As the Web.com Tour navigates nine consecutive tournament weeks to conclude the Regular Season, several players opt to take off-weeks here and there, to conserve energy as they make late-season pushes for spots in The 25 and resultant PGA TOUR cards.
It’s a combination of travel, range work, learning new courses, learning new cities. A week off can freshen the body and mind for what’s to come.
Joseph Bramlett’s attitude is a bit different, though. The Stanford alum spent the majority of five years away from competitive golf, battling severe back pain and weighing the pros and cons of potentially career-ending surgery.
After years of investigation, a stability-centric swing change has allowed Bramlett’s back to withstand the rigors of a Tour season. The 30-year-old is navigating his first full schedule since 2012, and his game is peaking in the summer heat, with five consecutive top-16 finishes leading into this week’s Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr. Pepper.
The California native has been a picture of consistency this season, with 14 made cuts in 15 starts, moving to No. 21 on the money list as he strives to put a bow on his comeback story.
The energy is fresh, and it’s real.
“I’m not going to say I’m not tired, and that there aren’t days where I’m fatigued, but mentally I’m really excited to be playing,” Bramlett said Tuesday at Highland Springs CC. “I think the stretch that I’ve been out has really refreshed me, and it has lit quite a fire under me, to try to get back out there (to the PGA TOUR).
“I’m very excited, and I don’t feel like I need a break.”
21. Joseph Bramlett
22. @aLongShot
23. @NelsonLedesmaOk
24. @MartinDTrainer
25. @michael_arnaud
26. Kevin Dougherty
27. @tmoorewps
28. Eric Axley
29. Kyle Jones
30. @ebarnesgolf10
The former Stanford standout earned his PGA TOUR card right out of college, via the 2010 PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament, but finished No. 199 on in the 2011 FedExCup standings to lose his card.
It’s unlikely he would have, or could have, anticipated the road he would face in chasing a TOUR return.
After a solid 2012 Web.com Tour campaign (No. 28 on the money list), Bramlett’s world changed at the 2013 Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank. While working through a standard range session, his back went out, leading to pain so severe that he was relegated to lying on his back for hours at a time.
Bramlett traversed across the United States, visiting more than a dozen surgeons in search of an answer, with some telling him that his career might be over. Surgery could help him live pain-free, day-to-day, but could significantly reduce his capabilities of competing at the highest level.
Read more at PGATour.com
