Hello everyone. Well, my sprained ankle is much better so I am pain free while golfing. I am still rehabbing so that I can eventually run and jump like I did before, but thankfully those skills are not a must to play professional golf. I sure could use the running as I chase my young boys around the house.

The last couple months have been unique for me and my family. As many of you have seen, my schedule has been quite different from recent years. One reason for that is that Amy and I were attending weddings on back to back weekends in late May of two of our closest friends. Then due to re-injuring my ankle with some mad dance moves (just making sure you are still reading). That really didn’t happen although I did cut a rug at both weddings. Not Ben Crane caliber, but I was proud of my dance moves, especially for a Midwestern boy with little rhythm.) Now seriously it was more due to missing an event and not qualifying for the U.S. Open that I decided to return to two venues I hadn’t visited in seven years. Those two events were the Fedex St. Jude Classic in Memphis, TN, and the Travelers Championship in Hartford, CT. Both courses are well respected on the PGA TOUR, and I am so glad I returned as they rekindled some fire. I also returned to Congressional last week for the AT&T National. My last trip there was for the U.S. Open and the heat and rain made the course not play up to its lofty standards in 2011. Well, the condition of the famous course has returned and its difficulty is certainly back too. Some of the best fairways you’ll ever hit from. My game was flat so I got to go home early-you like how I turned a negative (Missed Cut) into a positive (see my family two days early)?

I am off this week (July 1-7) but will be super busy. Tuesday marks a fun day as I get to play Erin Hills, the 2017 U.S. Open site, in Wisconsin with three of the top fund raising teams at last Spring’s Lake Country Charity Invitational. High School golfers are encouraged to raise funds for one of my favorite charities, the MACC FUND. Any team that generated $1000 or more was put in a hat and three teams were taken out to play six holes with me. This is the fifth time I’ve been able to do this, and I enjoy seeing a glimpse into the future of the game and boy it is bright. I know I’ll be outdriven quite regularly but hopefully I can instill in them the importance of their score over how far they hit it. After that some family time for the Fourth of July will surely rejuvenate me for my upcoming run at the PGA TOUR Playoffs.

I am also excited to announce that I have a new sponsor on my shirt, Greatblue Research. They are a market research company based in Hartford, CT, headed by CEO Michael Vigeant. Their enthusiasm to enter the golfing world with their products is so fun to see. I enjoyed time with them, their clients and guests at the recent Travelers Championship where they cheered me on alongside the 18th green. They took the spot of Time of Grace but the gospel show, now on ABC Family network, landed on my right sleeve, or as I would rather say, my right bicep.

Watch for me next week as I tee it up in Moline, IL for the John Deere Classic. My wife really believes I will win this event one year. Time will tell if 2013 is the year.

Happy Fourth of July!