Sep 17, 2018
Sloan ready for second try at the PGA Tour
Merritt, B.C., product says he’s learned from the rookie mistake of believing he had to make adjustments to his swing to compete, Bob Weeks writes.
By Bob Weeks
Lee Trevino once said the best advice he could give a young PGA Tour player was to, “Dance with who brung ya.” Roger Sloan is going to embrace those wise words on his second trip to the biggest tour in golf.
Trevino’s words, of course, relate to the golfer who gets to the PGA Tour only to lose trust in his swing. Not Sloan, at least not this time.
“I’m confident that the game that got me to the PGA Tour is good enough to keep me there,” said the Merritt, B.C., product, who earned a second chance on the PGA Tour after finishing second at the Web.Com Tour’s Albertsons Boise Open on Sunday.
For his return to the PGA Tour he’ll be a little more prepared. In 2015, Sloan said that he fell into the rookie mistake of believing he had to make adjustments to his swing to compete. He got caught up in the need to play catch up with the veteran golfers he stood beside on the range week after week.
“They weren’t large changes,” Sloan admitted. “But I felt I needed to hit it a bit farther and a bit higher. I lost sight of what got me there.”
The result was 13 missed cuts in 20 starts and a ticket back to the Web.Com Tour where he’s played since.
This year, however, Sloan has enjoyed a strong campaign with four top-10 finishes in 23 events. The best result was in Boise, which came after an event in Cleveland a few weeks prior where he played three great rounds before slipping on Sunday.
“I put myself in good position heading into the final round and I really played terribly on Sunday,” stated the 31-year-old who posted a final-round 79. “But I used it as motivation. I learned from that and, funny, we found ourselves in the same scenario in Boise heading into the final round and we were able to stay calm and got ourselves in a pretty good little groove.”
His finish pushed him to 10th spot on the Web.com Tour’s Finals money list. With just this week’s Tour Championship left, his promotion has been secured.
Sloan is looking forward to a lot of things on the PGA Tour, not the least of which is regular day care for him and his wife Casey’s baby, Leighton, who turns one on Wednesday.
“I think the biggest difference is the test of the golf courses,” he said, “and the condition they’re in week to week. They’re a little bit more demanding, which I actually think suits my game.”
He’s also a little bit older and a little bit wiser about everything that’s to come, unlike his previous sojourn.
“This is my second time out there so I do have a little bit of knowledge so it’s not like going into the lion’s den,” Sloan said. “I think most important I’m looking forward to testing my abilities out there again. Every year I’ve gotten better as a professional it’s been my goal, no matter what tour I’m playing or continent I’m playing, whatever it may be, every year my goal is to get a little bit better. I know that I’m a whole lot better now than I was when I first went out there.”
Sloan won’t have much time to prepare for the PGA Tour. His first event begins Oct. 4 in Napa, Calif.