Southwest Florida golf pros Evan Bowser and Jeremy Wells will compete in 2024 PGA Championship

The 2024 PGA Championship tees off Thursday with a collection of the game’s biggest luminaries battling it out at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.

Playing alongside them will be Evan Bowser and Jeremy Wells, a pair of Southwest Florida pros who qualified for golf’s second major of the season at the recent PGA Professional Championship on the strength of clutch performances during the event’s final round.

The 29-year-old Bowser, the first assistant pro at LaPlaya Golf Club in Naples, will be making his debut at the PGA Championship. The former Oakland (Mich.) University golfer played on the PGA TOUR Canada from 2017-19, competing in 34 tournaments.

“I’m looking forward to just playing where Tour players play and seeing how I stack up against them,” said Bowser, a Naples resident. “I want to just enjoy a great weekend and a great golf course.”

This is the second consecutive PGA Championship appearance for Wells, the director of player development at Cypress Lake Golf Club in Fort Myers. The 33-year-old Estero resident competed at Oak Hill in Rochester, N.Y., shooting 74-78 in the first two rounds to finish 12-over and miss the cut.

Wells is hoping for a better showing this time around at Valhalla and said he learned some valuable lessons from his first PGA Championship experience last year.

“I was definitely just out there a little too much before the event last year,” he said. “I played a few too many practice holes and hit a few too many balls. But it’s tough not to be there when you have an opportunity to practice next to Rory McIlroy or, this year, Tiger Woods.

“The most important thing to me this year is to be hitting the ball well and to be ready to play some good golf on Thursday morning.”

Good golf would actually be a downgrade from what Bowser and Wells played two weeks ago on the final day of PGA Professional Championship to punch their tickets to Valhalla. Each entered the final round at Fields Ranch at PGA Frisco in Frisco, Texas outside of the top 20, the cutoff for an automatic berth into the PGA Championship. With windy conditions playing havoc on the demanding course, both managed to card their best performances of the event, with Bowser shooting an even-par 72 and Wells a 2-under 70 to finish in a tie for eighth place at 4-over.

“It was playing so difficult and so challenging, my mindset was that par is a great score,” said Bowser, who was even through 11 holes and managed to offset three bogeys on the back nine with a trio of birdies over the final five holes. “You just have to be solid on a course like this and that’s what I was.”

Wells, meanwhile, thought he played himself out of contention following an 80 in the third round. But once the day concluded, he found himself just three shots outside of the qualifying score.

“Mathematically, I knew if I shot par or better I’d have a really good chance at qualifying and that was a very good feeling,” Wells said. “So even though I had just played a poor round, it was just a matter of regrouping, getting rest, waking up, preparing and doing the same thing again.”

Wells opened with bogeys on two of his first three holes before consecutive birdies but rebounded with consecutive birdies. After 12 holes he was inside the qualifying number and “then it was a matter of hanging on for dear life coming in.” Wells did just that, carding pars on the final six holes to secure his place in the PGA Championship.

“It was extremely difficult but I was able to play my best golf and execute at the highest level when it mattered most.”

Bowser and Wells, who are friends and occasional playing partners, also got a moment to congratulate one other following the round. Bowser, who was making his club pro debut, matched Wells’ 2023 feat of qualifying for the PGA Championship in his first year of eligibility.

“It was cool to see him after and see the emotions and the excitement, which I was certainly feeling too,” Wells said of Bowser. “But to see him experiencing it for the first time and being run through all the interviews and pictures … it was fun to watch him do that and then give him a hug.”

Bowser said he’ll have a group of about a dozen family members and friends with him at the PGA Championship, including a lucky quartet that also made the trip to Frisco: wife Meghan, father Brett, LaPlaya general manager Alan Findley, and Bowser’s sister Elayna, who is also his caddie.

“I’d like to think I’ll make 10 more (PGA Championships) or even more but I also know it’s very possible this could be my only one so I’ll definitely try and enjoy every part of it,” Bowser said. “I know it’s probably the biggest tournament I’ll ever play in but in the end it’s just golf, no different than what I’ve been doing my entire life.”

Wells will also have about a dozen supporters in Kentucky, including his wife Melissa, son Mason, age 7, and daughter Chloe, age six. He’ll also have a different caddy in Spencer Kushner, his former college roommate and golf teammate at William and Mary. Kushner will be filling in for Wells’ regular caddy, Cypress Lake Golf Club member Chris Black, who will be celebrating his daughter’s high school graduation this weekend.

“Overall I know what’s important and what’s not as important to pay attention to when I’m out there,” Wells said. “For me, it’s super exciting that my kids get to watch me play in a major championship two years in a row. I know we’re making great memories for them.”

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: 2024 PGA Championship: Evan Bowser of Naples and Jeremy Wells of Fort Myers in field