Nelson, Colonial are ‘home’ games for golfer Martin Flores
Home games are good, wins are better.
Martin Flores finally has a break-through victory on one level, a winner last season on the Web.com Tour, but still looking for that first win on the PGA Tour after 12 seasons as a professional.
Flores will start his ninth Byron Nelson Thursday and his fifth Colonial next week in the form of the Dean & DeLuca Invitational and the former Oklahoma Sooner is as even keel as he has been throughout his career.
“I feel great,” he said. “Being able to compete in front of friends and family is something I really enjoy.
“Being at home, I think is a little different in golf. I’ve got a great family and wife and they let me stay in my regular golf routine as much as I can. Early on in the week, I try to take care of any ticket requests and things like that, but every is very positive.”
Flores was the guest speaker at the Colonial Preview luncheon, hosted by the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, on Tuesday.
He said his regular routine seems to be paying off this season.
Flores spent 2016 on the Web.com Tour trying to earn back his playing privileges and picked up a win at the Lincoln Land Charity Championship last July.
The win, coupled with six other top 10 finishes, vaulted Flores to fifth in the money standings and $281,403 in earnings.
He started the 2016-17 PGA Tour campaign on solid footing, making four of his first five cuts before entering the west coast swing.
A 14th place finish at Pebble Beach, followed by a 10th place finish in Puerto Rico has helped Flores to $353,668 in prize money as well as 134th in the FedEx Cup standings.
According to Flores, though, nothing much is different in his game than when he started in 2005.
“I’m always just continuing to learn and try to get better every year, but sometimes you have ups and downs,” he said. “Everything is the same in my swing and I’m just trying to fine tune some things, but overall, things are about the same as far as shot shape.”
As far as other intangibles go, Flores is steadfast in his approach.
“I do like looking at things, statistics and what not, but I think those really just help me be a better feel player,” Flores said. “Stats kind of paint a picture of what’s real and I can just go from there and create shots.
“The sky’s the limit for me still and if I continue to work hard, keep learning and try to improve things, I think my career will go very well.”
This story was originally published May 16, 2017 at 3:00 PM with the headline "Nelson, Colonial are ‘home’ games for golfer Martin Flores."