Monday qualifier Trace Crowe holes 51-foot chip-in for birdie to make first PGA Tour cut at Honda Classic

It was do or die for the Monday qualifier. 

Trace Crowe, 26, had one PGA Tour start to his name before this week’s Honda Classic — a missed cut at the 2017 Barbasol Championship. Last year, he made 17 Korn Ferry Tour starts with his best finish a T-18. He ended up 138th on the tour’s points list and made $38,024.

Earlier this week, he shot 7-under 65 to Monday qualify for the Honda Classic. By the time Friday came around, he bogeyed his 35th hole of the tournament (the par-4 eighth) and needed a birdie on his 36th hole of the event to make his first-ever Tour cut. 

Full-field scores from The Honda Classic

His tee shot on PGA National’s par-4 ninth found the right rough. He then hit his approach shot short, leaving Crowe a 51-foot birdie chip to make the cut on the number. 

Then, the improabale happenend. 

“Me and my caddie were like, ‘Dude, we gotta make this,'” Crowe told the Tour afterward. “I was playing with Sam Stevens, played with him a good bit last year. He had his arm up 6 feet out I was like, ‘This must be good.'” 

It earned Crowe the nickname Mr. Chipinsky. It also notched him his first paycheck on Tour, which will be a minimum of $15,000. 

Though Crowe is 10 strokes behind the lead, it’s a week — and chip-in — the former Auburn Tiger will certainly never forget. 

“When it when in it was hype, it was cool, man,” he said. “Just to get a chance to play the weekend here and just to play tournament golf at this level, it’s awesome.”