PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. -- Jason Allred made more money Sunday afternoon than he has his entire professional career.
He was unaware until it was brought to his attention after his final round in the Northern Trust Open, a round in which he shot 68 to finish tied for third for his highest career finish on the PGA Tour. The only reaction he could even get out was simply, "That's funny."
The former Pepperdine golfer is only now starting to realize what he accomplished. Allred's journey has been a long one and the success he's seen has only been minimal until this week. He Monday qualified, as he is now forced to because of only having conditional status on the Web.com Tour, and once he got in was more focused on having a good time than finishing high.
The happiest man in Los Angeles all week was chatting up volunteers, fans, Pepperdine alums and even thanked the media for talking to him, telling the tournament's media coordinator Laura Neal that it was so much fun.
"No one has ever told me that," Neal said, with the emphasis on the ever.
WOW MT @jillpainter Allred doubled his @pgatour winnings. His tie for 3rd @NTrustOpen was good for $388K. He previously won $352K in career
— Northern Trust Open (@NTrustOpen) February 17, 2014
"I don't think I'm a smart enough guy to put into words how much fun I had," Allred said. "Riviera, is such an amazing, special place. I praise god that for whatever reason, despite me, my tendency to try so hard to do so well, I was just able to really enjoy it and I felt peaceful."
It's been a dream of his to be on Tour and win on Tour since he began playing the same. Allred notes that he never gave up on that dream and he never gave up on himself. This performance could be one that validated the belief in himself.
"I still had a belief in me but sometimes it feels like it's still a long way off," Allred said. "This is still pretty fresh but it means a ton. I guess it shows me that I can do it. It makes that dream a little more real which is really special."
His wife Kimberly is due with their third child in two weeks. However, Allred got into the Honda Classic but it's coincides with her due date. It's a difficult decision he now must make - his conditional status on the Web.com Tour does not gain him entry into much and the Tour's Latin American series doesn't have qualifying tournaments.
There is no promise that he will get into any other PGA Tour events this season.
"I'm far from a perfect husband and dad but I try to make my family my priority all the time," Allred said. "I don't think I'd miss my child being born for anything but who knows, maybe we can do both."
Northern Trust Open: Final Round recap
How the rest of the locals fared
Two Orange County-area players in Cameron Tringale and Brendan Steele quietly put together two of the best performances of the week.
Steele, the former UC Riverside Highlander, shot a 69 Sunday to finish 9-under and tied for 10th, his second top-10 finish of the season.
Mission Viejo's Tringale was up near the lead for much of the fourth round but a disastrous back nine dropped him to T12, 8-under. Tringale eagled hole one to start off the day, his third eagle of the week, and was 3-under on his front nine. But he bogeyed four of the first six holes on the back before managing a birdie on 17 to finish with a 71.
Allred's Pepperdine teammates Jason Gore and Michael Putnam finished tied for 59th and in a solo 74th, respectively.
