Hard work has taken Canada’s Silverman on ‘improbable’ path to PGA Tour

Ben Silverman has put in the work to climb nearly 1,000 spots in the Official World Golf Ranking since the end of 2016. Now he’s ready for a break. Silverman, from Thornhill, Ont., went through a whirlwind year both on the course and off in 2017. He and his wife Morgan welcomed a son - Jack Palmer Silverman - in July, and he won the first tournament he played in after becoming a father.

The 30-year-old’s victory at the Price Cutter Charity Championship propelled him into the top 25 on the Web.com Tour money list, earning him PGA Tour status for 2017-18.

In the five events of the PGA Tour’s Fall Series, he made the cut in four of them and notched two top-10 finishes, including last week at The RSM Classic in St. Simons Island, Ga.

Silverman admitted he couldn’t even remember where the PGA Tour played last week because of how much mental energy he had used up this past year.

“I was basically forcing myself each day to put every ounce of mental strength into it because after Sunday I knew I could just crash and let go. I was feeling completely exhausted,” he said.

Thanks to his recent results, he has moved up to sixth on the ranking of graduates from the Web.com Tour this year (from 49th), meaning there is a chance for him to get into even more tournaments next year.

He’ll play the first six events of the 2018 portion of the PGA Tour schedule with hopes of winning early and have the opportunity to take time off.