Beisser makes first career cut after sizzling 65

Last year, Benoit Beisser spent some time traveling the mini-tours with a friend, playing a handful of events on the Dakotas Tour (which travels through the Midwest).

Beisser said they had the time of their lives, putting over 3800 miles on the car and even teeing up balls in the middle of the highway on occasion.

Before this week, in seven years as a professional after graduating from Arizona State, Beisser had played a grand total of four PGA Tour-affiliated events - going 0-for-2 in cuts made on the PGA Tour, and 0-for-2 (both this year) on the Web.com Tour.

And after an opening 76 left him four back of the cut line, there was no reason for Beisser to think that this week would be any different. Especially considering he had never broken par on either the PGA Tour or Web.com Tour, and that he would need to shoot 5-under Friday to make the cut.

But despite Thursday's struggles, Beisser felt positive about his game, and it showed. The Arizona State product went out Friday afternoon and shot a bogey-free 7-under 65, vaulting up the leaderboard from T107 all the way into the top 25.

"I knew I had to do it," Beisser said. "I shot 4-over yesterday and I played good, I just had two bad swings. I knew if I eliminated that, I was playing good enough that I could get it going out here."

Beisser birdied five holes in a six-hole stretch from 12 thru 17, moving from three outside the cut line to well within it. So after seven years as a pro - currently playing the Gateway Tour - Beisser will earn his first-ever Web.com Tour paycheck here in Indiana.

"I made a good par on 11, kind of jump-started me again," Beisser said. "Then I just ran four off in a row, so I was like, 'alright, here we go'."

And if he had played a little better on Thursday, who knows? He might have attacked the course differently, without the mentality necessary to produce a 65. The tone was set early: after hitting 3-wood off the first tee Thursday, Beisser opted for the driver in round two.

"When you know you've got to shoot low, you take more chances," Beisser said. "I just went with the attitude, 'either score or go home'. Luckily, I scored."

Even though he found himself kicking the grass after learning about a scoring mishap. Leaderboards had Beisser down for a 9-under 63, displayed on the 'Hot Rounds' portion of the electronic leaderboard.

But still, far worse things could have happened. Saturday, Beisser will play on the weekend for the first time on the Web.com Tour - after many years of toiling in lower-level leagues, waiting for his chance to play bigger events and make an impact.

His conditional status on tour (earned through making it to the 2011 Q-School finals) had only earned him a spot in one event up to this point (he Monday qualified for another), and Beisser made it into this week's field by way of a sponsor exemption - given to the leading point winner of a three-event series on the Gateway Tour.

Beisser won two of the events, and here he is. Now he has a chance to guarantee a spot at the Utah Championship (in two weeks) with a top-25 finish here.

Not easy, sure. But he's within the top 25 now, and playing the weekend at Victoria National surely beats another week on the Gateway Tour (no offense to the Gateway Tour).

"Who knows what tomorrow will bring, but I'm happy with tonight, and I'm happy with how I've playing." Beisser said. "So I've just got to keep it going for the rest of the weekend."

Congratulations, Benoit. You deserve it.