Getting rest an important part of Tour life

• By Rex Hoggard
• Jul 9, 2012 5:02 PM ET

Michael Thompson rocked against his locker and sighed heavily, he’d just missed the cut at the AT&T National and, for better or worse, at least two weeks of well-earned vacation awaited him and no amount of second-guessing was going to change that.

“I talked to Ben Crane about the things he’s done over the years and he said, ‘If you feel like you need a week off, you really need two, if you feel like you need two weeks off, you really need three,’” Thompson said. “I feel like I need two weeks off right now.”

At the time Thompson was second on a mini-money list that ran from The Players through last week’s Greenbrier Classic, about $101,000 clear of No. 3 John Merrick. The top two players from the list earned spots into next week’s British Open.

Thompson, however, was done with golf. Following a torrid run that began with a 36-hole U.S. Open qualifier on June 4 and was highlighted by his runner-up showing at The Olympic Club, he decided he needed a break regardless of what was at stake last week in West Virginia.

“Rest is so important out here,” he said. “I’m learning that really quick.”

Thompson was passed by Ted Potter Jr. on the mini-money list and will not make his first trip to the Open Championship. Instead, his next start will be the Canadian Open, and – at least on some level – he’s probably OK with that.