He finished in 39th place out of 47 golfers but the key word in that statement for Ken Green is the word “finished.”
Green, the former Danbury resident and five-time winner on the PGA Tour, shot a 6-over-par 77 in Sunday’s final round of the Coors Light Open at the Fort Myers Country Club. Stapled together with his opening round 2-over-par 73, Green’s 8-over 150 total was something to celebrate.
“It’s kind of way over my potential at this point,” Green told the Fort Myers News-Press. “It (the wind) was howling, which makes it virtually impossible to control your distance. You can’t, which makes it that much harder to hit those little things.”
Green, who lost the lower part of his right leg in an RV accident last June, is attempting to become the first golfer to return to the professional ranks with a prosthetic leg.
Nolan Henke played with Green on the PGA Tour dating back to the early-‘90’s and told the News-Press he was amazed with Green’s progress after Saturday’s first round.
“He’s trying to make it work. Give him all the credit,” Henke told the News-Press. “Two-over par out here, in this wind, that’s pretty good playing.”
Green told the newspaper that he won’t play competitively again until he makes his 2010 Champions Tour return, playing with Mike Reid in the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf on April 23-25 in Savannah, Ga.
“I’ve hit enough quality shots that I’m definitely going to play with him,” Green said. “The putter is still with me. I haven’t lost that. The big guy was kind enough to leave that for me.”
And as for completing the 36-hole tournament?
“I’m happy. I finished. I did break 80, and I don’t think I finished last, so I’m happy. It’s a good start. Baby steps are baby steps. There’s a reason they came up with that saying. That’s what I have to do,” Green told the News-Press. “It’s (the game) out there. It’s close,” he said. “It all depends on what my buddy (his leg) wants to do. If he can be calm for a month or so, I can make that jump.”
