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Former U.S. Amateur champ Doc Redman's runner-up at the Rocket Mortgage changes his career path in a 'major' way

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One break turned into another, which turned into another for Doc Redman at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, and suddenly the 21-year-old fledgling tour pro is facing a whole different reality than he was seven days earlier.

Redman, the 2017 U.S. Amateur champion, had been playing on the Mackenzie Tour in Canada this summer, but decided to enter the Rocket Mortgage’s Monday qualifier outside of Detroit. He shot a 62 and grabbed a spot in the inaugural PGA Tour event. Then, in just his eighth career tour start as a pro, Redman shot rounds of 68-67-67-67 that left him in solo second place.

“It’s awesome," Redman said. "It went by really quick. I was just trying to play well every day and I did that. It's awesome playing out here and I'm glad I get the opportunity to do that. … It hasn't sunk in, but in the next few hours it definitely will and it's a great feeling.”

While coming in six strokes behind the winner, Nate Lashley, Redman’s finish was significant on multiple fronts. With a top-10 showing, it earned him a place in the field at the PGA Tour’s 3M Open next week. And by being one of the two highest finishers at Detroit Golf Club, he also received a spot in the field at the Open Championship in July at Royal Portrush.

And by earning the equivalent of 300 FedEx Cup points, he now has 344 on the season, enough to earn him special temporary membership status on the PGA Tour. That allows him to receive an unlimited number of exemptions into tour events through the Wyndham Championship. And if he can get inside the No. 125 spot on the FedEx Cup list between now and then—344 is currently the equivalent of No. 109—he’ll secure a PGA Tour card for the 2019-’20 season.

The Open Championship spot is a sweet perk for Redman, who by virtue of winning the 2017 Amateur at Riviera, earned the right to play in the Masters, U.S. Open and Open Championship the following year. Redman played in the Masters, where he missed the cut, but chose to turn pro instead of remain an amateur and use the other two exemptions. He now gets his first crack at playing in the Open overseas in three weeks in Northern Ireland.

“I didn't even think about that, but I can't wait,” Redman said. “I've never been over there. It's going to be an awesome experience and I can't wait to see how it is.”

Of course, there was one other perk from the week in Detroit. The runner-up check was worth $788,400. Not bad when you consider that when he was second in the Mackenzie Tour’s Bayview Place Open in June, he made C$21,600.