Dutch Fork alum, former Gamecock Wesley Bryan set to return to tournament golf

Fourteen months later, after surgery and rehabilitation to repair a torn labrum, Wesley Bryan begins his trek back to the PGA Tour this week.

Bryan, who sparkled at Dutch Fork High and the University of South Carolina, will compete in the Korn Ferry Tour’s Panama Championship in the first of five warm-up opportunities before rejoining pro golf’s major league.

He journeyed to Panama “to find out” where his game is, he said in a pre-tournament interview. “I’m down here to get a little bit warmed up and see where the shoulder’s at. I would say it’s trending in the right direction.

“I’m pleased with the rehab process and I’m pleased with how I’m striking the golf ball. I’m excited to have the first-tee jitters; I haven’t had them in a while.”

Bryan won three Korn Ferry (then Web.com) tournaments in 2016 to earn a promotion to the PGA Tour. He sizzled early in 2017, a streak that including a victory in the RBC Heritage on Hilton Head Island, and finished the season ranked 41 st in the FedEx Cup standings.

His game struggled in the 2017-18 campaign and fell to 163rd in the season-long standings while trying to play through shoulder pain. He began 2018-19 with five straight missed cuts in the fall and finally underwent surgery in January 2019.

“I’m definitely down here to compete and the goal is always to win, but for the most part, we’ll see where we are emotionally and health-wise,” Bryan said. “If I play poorly, it’s not the end of the world, but I feel like the game is rounding into form.

“I don’t know if I’m healthy enough yet (to compete at a high level); that’s why I’m down here. I would say over the last month or so I’ve began to feel a little bit more comfortable. I’ve been able to have longer practice sessions and play on consecutive days, but trying to play four rounds with a normal practice routine is something I haven’t done yet.”

Once he returns to the PGA Tour, he will play on major medical extension and have 21 tournaments to accumulate 376 FedEx points, the number equal to the player who finished No. 125 on last season’s list, to regain fully exempt status.

He is obviously anxious to test his game in competition, but, he said, “the downside is that after 14 months with my wife (Elizabeth) and new daughter (Hadley), leaving to go play in a golf tournament is a little bit difficult.”

The Panama Championship is set for Thursday-Sunday with Korn Ferry events in Colombia and Florida on the following two weeks.