He’s on top of the FedEx ranking. This is the story of how he got there—told through the eyes of his father, Tim

By Stan Olenik. Editor-Publisher. The Golf Club

You could hear a pin drop in the Bridgeman living room.

Tim and Angie sat just a few feet from the television, but they might as well have been walking along the ropes at the Genesis Invitational with their son Jacob. Angie could hardly breathe. Tim didn’t say a word. Every shot, every swing, every bounce felt like it was happening right in front of them.

As the final holes unfolded, Tim Bridgeman could only watch. Now it was up to Jacob.

Tim introduced Jacob to the game the way most parents do—plastic clubs in the yard, short swings and shorter holes. At first, Jacob wasn’t even allowed to hit a driver.

It wasn’t about how far he could hit it. It was about learning how to play.

One day at Village Greens, Tim finally let him try a wood on a short par three over water. Jacob flushed it. The ball tracked toward the hole, drawing cheers from around the green before stopping just short.

“Everybody else thought it was great,” Tim said.  “Jacob didn’t. He wanted it to go in.”

That told his father just about everything he needed to know.

There was never any need to push him. Jacob was already moving.

Like most kids in Spartanburg County, he played everything.

“There really wasn’t anything he wasn’t good at,” Tim said. “He could’ve picked anything—heck, he was even really good at fishing.”

Because baseball and golf shared the same seasons, there had to be a choice. Tim didn’t make it for him.

“We talked about it,” he said. “You really can’t do both. It was his decision—and he picked golf.”

And once he made it, there was no looking back.

Bridgman at the Masters

Jacob Bridgeman began play in his first Masters narrowly avoiding a disaster, Bridgeman finished second in the Par-3 tournament played before the start of the tournament.

By not winning the Par 3 tournament, the Clemson grad keeps his chances of winning a green jacket alive.

No player who has won the Par-3 tournament has ever gone on to win the Masters the same year.

Like most junior golf journeys, it became a family commitment. His mother, Angie, a math teacher, made sure his growth on the course was matched by his academics and social development. She also made sure he got to Monday tournaments and helped mold the gracious, humble winner Jacob was from the start — first in his own age group, and then as he began to “play up.”

When he didn’t win, or when he didn’t play to his own expectations, the disappointment was easy to see. The ride home could be quiet.

“We never talked about golf,” Tim said. “We’d talk about other things—or nothing—but not golf.”

That approach gave Jacob something more valuable than instruction. It gave him space. Space to grow into his game without feeling like he had to live up to someone else’s expectations.

But as his game grew, Tim Bridgeman knew it was time to step back.

And he knew just who to call.

“I’ve known Tommy Biershenk forever,” Tim said. “I asked him to take a look at Jacob and give me an honest evaluation—see if he could help him move on. He was at the point he needed a professional.”

Biershenk had walked the same path—junior golf, Clemson, professional golf—and understood both the opportunity and the pitfalls that came with talent.

When the two first got together, it didn’t take long to see what was there.

“It was pretty easy to tell,” Biershenk said. “He had a good foundation. I told Tim right away, ‘You’ve got something here.’”

After a few sessions, Biershenk saw something small in Jacob’s swing—nothing major, but something that could be better.

“We worked on it,” he said. “And once he trusted it, he started winning—and he won a bunch.”

That was the pattern.

See it. Fix it. Trust it. Win.

Their relationship went beyond instruction, building trust as much as it built a swing.

And the results followed.

Bridgeman kept winning—including three straight state championships—but wasn’t always the name drawing attention.

Biershenk changed that with a phone call to his old college coach, Larry Penley.

“I got to tell the truth,” Penley said. “When Tommy called me and asked if I was recruiting Jacob, I didn’t know who he was talking about.”

That didn’t last long.

Biershenk urged him to go watch. Penley made the trip to the Jimmy Self tournament in Greenwood planning to stay one day.

He stayed for two.

“I watched him the first day and fell in love with him as a player,” Penley said. “I came back the second day to watch him again.”

What stood out wasn’t just the scores.

It was control.

“The amazing thing about Jacob was his short game,” Penley said. “He always believed he was going to make every putt—and most of the time, he did.”

By then, the player Biershenk had seen early on was becoming harder to miss.

The wins were coming. The confidence was there.

Now it was time for the next step.

Other coaches began calling, but the message at home never changed.

“Look, we’re Tigers,” Tim Bridgeman said. “But it was Jacob’s decision—not ours.”

After a visit to Clemson, Jacob was ready to commit.

He just needed an offer.

Word reached Penley that South Carolina was ready to make its move.

He didn’t wait.

“You know, Larry got a pretty good deal,” Tim said with a laugh. “Jacob’s academics were so strong, he didn’t cost the program much scholarship money.”

Jacob Bridgeman was going to Clemson.

At Clemson, Penley saw what he expected to see.

A talented player. A smart player.

And a skinny kid who still had some growing to do.

There were no shortcuts.

Workouts. Practice. Structure.

He grew into his body, into the program, and into the expectations that came with it. He excelled in the classroom and on the course.

By the time he graduated, he had set a program record for rounds in the 60s and tied Clemson greats DJ Trahan and U.S. Amateur champion Chris Patton with five career victories.

As a senior, he won the ACC individual title in a playoff and finished second in the PGA TOUR University standings, earning status on the Korn Ferry Tour.

He had accomplished what he came there to do. 

He  got a jump start to his professional career when he open qualified into the Rex Hospital Open in Raleigh.

Jacob needed a caddy—and Tommy Biershenk was there.

“It had been awhile since I’d huffed it for four days,” Biershenk said. “But I grabbed the bag and caddied for him.”

Bridgeman opened with rounds of 67 and 66 for a top-30 finish.

The next week, back home in the Upstate at the BMW, he challenged for the lead before finishing fifth.

It was another step.

After his second year on the Korn Ferry Tour, he earned his PGA TOUR card. He belonged.

In his second time around the TOUR, he showed what was coming—a runner-up finish and a third-place finish that put him in contention and gave him a chance to learn what it takes to close.

He was close again.

And that had always meant something.

Bridgeman got married in December.

Haley became Jacob’s primary support system, and the family took a step back, allowing the two of them to build their own life.

“That’s the way it should be,” Tim said. “This is their life now.”

At the same time, another decision followed.

To reach the next level, Bridgeman needed a different kind of support—someone who traveled the PGA TOUR.

It meant a change in coaches.

“It was a hard decision,” Tim said. “But he needed someone who was out there all the time. And I know this—we all owe a lot to Tommy Biershenk.”

Biershenk was disappointed, but understood.

And when he watched Bridgeman win at Riviera, he could still see it.

“I could see it in his swing,” he said. “It’s very close to what we worked on years ago. It’s held up.”

On that Sunday, Tim and Angie passed on the watch parties. They stayed home.

As Jacob’s final putt dropped, Angie could finally breathe. Tim let out a cheer, the two of them sharing the moment with their son from across the country.

There was no replaying every step. No tracing it back from plastic clubs to a handshake with Tiger Woods.

Just the moment.

And for Tim and Angie, that was enough.