golf
EYES ON THE PGA PRIZE
His ultimate goal is the 2020
PGA Championship, scheduled for
May 14-17 at Harding Park in San
Francisco. By earning the top-20
finish at this year’s PGA Professional
Championship (PPC) needed to
qualify for the PGA Championship,
he has earned an exemption into next
year’s PPC, in April in Austin, Texas.
“For me, this season is just starting
to get rolling again, and I look for-
ward to the challenges ahead,” says
Hall, whose next big tournament is
the 104th Met Open on Aug. 20-22
at Piping Rock in Locust Valley,
N.Y. “And it’s a nice weight off my
shoulders knowing that I’m already
into the PPC next year.”
It’s especially beneficial because
Hall is experiencing pain in his right
shoulder that could require surgery.
Pending the outcome of an MRI, the
6-foot-2, 185-pound right-hander
might need to cut short his season
26
BACK TO SCHOOL 2019 WAYNE MAGAZINE
and undergo a surgery that requires
six or seven months of rehabilitation.
“If I wait till the season’s over, in
November, I’m going to miss the PPC
next year and my shot at the PGA,”
Hall says. “So, I’ll be facing some
tough decisions pending the results
of the arthrogram. But my fingers
are crossed.”
HIS FAMILY IS THERE FOR HIM
Hall has a strong support system
to help work through hard times.
His parents, Larry and Kay, were
there for him in May at the PGA
Championship at the famed Bethpage
State Park Black Course, and there
again in July at the State Open.
So was his wife, Brianna, with
whom he has two daughters:
Finley, 4, and Prestyn, born in
October.
“That, to me, is the best distraction
in the world,” Hall says. “I’ve got
my family to come home to, so that
makes the tough days really not so
tough.”
For several years, Hall has battled
through those tough days with
the help of a sports psychologist,
Dr. Nick Molinaro.
“He’s been so good because he
gets me into the right frames of
mind,” Hall says. “He tells me where
to focus my energy and where not
to focus my energy. For me, it’s all
about having faith and trust, and
it’s having faith in something – and
there’s really no proof when it comes
to faith.
“But you just have to have the
faith, and the faith that I have in
myself is that I’m going to do well,
and that I’m going to find my mojo
at some point and it’s going to come
back. And I can trust in that because
I have a history, and I’ve done well in
the past, so I know that it’s there and
not reaching for something that’s not
there.” ■
THE CHAMP IS HERE Wayne resident Tyler Hall (right) poses with his father, Larry Hall, after winning the 95th New Jersey State Open Championship at
Rockaway River Country Club in Denville in 2015.