Don’t be the least bit surprised if Andrew Landry proves to be one of
those rising stars who comes off the Web.com Tour, immediately has a big season at the next level and wins a tournament in the months following his promotion to the PGA Tour.

Brad McMakin certainly won’t be surprised.

Even before Landry opened the 2017-18 season with an impressive tie for
seventh at the Safeway Open in Napa, California, McMakin was predicting big things for the former Port Neches-Groves standout. As Landry’s golf coach, first at Lamar, then at Arkansas, McMakin has up close and personal insight into him.

“Nothing Andrew does will surprise me,” said McMakin last week. “I knew he was going to be a good pro when he set the Arkansas record for top 10s in only three years. But also, I knew it might take him a while. He really wasn’t ready his first time out there two years ago.

“In my opinion, he wasn’t convinced he was good enough at that point in
time. That is no longer the case. Going back to the Web.com and playing so well last year was exactly what he needed. He always had the game, but now he has the self belief. And he just keeps getting better. Chuck Cook has done a great job with him on his short game.”

McMakin’s point about how well Landry played on the Web.com last year is
backed by the numbers. In 21 events, he had a first, a second and two thirds, was in the top 10 eight times and had 13 top 25s, while making 19 cuts. It added up to second on the overall money list ($388,894).

All the while his confidence was soaring.

McMakin, the Kelly graduate who has gone on to build one of the top programs in college golf at Arkansas, stays in touch with his Southeast
Texas home boy through regular phone calls and his occasional trips back to Fayetteville. Andrew blew him away last year with how far he was hitting his driver.

“We played 18 holes and I could not believe how hard he hit the ball,” said the coach. “He is just an extremely good ball striker. With the added length, he still drives it very straight. It’s why the tougher the courses the better and more competitive he’s going to be.

“He proved that at the U.S. Open at Oakmont a couple of years ago. That
was not a fluke. I thought it was so impressive the way he handled the U.S. Open pressure the first three days. I could tell then it was just a matter of time for him. I have no doubt that any week when he putts really well he can win.”

Landry, the day before the Safeway Open began, was in total agreement with what McMakin said about having some doubts his first year on the PGA Tour, and being ready to win because of how well he did on the Web.com last year.

“It is completely different for me this time,” he said. “I am way more
prepared and much more confident. It’s crazy how I can look back every single year and see how much better I have gotten.

“There was no comparison to how I played on the Web.com in 2014. I had the one win early in 2014 but never really played well after that. Last year, after I won, I was in contention several times. I learned so much. I got better at making key shots under pressure.”

One of the keys to his improvement, Landry says, is pacing. He goes to
great lengths to not get rushed on the course.

“I really focus on things like my walking and my breathing,” he said. “I
am kind of a hyper guy. Whenever I get speeded up, my swing gets shorter and I start playing bad. It’s something I started to figure out during the last round of that U.S. Open at Oakmont.

“On the front nine, everything was rushed, my swing got shorter and I hit
some bad shots. I slowed things down on the back nine and played great. I
will always believe if I had driven the ball well all day, I would have won. It was such an important lesson to learn.”

So does Landry truly believe down deep that he is ready to win on the PGA
Tour?

“Most definitely,” he said. “I am solid across the board. I am driving it
better and longer than I ever have. I am so confident with my driver that I will hit it on holes where others won’t. It’s a big advantage. If I putt well, it is going to be a fun year. No question I am going to win.”

Landry certainly looked the part of a guy who is ready with his play in the Safeway Open. Three consecutive 69s followed an opening 71. He capped off a steady week by rolling in a 40-foot eagle putt on the final hole to vault into a tie for seventh and collect a check for $199,500.

“I’m pleased,” he said from his Austin home on Monday. “It was a good start toward keeping my card. I did not do anything great, but I was pretty solid across the board. I do think I was No. 1 in strokes gained putting. I pretty much just went out and continued what I have been doing all year on the Web.com.”

“Maybe the best thing was feeling so comfortable, feeling like I belonged. It felt so good when Zach Johnson came up and said welcome back. The others kind of knew who I was. The first year out here it was like, ‘What the hell is going on?'”

Proof of how far Landry has come is reflected in his Official World Golf
Ranking. At that Oakmont U.S. Open in June of 2016, he was No. 624. After the T7 at Safeway, he had risen to No. 185. He’s only 22 places behind the Pea Patch’s other PGA Tour regular, Chris Stroud.

Landry’s highly ambitious short-term goal is to rise to No. 64 before
the Dell Match Play Championship March 19-25 in Austin.

“That’s going to be tough, but it is doable,” he said. “I live in Austin
and my wife and I are expecting our first child in March. It would be so
special to be a part of that tournament. Don’t count me out.”

For sure, Brad McMakin won’t.
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Bob West is the golf writer for the Port Arthur News.