Sam Saunders' strong putting helps him bounce back at 3M Open

BLAINE, Minn. – Sam Saunders knows there are plenty of other people who would like to be living their dream on the PGA TOUR like he’s been doing for the last five years.

He understands. He’s been there, too. But the truth is, this season just hasn’t been much fun. And at the Travelers Championship two weeks ago, when Saunders shot 80 on Sunday to finish dead last among the players who survived the 54-hole cut, he hit rock bottom.

He wasn’t even sure he wanted to play golf anymore.

“It sounds so whiny because so many people would give anything to be playing on the PGA TOUR, and I get that,” Saunders said. “It's a wonderful life and it's a wonderful career, but I was happy when I was with my wife and kids. I was happy when I was hanging out at the hotel and the house.

“The second I got to the golf course I was pretty miserable. You just feel horrible out there and it's frustrating. You don't want to be playing bad golf and you certainly don't want to be playing bad golf in front of a bunch of people and cameras. It's just not fun.”

A new driver and a few adjustments after working with putter guru Joe Toulon have things headed in a more positive direction, though. And not coincidentally, Saunders finds himself tied for third at the midway point of the 3M Open, four strokes behind Bryson DeChambeau.

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“The guys at Callaway, I mean, we spent three hours together and they really made every effort to get me in a club that I felt really comfortable with and it's made a huge difference off the tee last week and this week,” Saunders said.

“But most importantly this week has been the putter. … I've seen a couple putts go in these two days and it's a welcome surprise.”

And Saunders, who has made 14 birdies and just four bogeys this week, needed something positive to happen after missing six cuts in his last seven starts. Interestingly, it has come at a golf course originally designed by his late grandfather, Arnold Palmer.

“The putting, it frees up everything,” Saunders said. “When you start making some putts, you drive the ball better, you hit your irons better, you chip better. It all does always come full circle to that.”

Speaking of coming full circle, Saunders has this week and four more starts left to make a push to keep his card.

He ranks 188th in the FedExCup and needs to earn enough points to get inside the top 125 after the Wyndham Championship to retain full playing privileges for the 2019-20 season. Otherwise, he’ll have to head to the Korn Ferry Tour Finals and try to finish among the 25 money leaders there.

“I guess solo second would lock up a job for next year, but I'm not thinking about it that way,” Saunders said. “I really just want to try and win a golf tournament and hopefully I have a chance on Sunday this week.”

Saunders knows he has lots of friends and family – and some people he might not even know – who are genuinely pulling for him. He tries to use the many text messages of support as inspiration as he confronts the final weeks of the regular season head-on.

“I feel good again, I feel normal, back to my happy self, smiling on the golf course, which you've got to do,” Saunders said. “It's an effort sometimes, it really is. We all go through it at times, but I definitely feel like me again and excited about the way I'm playing golf and know that this is what I want to do, I want to play out here and I'm not done yet.

“I've got a lot left to accomplish out here.”