Reflective Kevin Streelman goes low at Black Desert Championship

IVINS, Utah – Kevin Streelman was in a reflective mood Thursday, and it wasn’t just that he’d hit the ceremonial first tee shot of the inaugural Black Desert Championship, or that he’d shot a 7-under 64 to (briefly) set the course record.

It wasn’t the scenic views of red-rock cliffs and black lava fields, either.

Streelman, 45, was pausing to reflect because he made his 300th career cut on the PGA TOUR last week, which, naturally, begged the question of whether he remembered his first. Of course, he remembers it vividly.

“It was the '05 Milwaukee Open at Brown Deer Park,” he said. “I was on the mini-tours. I Monday qualified. Talk about a nerve-racking Friday afternoon round because I had nothing to my name. I was living out of my mom's car in my parents' basement just crisscrossing the country, trying to play mini-tour events, and I Monday’d there and made a cut, which I knew at the time last place was like $10,000, which would pay for my Q-school and pretty much the Dakotas Tour.

“It was a very meaningful thing for me,” he continued. “I think I finished 25th and made like $25,000, and I was like, this paid for the rest of my year and my entry fees, and I think it actually paid for Courtney's engagement ring.”

Sometimes merely surviving to the weekend rounds is everything, for Streelman has gone on to a long, prolific career, including two victories and $26.7 million in career earnings. He and wife Courtney have two kids and live comfortably in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Streelman is plenty familiar with desert golf.)

Plan B? Streelman didn’t really have one. Sure, he had a degree from Duke University, but he was bound and determined to be a professional golfer. If that meant putting about 250,000 miles on his mom’s 1993 Nissan Altima or sleeping in it despite conditions being “a little tight in the backseat,” then so be it.

He worked at Kierland Golf Club in Scottsdale, scrubbing clubs for $6.15 an hour before knocking off at 1 p.m. to practice until dark. He caddied at Whisper Rock for two winters.

They’re great memories, he said.

They’re also hard memories.

“It's gut-wrenching,” Streelman said, “but it's like – there's like a beauty to it, too, where you have nowhere to go but up. I was fortunate to have a diploma from a nice university, but I wanted to get out here. There was no other option. There wasn't a second option. I think when you have a second option, you don't achieve the first option. I truly looked at it that way.

“Whatever I've got to do,” he continued. “If I've got to work at Kierland, if I've got to caddie at Whisper Rock, if I've got to substitute teach at my high school, which I did all those things, then I'm going to do it to save money to give myself a chance.”

After making his first TOUR cut in Milwaukee in ’05, he got through PGA TOUR Q-School on his sixth try in 2007, and after his rookie season traded in his Toyota Camry for a Porsche 911. He’s been on TOUR ever since.

As for Whisper Rock, where he used to caddie, he’s now a member.

Although it’s been a season to forget (he’s 177th in the FedExCup Fall), Streelman figures he’ll be fine no matter what happens from now until The RSM Classic, Nov. 21-24, the end of the FedExCup Fall. He could get into some tournaments as a past champion at the Valspar Championship and Travelers Championship. He could get some exemptions.

He’s had a good run no matter what.

“It's kind of like, I don't have much to lose,” Streelman said. “It’s go for it this fall. If it doesn't (work out), I'll get in a few events, and if I'm done at age 47 after next year, it's awesome. I'll be home with my family for three years before the (PGA TOUR) Champions Tour.

“Whatever is meant to be is meant to be,” he added, “but I'm going to go out swinging, that's for sure.”