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With PGA Tour card on the line, David Skinns withdraws from Albertsons Boise Open after wife goes into labor
Steve Dykes
There's being a family man, and then there's what England's David Skinns did with a PGA Tour card on the line on Saturday at the Web.com Tour's Albertsons Boise Open.
Skinns, 35, got into the Web.com Tour finals for the first time in his career this season thanks to his T-2 finish at the WinCo Foods Portland Open in late August. After missing the cut at the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship, the first event of the finals, Skinns came out strong in Idaho, opening with rounds of 69 and 66 to get to seven under for the tournament. At the end of 36 holes, that was good enough for T-9.
If he had two more low rounds over the weekend, low enough to finish inside the top-5, Skinns could have earned his PGA Tour card, something the journeyman has never done. He's played in just three PGA Tour events in his career, missing two cuts and tying for 29th at the 2014 Puerto Rico Open.
Even with a potentially life-changing weekend ahead of him, family came first for Skinns, who withdrew on Saturday morning to head home to Georgia and be with his wife:
While it certainly hurts to miss on a big chance like this, Skinns will still have two more opportunities to earn his card at the DAP Championship and Web.com Tour Championship the final two weeks of September.
It's not the first time we've seen family come first for a professional golfer this season. Phil Mickelson made headlines when he skipped the U.S. Open at Erin Hills, the only major he's yet to win, to be at his daughter's high school graduation. Then there was Martin Piller, who also put his PGA Tour hopes on hold to be with his wife Gerina at the Solheim Cup.