Byrd looking to find his wings among fledglings

With five victories, Jonathan Byrd had such a productive PGA Tour career that spending any time on the developmental Web.com Tour never crossed his mind. His only stop on the secondary circuit was in 2001 - so long ago that it then was known as the Buy.com Tour.

A year after his playoff win in the 2011 Tournament of Champions at Kapalua, Byrd had wrist surgery. He missed three months to start 2013, and his game and confidence slowly eroded to the point that he was trying to make cuts, make money and keep his job.

"You stop trying to bring your best and you're trying just to stay out here, and that's no way to play," Byrd said last month at the RSM Classic. "The tighter you hang on, the farther you get away from what you're doing."