets-in-golf-history

No matter how you slice it, Corey Connors is heading to The Masters because his play on the back 9 resembled a Phoenix rising from the ashes. I am not sure how he will stack up against the strongest field of the year, but it is going to be fun to watch.

Congratulations Corey Connors and good luck on the weekend.

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!