Michael

Visacki

The 27-year-old mini-tour veteran admitted his first-ever PGA Tour event was “overwhelming,” and he shot 74-71 at Innisbrook to miss the cut by five shots. But heading into his second career Tour start this week at Colonial, he’s got a different take: “Top 10 for sure,” he said regarding goals for the week. “I feel much more comfortable out here. I know what I need to do. I realistically feel like I can top-10 it. … Everybody may have some doubts, but I know with my game and if I play well, I know I can compete out here.” The Central Florida product has more than 30 wins in mini-tour events, but he hasn’t competed much recently while the West Florida mini-tour he usually plays on has been on a break. He did play a local U.S. Open qualifying event, but missed advancing by two shots. Visacki notched another personal highlight on Tuesday when he played a practice round with Justin Thomas. “Double yes, please,” said Visacki regarding Thomas’ invitation to join him for a round.

Visacki fired a 5-under 67 on Monday and then punched his way through a 4-for-2 playoff to earn his seat this week at the Valspar. From there, his post-round phone call to his father ended up going viral. His emotion was spilling out as he broke the news to his dad. The 27-year-old Central Florida product has more than 30 wins on the mini-tours and will finally get to test his skills on the grandest stage. He won’t be on any fantasy radars this week but it would be a real feel-good story if he kept this momentum rolling and played his way to a payday at Innisbrook Resort. Others to qualify on Monday were Jordan Hahn (66), Brad Adamonis (66), and Daniel Chopra (67).