This former Ryder Cupper has Monday qualified into this week’s PGA Tour event

PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida — It’s been a long road back for former U.S. Ryder Cup member Jeff Overton, but the Palm Beach Gardens resident will have a short drive this week to continue that journey.

Overton was one of three players to earn a spot in this week’s Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches when the 40-year-old Monday qualified with a 6-under 66 at the Tesoro Club.

“It feels great, but it will feel even greater if I can continue this thing,” said Overton, who was sidelined from the game for five years with a serious infection after back surgery in 2017.

“I feel like I’ve been playing really good golf lately. The game of golf is so competitive; there’s so many great players. It’s really hard to get an opportunity anymore.”

Starting on the Palmer Course’s 10th hole, Overton opened with a birdie and eagled the par-5 16th hole to make the turn at 3-under. He added three birdies and a bogey on the front nine to move to 5-under heading to the par-4 ninth hole.

“I told my caddie, Miguel Rivera, ‘We got to get to 6 (under),’ ” Overton said. “I hit my little cut driver, the ball went about 10 feet off the ground and rolled to wedge distance. I flipped it from 125 yards to 8 feet and made the putt in the middle of the cup.”

The birdie enabled Overton to avoid a playoff between seven players for the final two spots. Also earning starts in the Cognizant Classic were former PGA Tour winner Robert Garrigus, who had a bogey-free 65, three-time U.S. Open participant Chris Crawford (66) and Canadian Michael Gligic (67), who won a six-for-one playoff that was extended to Tuesday morning.

Overton had a career season in 2010 when he compiled three runner-up finishes and a pair of thirds to finish 12th on the PGA Tour’s money list with more than $3.5 million. Overton also had an 11th-place finish in the 2010 British Open, his best showing in a major.

That performance earned Overton a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team, at the time joining teammate Rickie Fowler as the only U.S. players to compete in the Ryder Cup without a PGA Tour victory. Overton, who became known for yelling “Boom Baby” after he holed a shot from the fairway during the third round of matches, went 2-2 in Wales as the Americans lost a heartbreaking 14 ½-13 ½ decision to the Europeans.

Overton has a history of strong finishes on PGA National’s Champion Course, home to the Cognizant Classic. He was T6 in 2012, T7 in 2015, T9 in 2009, T18 in 2012 and T21 in 2016. He also won his only notable junior tournament on the Champion during the 2001 Optimist International.

“My dad drove me 17 hours to that tournament because he believed in me,” said Overton, who grew up in Evansville, Ind. “I have a lot of good memories there.”

After not playing on the PGA Tour from 2017-22 because of the back “issue,” as he called it, this week’s tournament will be only his sixth start on the PGA Tour since his return. He played last year on the Korn Ferry Tour.

“The game is there,” Overton said. “I just have to get my health back.”

The best showing by an amateur Monday was Austin Lemieux, the son of NHL legend Mario Lemieux, who had a 4-under 68 to miss the playoff by a shot.

Also with 68s were Seminole Golf Club head professional Matt Cahill, Ryan Armour of Jupiter and PGA Tour Champions member Gene Sauers, 61, who double-bogeyed his final hole.