Fleming Finds Groove After Rough Start To Take PGA of Alberta Assistants Title
- Details
- Category: Inside Golf
- Published: 2020-07-16
By GORD MONTGOMERY, Inside Golf
STONY PLAIN, Alberta — If this had been the Riley Fleming of oh, say, about 15 years ago, the outcome of the 2020 PGA of Alberta Cobra Puma Golf Assistants Championship likely would have turned out differently. But, Fleming is now a golfer with more experience, patience, and maturity, and that showed as the Lynx Ridge GC pro turned in his third win at this annual event.
Fleming noted on Twitter how badly his round started with a first hole triple bogey and appeared on the verge of a really, really bad day: “4 over through 4 in some nasty wind. Battled back for even, wish my 16 year old self could have watched that round.”
What that teen would have seen a decade later was a guy right the ship and steer it to victory, overcoming a three shot second-day deficit by firing an impressive 4-under 68 in winds gusting up to 60 kph at the host Stony Plain Golf Course. That enabled Fleming to walk away with a five stroke win over fellow Calgarian Wes Heffernan and six over first-round leader, Mitchell Fox, also from Calgary.
Speaking after the win, Fleming had this to say about his first few holes: “I was four over after four but I think I birdied six and just got it going. It was hard, really hard both days. Yesterday was a little calmer than today,” although there was intermittent rain on opening day. “I knew I was playing hard enough to not let it get away from me, but I knew I had a lot of work to do. I worked hard the last 32 holes.”
Those holes were what proved his start a one-off as Fleming settled down after a snowman on the opening hole.
“It’s just playing a lot of tournaments,” he said in relation to not being overly upset with what happened. “I told myself when I made the triple, ‘Well, I usually make a couple of bogeys in a tournament so just try to limit those. I make enough birdies and I’ll try and get back in it.’ “
He did note however that it took some self-talk to remain calm in the face of calamity. “It is hard. I was seeing red. It’s hard to turn it off. It took me three or four holes to kind of relax and get back to playing golf again. It was hard and I was proud, really proud, of what I did,” as he walked off 18 at even par.
Heading into the final day, Fleming likely knew that start wasn’t going to happen again. And it didn’t although he parred the opening hole which most considered a great birdie opportunity. He didn’t let that faze him though and he went to work in some tricky and strong winds.
“My goal early was to keep hitting greens, giving myself putts. I missed a short birdie putt on one … but it was three shots better than yesterday!” he quipped. “I hit a bunch of greens on the front and kept having birdie putts. I made a couple of nice ones,” as he slowly chased down first-round leader Fox. “Again, it was just so hard today with the wind blowing so hard on the greens. I made a lot of good six, seven foot par putts. I’ve never backed off (putts) so often in my life. Again, I was just giving it everything I had on the last 32 holes.”
As for his third win at this event, it gives him thoughts about returning to a former lifestyle.
“Yeah, I’ve been considering it this fall,” he said of a return to the play-for-play tour scenario on the PGA TOUR’s McKenzie Tour. “My thought was I might just try it for the next seven, eight years. Try (qualifying for) the Korn Ferry (Tour) every year at the end of the year but COVID messed that up. So, I’ve just been teaching and not worrying about playing because our big stuff with CPGA Canada has basically been cancelled or postponed. The golf industry has been so busy and everyone’s working so hard that playing just kind of gets put on the back burner. But, this has been a nice little treat. A nice bonus. Gets the fire going again.”
Saying that, Fleming did note that life on the road isn’t all that great after a while. He admits that he’s been having fun these past few years playing Alberta and Canadian PGA events where he doesn’t necessarily have to worry about those first hole triples possibly taking a pay cheque out of his pocket.
“It’s been fun for a while now. Ever since I stepped away from it (Canadian Tour) full time. That’s been the biggest ‘What if?’ were I to go back. I have fun playing golf. I have fun going home. I have fun being around town. I don’t miss …. it was a little funny. I pulled into the motel here and I was like ‘This feels like the old days. Here we go.’ I like it. The motel, the golf course over here. Eighty dollars a night specials. That’s what I’m used to.
“It felt fun but again, that’s because I knew I only had two days and I wasn’t going for the next six weeks,” and the fun really came back after he was though those first four holes on the first day for the three-time Assistants Championship winner.