Jim Roy and the Pure Joy of a Champions Tour Card

It is always a joy in life when good things happen to good people. As we prepare to give thanks on this wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, let me share with you the incredible feel-good story of Jim Roy (first player on the right), a man with a passion for golf who overcame the odds and has earned a full exemption to compete on the 2010 Champions Tour.

Jim Roy was one of the best players ever to play on a golf team at the University of South Florida. He ventured south from Syracuse, N.Y. in the late '70s, worked hard on his game and had a fine collegiate career.

He chased his dreams to the PGA Tour but like so many, had a very short stay.

They say life goes full circle. A month ago Roy sat amongst his former teammates at the USF golf team reunion outing in Tampa. For them, it has been 30 years. He told us he was going to the PGA Tour's qualifying school for the Champions Tour. He was doing it, well, because he has played well in amateur competition and could keep his amateur status is he didn't make it.

First and foremost, Jim Roy rates incredibly high on the "good guy" scale. Always has. He's the type of guy you want to pull for. These 30-some years since his USF days, he has always worked on his game when not spending time with his family.

Sons Kevin and Kyle are collegiate golfers, Kevin at Long Beach State, Kyle at the University of Tampa. Daughter Lauren can play but is making her mark a a high school basketball and lacrosse athlete. Wife Cheryl gives them all love and encouragement.

Last week, the improbable but incredible opportunity grabbed Roy by the collar of his golf shirt. He played his posterior off in the q-school finals at the TPC Scottsdale, shot 12-under for 72 holes despite a bogey on the 72nd hole. He would be in a three-man playoff for the fifth and final tour card.

You see, the Champions Tour is a closed shop. They only want name stars out there, for anyone else, the odds are huge. Every year a thousand guys aspire to that tour, a scant five spots are up for grabs.

So there was Jim Roy in the playoff. He hit a tee-shot rescue club then a 9-iron from 146 yards and it was a beauty, leaving him a six-foot putt for birdie on the first hole at TPC. Two pars by his competitors left opportunity standing square in front of him.

"I hit a perfect putt—unreal!" he recounted. The perfect putt won him a fully-exempt spot for 2010.

"I'm still numb," he told us this week as he prepares for Thanksgiving at home. He was bombarded with voice mails and text messages from the gang at his home club, Bellevue, in Syracuse.

He also heard from some guys you'd recognize: Brad Faxon, Jeff Sluman, and Joey Sindelar, all excited for him.

He's the kind of guy you'd be excited for.

He'll downplay the fact that he beat prostate cancer two years ago. "Found it in the early stages and got the appropriate treatment," he said, reminding us of those who are not as fortunate.

He'll spend this wonderful holiday with his family, giving thanks and he has so much to be thankful for.

Then he'll get down to Tampa and work with Kyle's golf coach, Rick Christie. "I worked with Rick for a week before the finals," he said. "I'll spend more time with him in December."

Christie is the teacher who formed the game of Wayne Levi, a New Yorker who was the 1990 PGA Tour Player of the Year. Christie is perhaps the best-kept secret in golf. His short, stocky stature and gruff voice make him golf's equivalent of Yoda, the Star Wars Jedi-Master.

Along with that work, Roy said the secret to his success in one word—patience .

"I had incredible patience. My expectations were realistic. I drove the ball in play, hit 44 of 51 fairways."

Impressive.

More impressive were the 17 greens he hit in that final round.

Patience?

Jim Roy has waited a LONG time for this opportunity.

"I just plodded along. I got a shot and well, like I said, I'm still numb."

You can add thankful to that as well.

"Totally," Roy said.