Matt Atkins revealed the life-changing importance of his performance at the RSM Classic, after the Korn Ferry Tour player made three birdies in his final three holes to dramatically make the cut in his first PGA Tour event in nearly four years.
Atkins, who admitted he was on the brink of quitting golf when he Monday qualified for the final Tour event of 2023, was staring a heartbreaking exit in the face midway through his Friday round.
After a one-under-par first round, the 32-year-old looked set to miss the four-under-par cut mark after just one birdie through his first 15 second-round holes. But the American summoned a superb finish - with birdies on each of his last three holes - to make the cut by one shot.
"This week was a huge opportunity for me Monday qualifying. I just didn't want to let it slip by, but I tried to just tell myself even if -- even if it's meant for you to just play and enjoy the experience, you have to be satisfied with that," Atkins reflected after the round.
“We can at least pay our bills the next couple of months.”Monday qualifier Matt Atkins was emotional after making the cut @TheRSMClassic.He reflects on past struggles and on why he's playing for something bigger than himself. https://t.co/ySWRSNxmRN pic.twitter.com/WM1YsKxeWQNovember 17, 2023
"So it was an awesome finish, an awesome way to finish the day. I'm just super thrilled to be playing the weekend and see what kind of opportunities come the next couple days.
"Financially [I] was in a position where paying bills was going to be almost impossible. So getting into the event was an opportunity, but making the cut and making a check, we can at least pay our bills for the next couple months."
A conditional Korn Ferry Tour member, Atkins missed out on advancing in Tour Q-School by one stroke. He has struggled this year on the developmental Tour - registering just two top-20 finishes in 2023 - but said leaning back on his faith in recent weeks has provided a renewed sense of perspective on the golf course.
"I took a big leap of faith trusting in the Lord a couple weeks ago and I told my wife I couldn't have been more confident in the decision I made," he added.
"We had been praying for just clarity and just direction on what to do, and discernment. This week was an unknown after I qualified, but I think the Lord has shown, Matt, this is where you're supposed to be, stop playing for yourself and for worldly things, just glorify me.
"And with our life, where everything's at in a personal matter, it's the first time I would say that, not that I broke down but that I was fully like, OK, God, I can talk the talk, it's time to walk it.
"Having that faith doesn't mean that I was going to play well this week or that I was going to qualify, it just means that I'm going to follow Him wherever He wants me to go. This qualifying here, making the cut is Him, I think, pointing me in that direction of this is where I want you.
"So that's what I'm playing for this week. My goal is to get back out full time on the Korn Ferry or out here, to not slip back into the selfish nature that is within all of us that, because golf's very individual, it's very performance based and, you know, you can't -- there's nothing you can do performance-wise that makes you good enough.
"My hope is that moving forward I wouldn't fall back into that, that I would just work for the Lord and that He would be satisfied with what I'm doing glorifying him and not making it about me anymore."
Atkins sits six shots off the leader Ludvig Aberg (-11) heading into the weekend. Denny McCarthy, Sam Ryder and Eric Cole are one further back on -10.
