Curtis Thompson

Those long shadows from which this long-hitting former Louisiana State University Tiger hopes to emerge belong to two of his biggest supporters: younger sister Lexi Thompson, one of the marquee players on the LPGA, and older brother Nicholas, who completed his seventh full season on the PGA TOUR in 2015. Curtis first earned full Web.com Tour playing privileges at Q-School in 2014 with Lexi and Nicholas on hand for moral support at PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. In his rookie season on the Web.com Tour, the former two-time Dixie Amateur champion wasn’t always successful (he made only 11 of 25 cuts), but he was always long. His 322-yard average during the regular season was tops on the bomber-friendly tour. Even though he posted a T6 early in the season at the Panama Claro Championship, it was not until August of last year that Thompson found his stride and took dead aim at salvaging his exempt status for 2016. He made a season-best four consecutive cuts that month. That card-saving stretch included a T10 at the Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper, a T13 at the News Sentinel Open presented by Pilot and a T4 at the WinCo Foods Portland Open presented by Kraft-Heinz. Thompson, a teammate of rising PGA TOUR star Smylie Kaufman, played those three tournaments in a combined 44 under par. The new year saw Thompson again find success at Panama Golf Club. His opening rounds of 66 and 64 underpinned his T3, which was his best finish on the Web.com Tour to that point.