Month 5 of the PGA Tour: The Adjustment Period Is Over

Now that I've been playing on the PGA Tour for several months, I feel like the adjustment period is finally over. I know that I can play at this level. I'd like to play better... but I no longer feel like I'm on the outside looking in. And I may not always know what's going on, but at least I look like I do (most of the time anyway).

Last week I decided to take stock in a number of things. I sat down with my caddy Josh and we finally looked at the schedule of tournaments for the rest of the year to do some scenario planning. Until now, our strategy has been mostly reactive -- It's been, get through one thing at a time and then ask, "OK, now what do we do?" We figured out a bunch of plan As, plan Bs, even plan Cs depending on how I finish in the rest of the year's tournaments and where I'll need to travel.

We also talked about how to work better together. Last week marked our one-year anniversary of working together. And I think Josh is finally comfortable enough with me to know that he can tell me exactly what he thinks and not worry about getting fired. Like when he gets fed up watching my short game and finally just says to me, "Man, we're going to the putting green. I can't watch this anymore." Thanks, Josh. Keep it coming.

Lastly, I checked in on my finances and where my investors stand. At the beginning of this year, I made what most business people would call a terrible financial decision. I didn't need any outside investors to pay for this year. I knew I was going to have enough money through my sponsorship deals alone. Even so, my group of investors was there when I had nothing and gave me a chance to live my dream. I decided that if I made it to the PGA Tour, I'd take them with me -- just for a year.

When I told my agent this, he said to me, "You realize financially this is not the best move, right?"

"Yes," I told him. "But it feels like the right thing to do."

"OK, no more questions asked," he said. "Well, actually, one more question -- can I invest?"

In four months, I've tripled my investors' money. And even if I had to do it over again, I still would have made the same decision. For me, this was an ethical decision -- not a financial decision.