Major move
PENN TWP — After the golf ball snaked down a hilly green and plopped into the cup, Rob McClellan laughed.
It was an improbable 60-foot putt on the No. 4 hole at French Lick Resort in the fourth and final round of the PGA Professional National Championship Wednesday.
And to propelled McClellan, a golf pro at Butler Country Club, to one of his biggest achievements in the sport.
"It wasn't something you try to make," McClellan said. "You just try to get it close. A couple of good things happened to me."
McClellan needed them. He didn't play poorly during the first three rounds of the tournament, but he found himself tied for 44th place at 6-over-par.
He needed to find a way to make up a lot of ground to get into the top 20 and qualify for the 92nd PGA Championship, which will be held Aug. 12 to 15 at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis.
The long putt gave him the break he was looking for.
"I bogied the second hole," McClellan said. "After that, I thought that was it."
But McClellan found himself 2-under par after nine holes. That's when he thought he had a chance.
"I just thought at that point, 'Keep it together. Get one or two more (birdies).'"
McClellan finished the final round 3-under and finished the tournament 3-over, good enough to tie for 15th place.
McClellan moved up 29 spots in the final round to qualify.
Just making the cut after two rounds in the field of 212 club pros was an accomplishment in and of itself for McClellan.
"That was my first goal," McClellan said. "It was just good to make the cut."
Now, McClellan will share the same course in August with some of the great in the game.
That was not lost of McClellan, who has never qualified for a PGA major until this week.
"This was probably one of the biggest things any club pro can do," McClellan said. "This will be the biggest event I have played in."
