Jupiter's Olin Browne going back to q-school to stay on PGA Tour Champions

At 62, there was no doubt Olin Browne was going to go back to one of the most dreaded events in professional golf.

Q-school.

Those two syllables have produced many sleepless nights, horrible swings and trips to the sports psychologists’ office for pro golfers throughout the world. Yet Browne, being of sound mind and body, chose to subject himself to four days of pain.

“This is what I do, and I want to keep doing it,” Browne said Sunday while driving to Tampa to prepare for the PGA Tour Champions q-school that starts Tuesday. “This is my avenue to get back there on my terms.”

Never mind Browne has been to more than a dozen q-schools – all on the PGA Tour – and the Jupiter resident has made it through just once. That history can create more scar tissue than a half-dozen knee surgeries.

The odds aren’t in his favor this week – 78 players vying for five spots -- yet Browne never hesitated when it came to sending in his entry form. It was as simple a decision as going for a par-5 in two when you’re less than 200 yards out.

"Look, people work their entire life so they can retire and play golf,” Browne said. “I get to play golf for a living. Are you kidding me? I’ll do this for as long as I can. All the top guys on the regular tour say they won’t play the Champions Tour. Yet every single one of them comes out and plays.”

Problem is, when Hall of Famers such as Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and, soon-to-be Jim Furyk recently joined the 50-and-older circuit, that leaves less spots for older guys such as Browne.

Browne has managed to maintain full exempt status for more than a decade, but after finishing 64th on the money list during the two-year season, he’ll get into only a handful of events in 2022 without sponsor exemptions. He’ll write letters to tournament directors, of course, but would prefer to earn his way in.

“The thing about golf is you are beholden to your performance,” Browne said.

Browne isn’t doing it for the money. He has earned more than $16 million while winning three PGA Tour events and a couple of PGA Tour Champions titles, highlighted by the 2010 U.S. Senior Open. He is one of about a dozen players who have won titles on the PGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions and Korn Ferry Tour.

He’s doing it for the same reason Bernhard Langer is at courses practicing on Mondays, enabling him at 64 to win his sixth Charles Schwab Cup; why Vijay Singh hits more balls on the range than a college team; why Tom Kite goes to night thinking about the swing.

“I’ve done this for 40 years and I want to keep doing it,” Browne said. “This is what I do.”

Joining Browne at TPC Tampa Bay will be Stuart’s Ken Duke – also trying to improve his status after finishing 49th on the money list – Jupiter residents Tom Gillis (62nd) and Mark Mielke and Alan Morin of Royal Palm Beach.

Mielke and Morin earned spots in the finals after finishing in the top five in the recent PGA Senior Professional Championship at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie.

Other notables in the field include former PGA Tour winners Keith Clearwater, Jose Coceres, Carlos Franco, Harrison Frazar, Mark Hensby, Gabriel Hjertstedt, Jonathan Kaye, Neal Lancaster, Frank Lickliter and Paul Stankowski.

They all want what Browne has had for a dozen years: A chance to stay competitive at an age where most pro athletes only have memories of their greatness.

“In football, unless you’re Tom Brady, you’re done when you’re 35,” Browne said. “Basketball and baseball players are done by 40. Golf is the golden mulligan. It’s the only sport where you can see Hall of Famers compete at the highest level.

“Why would I want to leave that?”

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Jupiter's Olin Browne competing in PGA Tour Champions q-school in Tampa