Tim Widing has found himself asking many questions in recent months.
Is my college golf career over?
Will I go back to school for a graduation year?
What are the chances of college golf happening this fall?
The answers are varied. No, the extraordinary University of San Francisco did not hit his last blow as Don. Yes, he will return to school for another year and pursue a sports management degree. And as for the next season, this is still to be determined.
However, there was only one answer that Widing really cared about. Hint: said yes!
Widing, a 23-year-old native of Jonkoping, Sweden, got engaged to girlfriend Jazmine Kelleher in early May on a beach in Cambria, California, Kelleher’s hometown where Widing lived with his girlfriend and future in-laws during COVID – 19 pandemic.
“I felt like in these unknown and uncertain times, this was the only thing I was very sure of,” said Widing. “I’m really happy.”
Widing and Kelleher first met in 2017 during the second year of Widing, the year of Kelleher’s freshman. On their first date, they went for a morning run. For 16 miles, they ran and ran, walked and spoke.
Kelleher was in shape, especially in the race. Widing? Not so much, but he wanted to impress, so he struggled to keep up.
“We were out for five or six hours and kept asking her:” When are we going to eat, to drink? “Widing remembered.
Later that evening, Widing began to suffer from stomach pain. After the next four days in and out of the hospital, doctors eventually diagnosed him with severe dehydration.
It was worth it though: Widing had a second date.
“For some time, my teammates and coaches, when they saw her, would have been like ‘Oh, you’re the one who took him to the hospital,'” said Widing.
Jack Kennedy, head coach of San Francisco, added: “Now, when Tim says he and Jazmine will race, we tell him he has a two mile hat.”
Seriously, Kennedy has seen love transform its protagonist.
He is eating healthier. Widing exchanged sweets for balanced, home-cooked meals and a predominantly plant-based diet. He noticed better sleep patterns and improved energy.
He is working harder. So much so that Kennedy usually has to call an Uber for Widing after the tournament rounds so that he can return to the hotel and lift weights while his teammates fall behind and cool down.
It is calmer. When Widing arrived in the Bay Area, he was famous for the heat, and coaches had a hard time curbing his ultra-aggressive playing style.
“They start dating and suddenly he was talking about playing on the safe side of the pins,” said Kennedy. “Only his whole mentality somehow softened him a little.”
No wonder Widing and Kelleher are often referred to as “Team Tim”.
“We do it all together. We are a team and I am very lucky to have someone who supports me so much,” said Widing, who has shared a small studio apartment with Kelleher for almost two years. Kelleher is also Widing’s caddy in amateur events, keeps him abreast of his studies and calls himself his greatest cheerleader.
She too has much to cheer up. In four years, Widing has never been excluded from the first team of the West Coast Conference and was named honorable mention across America last season. He has 19 top-10s in his college career, including two wins and a T-3 at the 2019 NCAA Pullman Regional, where he finished a timid qualifying coup for the NCAA championship.
“A blow is missing, which really fueled his fire [past] year, “said Kennedy.
Widing, currently 60th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, scored a couple of places in third place as a senior as he also won his final tournament before the season was canceled. At that event at the San Diego Country Club, Widing passed a field that included Peter Kuest of BYU, Cameron Sisk of the state of Arizona and Trevor Werbylo of Arizona.
Subsequently, Kennedy said to Widing: “You have just beaten 10 guys who are likely to play on the PGA Tour in the next five years.”
Widing has the aspiration to join them. While making a handful of departures on European tours and Challenge as an amateur, Widing wishes to begin his professional career in the United States. He had entered the Mackenzie Tour Q-School earlier this year before he was blown away.
Now, he has shifted his attention to another path to a tour card: PGA Tour University.
Widing, which will begin its fifth season at no. 14 in the PGA Tour U charts, he knows that his competition for one of those five Korn Ferry Tour cards – or 10 cards for international tours – will be strong, especially with the choice of so many seniors to join Widing for another year at school . It’s a list of competitors that includes Vanderbilt’s John Augenstein, Baylor’s Cooper Dossey and Oklahoma teammates Garett Reband and Quade Cummins.
Kennedy firmly believes that Widing has the same breath as those guys.
“There is no better iron player in Tim’s country; I am very confident in saying that, ”said Kenneday. “By throwing the wedge through 3-iron, he is a PGA Tour player. … We joke that every tournament for Tim is just a glorified put race. It will have the ball within 10-20 feet [of the hole] 80% of the time. It’s just a matter of how many putts he decides to do that week. “
This summer Widing spent many hours training on Dairy Creek and Monarch Dunes, both located in San Luis Obispo, about half an hour from Cambria. That is, when he did not plan the wedding, he took his first two elementary school lessons online or shot makeup videos in Kelleher’s parents’ yard.
It’s all hard work that Widing hopes will pay off handsomely.
“I feel like I definitely have a shot this year to get one of those cards,” said Widing. “I just don’t have to worry too much about the rankings because in the past I did it with the amateur rankings of the world. I just have to show up at every tournament and play my best, try to win every event I play and see how far it takes me. “
A Korn Ferry card would be a rather sweet wedding gift.
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