The golf career of Dicky Pride is one that has had many ups and downs and one where he has had to fight and claw his way for everything he has earned in the game of golf.

Pride is a true underdog story the likes of which Tuscaloosa should be beyond proud to call him one of their own.

While appearing on the Gary Harris Show to talk about his first career PGA Tour Champions victory at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, Georgia, Pride talked about just how much of an uphill battle his golf career has been, even from his days at Alabama where he walked onto the golf team following his freshman year.

Pride won a PGA Tour event as a rookie in 1994, winning the Federal Express St. Jude Classic. It would be another 21 years before he would claim another professional victory, and he attributes this to simply not realizing the challenges that the PGA Tour brings, especially after he was able to win as a rookie.

"I always had this chip on my shoulder of I'm the walk-on and I've gotta out-work and out-prove everyone. Well, you don't out-work people on the PGA Tour. Everyone works hard and everyone is talented," Pride stated.

"It came together for me really quick and I didn't really handle it well after that, because my answer to everything was always work harder and you'll play better. Well at some point you have to just stop working so hard and start trusting yourself."

"You can't just sit here and beat balls at 5 o clock on a Wednesday with a tournament on Thursday thinking you're gonna straighten it out. All you're gonna do is wipe yourself out. The important thing is on Sunday do you have the energy to execute what you need to do. And it took me a long time to learn that," Pride recalled.

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For Pride to even have a chance to compete in the Mitsubishi Electric Classic, he had to overcome odds and play in the Monday qualifier round just to get into the field. Pride led the field at Ansley-Settindown Creek Golf Course in Roswell, GA, scoring 4-under 68.

Playing well however does not guarantee you anything. The Mitsubishi Classic was Pride's third Monday qualifier of the season, and in the previous two he shot 3-under but still did not qualify. So heading into last Monday, Pride knew exactly what he was getting into.

"It's frustrating, because you have to play good and you probably need a little bit of a lucky break here and there to even get through," Pride said.

The full interview can be heard below. During the discussion, Pride also talks about the various ups and downs of the rest of his golf career, controlling his emotions on the course, his pride in being associated with the town of Tuscaloosa and the University of Alabama, and much more.

The Gary Harris Show is hosted by WVUA Sports Director Gary Harris and can be heard on weekdays from 9 a.m.-11 a.m.

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