Jonathan Garrick navigates a golf course with vibes that scream California cool. Post-round Sunday at the Canada Life Championship, though, his disposition indicated a hint of strain.

Such is the drama of the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada season finale when a promotion to the Korn Ferry Tour is on the line. Especially when you’re the guy on the bubble and things are out of your hands.

Garrick was nervous because Jeremy Paul, who earlier in the week had shot a 61, was in the middle of the fairway on the short par-4 18th hole, and if he dunked his approach for eagle, he’d knock Garrick into a tie for fourth and potentially outside the top-10 on the money list.

It was not to be (turns out, even if Paul had made an eagle, Garrick still would have earned enough to stay at the 10th spot and earn a pass to Final Stage of Korn Ferry Tour Q-School) and Garrick was embraced by his sister Victoria, father George, and good friend Lorens Chan, a fellow UCLA alum and 2019 Mackenzie Tour winner.

After coming so close a year ago, he had accomplished a sizable goal and will be exempt to Final Stage.

“After last year and not passing through Second Stage, that hit hard,” says Victoria, who was an NCAA Division I athlete herself, playing volleyball at USC. “Seeing the way he rebounded from last year and came back this year and finished the best he ever had in four years, says a lot about his character and who he is as a competitor.

“No matter what happens, he’s going to push himself to reach the level he knows he’s capable of. This achievement is just the start of the fire he’s lighting under himself right now.”

Garrick admits he was “pretty anxious” on Tuesday and Wednesday of the Canada Life Championship because of what he knew he could achieve by week’s end. He had been in frequent position over the summer to lock up a spot – he had two runner-up results earlier in the year – but couldn’t quite pull off what he needed to.

He was also in a good spot in the two events prior to the Canada Life Championship, but fell down the leaderboard on the weekends.

He calmed down once the tournament got underway Thursday, he says, and had a “weird feeling” on Sunday that all was going to be OK.

He started Sunday by chipping in for eagle and was 4-under through four. So far, so good.

“I wanted to get to a point in the final round when I could focus on winning the golf tournament and not salvaging a top-10 spot (on the money list),” he says. “I just kept trying to play golf and I figured it would sort itself out. A lot of weird stuff happens late on Sunday when guys are in that position.”

Garrick bogeyed the 15th hole Sunday but made a clutch par putt on the next hole from about 10 feet. He says that felt like a birdie because of how much pressure he was feeling. The next hole, he stuck his approach to 6 feet and knocked in the putt. A bogey on the last hole was a bit of a punch in the gut, he admits, but at the end of the day it didn’t matter.

Derek Barron had gone 4-over for his final seven holes and was bounced to the 11th spot. Garrick had earned the very last spot in the top-10 on the Order of Merit.

“You don’t want to feel like you give one away, especially after what I was able to do on 16 and 17,” he says. “All in all, I was really happy with how I handled myself.”

Victoria, meanwhile, was hanging onto every shot from outside the ropes. Even when brother Jonathan was finished, the Garricks were just standing around. They were waiting for good news or bad, wondering if they were going to rip down the highway to catch a flight home or return to the clubhouse for a celebration four years in the making.

“I wouldn’t have missed this last tournament literally for the world,” says Victoria, who is now a motivational speaker and had just completed four keynote talks prior to heading to Canada.

“It was surreal to watch him make the clutch putts, show up when he needed to show up and, as an athlete, I’ve always looked up to him and his work ethic and how he trained always inspired me. To see it pay off this weekend … I don’t even know how to explain it. It was just so relieving.”

Victoria says when the siblings were growing up – they both skied, and Jonathan was so good on the slopes, having grown up skiing in Vail, Colorado, that he once won a bronze medal at a national competition – there was a healthy competition between the two.

Even now, they still get into it a little.

Victoria laughs telling a story of how Jonathan wants to beat her at grass volleyball over the Fourth of July – although Victoria played the sport at a national level, and was a decorated player at USC.

“He’s so competitive and always has been,” she says. “I was trying to get recruited (to college) and I was sleeping in one weekend, and Jonathan came in and woke me up in his workout gear and said he was going to work out, and asked if I was coming. I was like, ‘No, I’m sleeping.’ And he said, ‘You’re either getting better or getting worse,’ and left my room.

“I strapped on my sneakers and joined him.”

It’s that hard-working attitude that has now given Garrick his first pass to Final Stage.

There is work still to be done, of course, but one big goal – by just over $2,000 – was finally achieved.

“Looking back and seeing that I’ve significantly improved each year, and all the experience I’ve gained has made me feel like I’m more ready for the Korn Ferry Tour than I would have in the previous years,” says Garrick.

“It’s difficult in the moment, because you want to take the next step as quick as possible, but I’ve definitely learned a lot. And I’m going to take that with me the next couple years, wherever I may go.”