Brendon Todd's perseverance finally pays off

Patrons might do a double take at the Par-3 Contest when they see the two Georgia golfers paired with fellow Bulldog Brian Harman.

Brendon Todd and Chris Kirk bear a keen facial resemblance, often getting confused for one another. But the similarities of the four-year college roommates ends there.

“Couldn’t find two more opposite guys. Great friends, but way opposite,” said Jim Douglas, a longtime Georgia assistant coach. “Kirk doesn’t know whether the sun’s coming up tomorrow and BT will tell you what minute it’s coming up. BT is meticulous and does everything right and works hard. It would fry him that Kirk would come out here in flip-flops and beat him.”

They were the ultimate collegiate odd couple – “the Kite and Crenshaw of their era,” said UGA coach Chris Haack.

“They complimented each other perfectly,” Haack said of his two first-team All-Americans who helped lead the Bulldogs to the 2005 NCAA Championship.

“We have similar interests but totally different golf mentalities,” Todd said. “I’m pretty organized and try to check all the boxes and do all the work. Chris stays pretty confident without always practicing.”

Todd’s meticulous work got him off to the better pro start when they both played the Nationwide Tour in 2008. Todd won in Utah that year and finished 19th on the money list to gain his PGA Tour card.

As a rookie, however, Todd tried to incorporate some swing changes to gain efficiency and distance. The changes, however, had the opposite effect as he missed 16 of 21 cuts, including 10 in a row to lose his card at the end the 2009 season. He wasn’t the guy who earned the nickname “Grease” at Georgia for his knack of always getting out of any situation and coming out on top.

“It was pretty grueling. It was miserable, really,” Todd said. “Once I started missing some cuts in 2009, I realized the adjustments we had made really weren’t going right and then the search to get back where I was was a long one. It took me about a year and a half before I really got back.”

That’s a lesson Todd has willingly shared with successors at Georgia.

“Gave them advice – don’t change what makes you successful,” Haack said. “It took him one year to lose it and five years to get it back.”

Todd said he’s better for it now, but the process wasn’t ideal.

“You’ve got to evolve. Nobody stays the same and dominates or moves up in the game without getting better,” he said. “You’ve just got to make sure the adjustments you are making are the right ones and you do it gradually.”

Todd missed the cut in all 13 Nationwide Tour events he entered in 2010 and three more to start 2011 to extend his missed cut streak to 26 over three seasons.

“During certain stretches when you’re missing cuts you wonder if you’re ever going to get back out there,” Todd said. “I never lost the dream and never lost the desire to go out and work hard and never lost the confidence that I’d win out here.”

At the end of 2011, he won the final stage of PGA Tour Q school. He eked out conditional status with top-150 finishes for two years as his results grew more consistent before earning his breakthrough victory in 2014 at the HP Byron Nelson Championship.

“So seven years after graduating college to finally get that win was really gratifying,” Todd said. “It was one of those weeks where I put a lot of hard work in the week before at the Players, where I was the first or second alternate and didn’t get in the field. When I showed up in Dallas I put in a lot of preparation and my game was feeling good.”

Todd was inundated with texts and calls from Georgia teammates thrilled that he’d joined them in the winner’s circle and ultimately the Masters. There was a sense of mutual inspiration.

“Whenever you see your friends who you played well against your whole life succeed, you know you can do it, too,” Todd said. “Everybody knew I was capable of it. It was just a matter of time.”

Todd looks forward to playing practice rounds at Augusta National with his mates and the Par-3 Contest with Kirk and Harman. But the five advance trips to Augusta before the tournament mean he’s applying his organizational skills to prepare for more than just a cameo appearance.

“My goal is to contend there,” Todd said. “I’ve played the course plenty of times and my practice will be good. My first go around most of the tracks on tour were a little struggle. I know I’ll have a couple of moments that week that are going to surprise me and I’ll probably have to rally hard that week. But I know I can play there.”