By Tim Rogers
NOPGA Media

AKRON: Ryan Armour was sitting in a golf cart just outside the clubhouse of Firestone Country Club, his hat pushed back off his forehead and the beads of sweat from a long and hot day were plainly visible on his face and his arms.

The third round of the Kaulig Companies Championship had not been kind to Armour, the native Northeast Ohio in his first year on PGA Tour Champions.

After putting together a pair of 68s that had him in contention after Friday — he was tied for fifth at 4-under and just three shots off the lead – Saturday was a different day.

 A few uncharacteristic foul balls off the tee led to missed fairways and several seemingly makeable putts – at least six — that just missed falling added up to a 6-over 76. He will begin Sunday’s final round at 2-over 212 and a tie for 36th, 15 shots behind.

“Well, it’s been said that a bad day on the golf course is better than a good day in the office,” a bystander suggested, trying to offer some solace.

“Yeah, I guess” Armour answered, “but this is my office.”

In typical Armour fashion there were no excuses for his round that contained one birdie and a damaging seven bogeys. What started as a promising Saturday turned into a rainstorm.

Try as he might Armour was unable to figure out what was going on with his swing, especially after his solid two opening rounds. He had eight birdies and four bogeys in his first two rounds but the numbers became twisted on Saturday.

“I’ve been ball-striking well the last two days,” he said. “But every time I would set up to a hole, I’d brush it way right or pound it way left. I’d set up to hit a draw, and it would hang right or I’d over-draw or pull it. Nothing was in sequence and I couldn’t figure it out.”

Even after a series of on-course conversations with caddie Jim McGurk, the answers never came.

“When thing start going haywire, we have cues that we check . . .ball position, check distance from the ball, check rhythm, all that,” he said. “I mean, we were checking everything. What was going on? I don’t know. I just had a bad day. Firestone won and I did not.”

Some people fail to realize how Armour has come since his days of growing up in Silver Lake and the success he has achieved.

 We watched him compete and win junior events in an around Akron – the NOPGA’s Kenny Novak, the Good Park Junior, etc. — two state team championships (1990-91) and being the individual state champion in 1993 at Walsh Jesuit.

Let’s not forget he pushed Tiger Woods to the limit in the 1993 U.S. Junior Amateur before losing in a playoff.

Then came the sterling career at Ohio State where he earned All-American honors and won the Big Ten individual title in 1998. He has won on the PGA Tour – the Sanderson Farms Championship — and the Web.com and Golden Bear Tours. He has 15 top-10 finishes in his PGA career. It adds up to more than $7 million in earnings.

Those who know Armour learned long ago that his work ethic, desire and competitive nature defined his athletic career. He was that way in golf and as a feisty 5-foot-9-inch guard who could shoot the lights out in basketball.

 There is no question that all three traits have enabled him to have a wonderful career that, in some ways, is getting jump-started as a member of the 50-and-over group.

That helped add to his frustration on Friday. He took almost two years off to watch his sons, Patrick and Nick, compete in hockey and basketball and returned earnestly to the game after turning 50 in February. 

 Now, he is back competing at his highest possible level. He had a top-30 finish in the U.S. Senior Open at Scioto Country Club two weeks ago and got off to a great start this week.

Armour fully understands that Sunday is a different day. He’ll get a second chance to beat Firestone. He went directly to the practice area after his round to work on just about every aspect of his game, except the want to.

He’s got that. Always has.

##