As of late Monday morning, Andrew Landry’s thoughts quickly shifted from ending a string of four consecutive missed cuts to the possible early arrival of his first child. And, by the time you read this, the biggest moment of his life may have already taken place.

With his son not due until on or around March 25, Landry had been on the practice tee in Tampa awaiting the start of a Monday Pro-Am for this week’s Valspar Championship. Though he had not made a cut in over a month, he was upbeat and expecting to play well.

Then his cell phone rang.

It was his wife Elizabeth informing him her blood pressure was up and she was going to the hospital. There was a possibility labor might have to be induced. The Port Neches-Groves ex quickly packed up, headed to the airport and was on the first available flight to Austin.

By the time he made it, a decision had been made to wait 24 hours, run some tests, then make a decision on whether to induce.

“It could be today or it could still be around the 25th,” he said Tuesday morning. “She is already right at full term and the baby is seven pounds. It should not be a problem if they need to induce.”

With this column having been submitted at mid-afternoon Tuesday, there was no word on whether Andrew had officially become a father. All he knew for sure at that time was it was impossible to predict when he will be returning to the
PGA Tour.

If his son arrives early, he will probably play in the Houston Open the last week of March. If he comes around the original due date, the return won’t happen until the RBC Heritage the week after the Masters.

As for not getting past 36 holes in the last four tournaments, Landry did not seem overly concerned. “A lot of it is just golf and all that entails,” he said. “Some of it is how things work on the PGA Tour. It is tough out there. Some weeks you can play
well and miss the cut. Other weeks you don’t think you played well and you make the cut. For me, a big part of it has been putting.

“Between the poa annua greens on the West Coast and the worst greens I have ever putted at the Honda Classic, I just wasn’t getting the ball in the hole. You couldn’t tell it watching the Honda on TV, but the greens were dead grass they made look better with green sand. I three-putted the last hole to miss the cut by one shot.”

Landry said he has also been guilty of trying to force things a bit after his near miss in the CareerBuilder Challenge. He raised his own expectations after the second-place finish, wound up losing a big of patience and got away from the game plan that worked so well in La Quinta, California.

“I started pushing myself to try and make more birdies, and it worked against me. I just need to slow everything down and get back to the pace that works for me. Everything is going to be fine. The main thing is I am still set up to have a really big year. With where I am in FedEx points and money earned, the pressure is off.”

For now, then, it sounds like Andrew’s immediate challenge is going to be those dirty diapers.

CHIP SHOTS

McNeese State freshman Karlei Hemler rebounded strong, going from her worst tournament as a college player three weeks ago to her best. She finished tied for fifth in the UT Rio Grande Valley Invitational at McAllen Country Club on Tuesday closing with a 71. Earlier she had carded rounds of 79-73.

Hemler’s 54 hole total of 223 left her only four shots off the winning total of Texas State’s Sasikarn Somboonsup. It also helped McNeese to a fourth-place finish …

Braden Bailey, who had opened with 79-73, bounced back with a closing 67 Tuesday in the final round of the Querencia Cabo Collegiate in Los Cabos. The four-under-par score enabled the Baylor junior from Groves to finish tied for 36th at 219 and end a stretch of five consecutive rounds at 72 or higher.

Baylor, ranked No. 5 nationally, finished 13th in the event won by Oklahoma State with a team total of 14-under-par 838. Collin Morikawa of California took medalist honors ith a 16-under 197 …

Port Neches-Groves’ annual three-person scramble at Babe Zaharias was a huge success, with 22 teams and 49 hole sponsors participating. Ironically, the winning team with a 61 was the Nederland trio of Jadon Bell, Daniel Cormier and John Cormier. A new wrinkle for Mid-County Madness?

Closest to the pin winners were Chris Oliver on No. 7 and Richard Savoy on No. 15 …

The Monday Senior 50 Plus 2-ball game at Zaharias saw Russ Gloede of Port Arthur continue a recent tear of being the captain on winning teams. Gloede’s foursome that included Jeff Rinehart, Lee Bertrand and Charlie Leard won the front with minus-3. On the back, the team of Adam Noel, Ron Mistrot, Ronnie LaSalle and Tom LeTourneau placed first with minus 1 …

In the Monday Cooksey 2-ball at Zaharias, the team of Jim Huebel, Jerry Boudreaux, Bob Briggs and Ricky Meloncon tied the front in minus-3 and tied the back at minus-4.

Also at minus-3 on the front was the foursome of Johnny Page, Blaine Girouard, James Shipley and Alex Espinoza. Sharing the back with the Huebel team was the foursome of Robert Corbello, Paul Young, Larry Thompson and Scott Bryant …

The Saturday 2-ball at Zaharias saw the trio of Gloede, Adam Noel and Rick Pritchett win the front in minus-1 and tie the back at minus-2. Also at minus-2 on the back was the team of Mike Lansford, Randy Monk, Larry Foster and Cole Lee …

Gloede was also the leader of a sweep in the Friday Senior 2-ball at Zaharias. He teamed with Noel, Pritchett and Pete Reobroi to tie the front in even with Benny Sharpe, Tony Trevino, LeTourneau and Dan Flood. The Sharpe team won the back outright with minus-4 …

Format for the Thursday Senior Game at Zaharias was a 9/9 two-man best ball, scramble. Cap Hollier-Gary Fontenot won First Flight with a 71. In Second Flight, Leard-Art Miller placed first with a 78, edging Flood-Paul Duplantis by two strokes.

Closest to the pin winners were Fontenot (No. 2), Gloede (No. 7) and Harrell Guidry (No. 12) …

The team of Gary Hanan, Robert Stansbury, Leard and Flood won the Zaharias Wednesday DogFight with 16 points. Finishing second with 14 points was the foursome of Rodney Christman, Noel, Mike Rodgers and Duplantis.

Closest to the pin winners were Rodgers (No. 2), Rinehart (No. 7), Le Tourneau (No. 12) and Christman (No. 15).

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