Thornberry turns pro, authors heartfelt letter to Rebel Nation

December 14, 2018 | by AmateurGolf.com Staff

Braden Thornberry (Ole Miss Athletics/Twitter photo)

Braden Thornberry will go down as the winningest golfer in Ole Miss history as he moves on to a professional career.

Another top amateur is headed to the professional circuit, but it doesn’t come as much of a surprise.

Ole Miss standout Braden Thornberry, a former NCAA individual champion and Haskins Award winner, made his plan forward very clear as he entered the final stage of Web.com Tour Qualifying earlier this month. He would turn pro immediately should he finish inside the top 40 and ties and earn some level of status for 2019. Anything less would require some thinking.

Related: The 2017 AGC Men's Player of the Year: Braden Thornberry

Roughly a week after finishing T-74 at the final stage, and thus earning only conditional Web.com Tour status, Thornberry authored a lengthy open letter to “Rebel Nation” to post on the school’s web site announcing his decision to turn professional anyway. He will forfeit his final semester of eligibility to do so.

In the letter, Thornberry explains “why now.” The answer is long and genuine, and reveals a deep love for the game. In short, as Thornberry says, “There's nothing quite like the college golf experience.”

Well guys, it's time! It's time for me to become a professional golfer!

Here's my letter to #RebelNation 👇https://t.co/yeSSNClZvG pic.twitter.com/KxmqL2Wl1w
— Braden Thornberry (@tberrygolf) December 14, 2018

Thornberry goes down as the winningest player in the Ole Miss record books with his 11 individual titles, and won the Jones Cup and Sunnehanna Amateur in 2017 on his way to earning a Walker Cup bid. His forays into professional golf indicate that success could follow at the next level.

In the letter, he also indicated that he will continue to make his home out of Oxford, Miss., where Ole Miss is located.

.@NCAA National Champion ✅
1⃣1⃣ 🏆's (Most in school history)@TheHaskinsAward Winner ✅
McCormack Medal Winner ✅
2⃣x All-American ✅@ArnoldPalmerCup Winner ✅@WalkerCup Winner ✅

Every golfer's dream.

Congrats @tberrygolf! We'll be rooting for ya at the next level. pic.twitter.com/Hd5HcwgAKE
— Ole Miss Men’s Golf (@OleMissMGolf) December 14, 2018

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