England's David Skinns joined Sky Sports' Golf Podcast to reflect on the unusual route he took to get onto the PGA Tour ahead of this week's CJ Cup Byron Nelson; watch the CJ Cup Byron Nelson on Sky Sports Golf from Thursday, May 2 at 12.45pm, with full coverage from 9pm
Thursday 2 May 2024 06:05, UK
David Skinns had planned to return to Europe to pursue his golfing ambitions after graduating from the University of Tennessee. Returning to the USA after promised tournament invites failed to materialise proved one of the best things which could have happened in the long run, though.
Admittedly, it was exactly not the jump from the college ranks to PGA Tour stardom which the Englishman had dreamed of. Instead, he was invited onto the somewhat less-glamorous-sounding surroundings of the third-tier NGA Hooters Tour.
It could hardly have been a better grounding as a professional for Skinns, though, and looking back to those heady days in the late 2000s he is in no doubt about how much he owes his career to seizing that opportunity.
"One of the reasons I came back to America was I got a chance from the guy who owned the Hooters Tour," Skinns told the Sky Sports Golf Podcast. "He said I didn't have to go to the Q School based on my college career and gave me an opportunity to come play.
"It was run like a real tour, they had an operations truck there, they had pro-ams on the Wednesday each week, there was a bunch of different stuff on the side. I just timed it really well for when that tour was great and was able to team that with playing some good golf.
"Who knows what my career would have looked like if I wasn't able to do that, because I won enough money to keep my career going.
"It taught me how to win at this level, that first breakthrough was huge, and I won three times that year and it was able to keep me going."
Playing for a share of a $200,000 purse per event after paying around $800 to enter - "basically, glorified gambling" as Skinns describes it - with the winner getting $33,566 somewhat pales in comparison to the $9.5m (£7.59m) prize pot he and 155 others will be battling for at this week's CJ Cup Byron Nelson on the PGA Tour.
That money from three successful seasons on the NGA Hooters Tour, including a tour-leading $134,809 in his debut year, helped support him and his family through tough times on what is now the Korn Ferry Tour as he repeatedly tried and failed to earn a PGA Tour card.
Even when he did finally qualify for the top level in 2021, Skinns lasted just one season before dropping back down to the second tier. However, at 42 he is back again this year after finishing 12th on the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour points table.
Age may be just a number, but that did not stop Skinns being constantly reminded of it at The Players Championship in March when he became the oldest debutant in the 50-year history of men's golf's unofficial 'fifth major'. Fortunately, that did not detract from the experience at TPC Sawgrass.
"It's the best tournament I've ever played at," Skinns said. "It made me feel old; Everyone was talking about 'you're the oldest-ever rookie at The Players' and I was like, 'oh, that's cool; that's nice', but it was great.
"You play as a junior, a high-level amateur, a college player, and you see yourself going straight to that, but it didn't happen. There have been many practice sessions thinking, 'I'm never going to play a tournament like that', but it was slightly unexpected.
"I didn't know I was going to be in until a few days before, but it was great, and I felt like I did play pretty well that week. I got in my own way fairly significantly and overthought it a bit, and ended up missing the cut by one, but it was a great experience.
"It's just addictive playing tournaments like that. You want more of that quality of golf course and event. We'll see if we can find our way into some bigger events next year."
In typical Skinns fashion, the opening four months of his second season on the PGA Tour have been something of a microcosm of his entire career to date as four consecutive missed cuts to start the campaign were followed by him tying for fourth at the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches, having been tied for the lead going into the final round.
Since then, he has missed the cut just twice and tied for seventh at the Texas Children's Open, followed by he and compatriot Callum Tarren tying for 11th in the Zurich Classic team event last weekend.
That showing at the Cognizant Classic served to reinforce to Skinns that his approach is working and he will aim to showcase that again at TPC Craig Ranch this week.
"That was the shot in the arm I needed to know that if I do play well it will translate into results at some point," Skinns said.
"It was great to have that and a couple of weeks later in Houston I was in the mix. I felt I should have won that one but didn't quite get it done on 17 and 18.
"The first three or four months of the year, it has been more about getting over the hump of my best golf will translate out here if I stick to what works for me."
Watch the PGA Tour throughout the season live on Sky Sports! Early coverage of The CJ Cup Byron Nelson begins on Thursday from 12.45pm on Sky Sports Golf, ahead of full coverage from 9pm.
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