Michigan's Donnie Trosper shoots 62 to qualify for second straight PGA Tour event

Matt Charboneau
The Detroit News

If Matthew Wolff only needed the jingle of a nearby ice cream truck to start pouring in birdies, maybe all it took for Donnie Trosper was a McDonald’s breakfast.

OK, odds are waking up late and scrambling to grab something to eat on the way to the course had nothing to do with how the Canton native played on Monday as he attempted to qualify for the Workday Charity Open, this week’s PGA Tour event at Muirfield Golf Club in Columbus, Ohio.

But it sure didn’t hurt.

Donnie Trosper

For the second week in a row, Trosper played his way into the field, shooting a 10-under 62 at The Country Club at Muirfield to grab one of two spots left in the star-studded field.

“I had a good strategy for every tee shot out there today,” Trosper told The Detroit News. “I was just hitting the right shots and just making the putts this time and I didn't really have any really big mistakes. I kind of just kept it clean and that's huge, for me, especially, and I made the key part putts today to keep the momentum going.”

Trosper made it into last week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic – his first PGA Tour event – through the Monday qualifier and this week became the first golf to qualify two straight weeks since Steve Allan did it last season for the John Deere Classic and the Barbasol Championship.

ROCKET MORTGAGE CLASSIC COMPLETE COVERAGE

A 50-foot putt for eagle on No. 8 sparked Trosper’s round on Monday as he followed that with a birdie at No. 9 to make the turn at 5-under. Five more birdies came on the back as Trosper closed with a downhill 35-foot putt to post his best score ever.

“Yeah, that is my best score,” he said. “I’ve shot millions of 63s but never got 62. And you know what? I wasn't even thinking about it on the last hole. I was just thinking just two putt. I had like a 35-footer and it was downhill and a pretty tough putt. I hit it and it went in.”

The round on Monday continued a busy stretch for Trosper. After missing the cut at Detroit Golf Club last week, he continued playing. After a round with a friend back in Michigan on Sunday morning, he headed to Columbus in the afternoon to walk the course he would play on Monday.

The long day on Sunday hardly turned out to be a negative, complete with missing the alarm by 20 minutes. By the time Trosper had downed his McDonald’s big breakfast and was ready to play, there was no pressure.

“I think it was the best thing that could have happened,” he said. “Because just coming off of the Rocket Mortgage, missing the cut and stuff, I didn't really have too much pressure on myself.”

That pressure existed last week, even without fans.

Trosper, who played one season at Michigan State after three years at Central Florida, shot 78-77 to miss the cut and was happy to get away this week.

“This week is gonna be a completely different week for me,” Trosper said. “I feel like being at home, I just felt like I had kind of a lot of pressure on me. I had all my friends and family like calling me and I was sleeping in my own bed. Now I'm kind of away and kind of just doing my own thing. I'm staying with my caddie and we’ve got a nice little hotel here.

“So, yeah, I’m trying to take what I learned last week and try to prove myself this week.”

Does that include hitting the McDonald’s drive-through the rest of the week for breakfast?

“I don’t know about that,” Trosper said with a laugh. “But maybe that’s my thing this week.”

mcharboneau@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @mattcharboneau