SAN DIEGO — For 25 years, Richard Bland of England wondered if he might forever view his golf career with “the disappointment of slightly underachieving.”
Lacking strong results, and sometimes even mediocre ones, Bland was kicked off the European tour several times. He never considered quitting and fought his way back from the sport’s minor leagues even as he got used to being one of the oldest players in each event. Then, out of the blue last month, after 477 tries, Bland, 48, won his first tour event, a victory that qualified him for a berth in the 2021 U.