Some Eight Years Later, Ty Tryon Finally Earns His First PGA Tour Check - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

One of the first golf posts on this here FanHouse had to do with one-time teenage phenom Ty Tryon, who, after a media flurry, went M.I.A. At 16, he became the second-youngest player to ever make the cut at a PGA Tour event. Five years later, he bombed Q-School, finishing 17-over (just missing the chance to advance to the next round by 27 strokes), and last March he was trying to find his game on the Hooters Tour.

Probably not exactly how he envisioned things working out. It gets better, though:

Having gotten in as a Monday qualifier ...Tryon shot 67-69-72-72 (tied for 37th) at the Nationwide Tour stop in Arkansas last week and earned his first check ($2,750) of any kind from a tournament associated with the PGA Tour. ... Now married with a child, he's continuing his golf pursuit and for assistance he's recruited his 22-year-old brother, J.J., to caddie for him. "He's basically free, except for all the food he eats," Tryon told reporters in Arkansas.

Tryon's now 24 and his brief stint in the limelight seems like a lifetime ago. The road to the PGA Tour is littered with stories of once-promising players losing their way for various reasons -- pressure, burnout, disinterest, whatever. Tryon's still a very long way from even getting a shot at earning his card, but finishing in the money, even at a Nationwide event, beats the hell out of teeing it up on the Hooters Tour. Well, unless you're John Daly.