ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — It wasn't quite the capsized cargo ship that has captured everyone's attention this week, but seeing Tim Herron's name climbing the leader board at the RSM Classic on Friday was an unusual sight in its own right.
Less than three months away from turning 50, Lumpy arrived at Sea Island with seven consecutive missed cuts and having posted one sub-70 round in past 15 starts dating back to 2018. On Friday, however, he looked like the player who won four times on the PGA Tour from 1996 to 2006, shooting a bogey-free 64 to move inside the top 20 heading into the weekend.
Making things even better for Herron? Having his 17-year-old son, Carson, on the bag.
“It’s been awesome," said Herron, who shot his lowest score on tour since a second-round 63 at the 2016 Barbasol Championship. "When it looked like I could get in this event, I asked him if he wanted me to pull him out of school and caddie or play in his junior tournament [in Orlando]. He elected to caddie and it’s been a great experience. At least the Herron family is going to make some money, right? I don’t know how much. You don’t get paid until you tap in on the last hole.”
And Carson, who holds a plus-one handicap, hasn't just been along for the ride. The elder Herron says Carson had to inform him he was looking at the wrong hole on the yardage book five times on Thursday.
"It's been really cool, and he trusts me," said Carson, who also caddied for his dad earlier this year in the Dominican Republic. "Most of the time."
Perhaps, Carson will wind up being the key ingredient Tim has missed in his career at this event. In six previous starts at Sea Island, he has three missed cuts and nothing better than a T-49. Not that he's been tearing it up anywhere. Herron hasn't had a top-25 finish in 18 months and he has just one top-10 in the past seven seasons.
"I’ve been looking for the promised land all summer," Herron said of joining the PGA Tour Champions when he turns 50 in February. "I just wanted to go out with a bang, and I could do it with my son, so how cool is that? Not many people can do that. It's been awesome. He’s had fun. He probably wants to play golf this afternoon so I have to get him to a golf course."
At this rate, the kid deserves whatever he wants.
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