Golfer Kyle Thompson is grateful to be on his way up again

“Golf takes a lot of imagination.”

Kyle Thompson has two boys, brothers Austin and Henry Schmidt, hanging on his every word on a sizzling summer morning at Crestview Country Club.

He is telling Henry, 8 years old, about seeing where the ball hits and then judging the green. He sees something in the way Austin, 11, grips the club and steps in to fix it.

“You’ve got that home-run hitter grip,” said Thompson, sixth on the Web.com Tour’s career winnings list. “Let’s bring that hand up a little bit.”

Thompson didn’t have to be there on Tuesday morning with his fellow pros for the Marge Page Junior Clinic, teaching local kids about the game ahead of the start of Thursday’s Air Capital Classic at Crestview. But 14 years into his professional career, Thompson is a man who has seen his life – and his future – change over the last month.

And for that, he is grateful.

“One month ago, I’m in Raleigh and that was the last event I was going to get in on my number and I didn’t really know what the future held after that,” Thompson said. “If I did miss the cut there, I was going home and I was going to get a job.”

That event – the Rex Hospital Open – turned out to be the turning point in Thompson’s career.

After scrapping by the last two years at Monday qualifiers and on mini tours – “ I begged and begged to get in a couple events” – Thompson became the first player in Web.com history to win a tour event three times by winning the Rex Hospital Open on May 31, beating Web.com money leader Patton Kizzire and Miguel Angel Carballo in a playoff.

“It’s God’s blessing, and now there are all these opportunities after just having one foot out the door as a professional,” Thompson said. “It was life-changing. I was at peace with having to leave the game ... my wife and I went into this season with the mindset that this was a make it or break it year to get it done or get out of the game.

“And things weren’t looking so good until Raleigh. Now I’m a pro golfer again … for awhile I didn’t feel like I was part of the game, and now I’m on my way to being a PGA Tour professional again and I feel like the sky is the limit. Winning that tournament was a complete miracle.”

That Thompson, who has $1.4 million in career winnings on the Web.com Tour, felt that way is indicative of just how far he’d fallen. After going pro out of the University of South Carolina in 2001, he’d spent the full season on either the Web.com or PGA Tours since 2003 until two years ago. His best finish at the Air Capital Classic came in 2011, when he finished second.

One of the events he “begged” his way into during his struggles was last year’s Air Capital Classic, granted an exemption from tournament director Roy Turner.

Thompson was in Wichita on Tuesday morning after reaching out to Turner and asking what he could do to return the favor — after winning in Raleigh, he wouldn’t need the exemption this year. He’s also playing in Wednesday’s pro-am.

“He was just so grateful,” Turner said. “He called and said ‘Whatever you need me to do, whatever you want me to do, I’m there.’”

Halfway through the Web.com season, Thompson is 18th on the money list at $119,425. The top 25 on the money list at the end of the season earn PGA Tour memberships for next season.

After winning in Raleigh, Thompson was able to go home to Greenville, S.C., to see his wife, Emmi, 6-year-old daughter Sophia and 3-year-old son, Sam, for a week before hitting the road again.

“Most guys probably would’ve quit the tour in the spot I was in,” Thompson said. “But my wife, she was always there for me. And now I’m back here and have a great connection to this event, with Roy kind enough to give me a spot last year when I was down on my luck … one thing I knew when I was struggling was that i wasn’t playing bad golf, but you can’t support your family on the little events. You’ve got to be on the Web.com or PGA to do that.”

And Tuesday, as another pair of young golfers came over to his station, it was obvious Thompson was living in the moment. He checked what clubs the kids had. He set up two separate spots for them to chip from. He told them to aim for the far pin.

And he gave them some great advice.

“Golf takes a lot of imagination.”

This story was originally published June 23, 2015 at 5:44 PM with the headline "Golfer Kyle Thompson is grateful to be on his way up again."