But ask Hughes about his 2016, and, although it ended in jubilation both on the course and off (he married his longtime girlfriend Jenna Shaw on October 22 at a picturesque plantation in North Carolina), it started with questions about whether or not he would even make it through one of the Web.com Tour reshuffles.

“I was in the Monday qualifier for the LECOM Health Challenge and I missed the Monday by a few shots, then ended up getting in the next day on my number. It was a like a second chance on life there,” he said. “That was really the finish that propelled me to where we are today (he finished tied for fifth). Without that tournament, without getting in that week, who knows where I am right now. I might be back at Q-School. It’s pretty crazy to think that that’s where I was and here’s where I am now.”

Hughes missed only one cut for the rest of the Web.com Tour season after that finish, and notched his first Web.com Tour victory a few weeks later by a shot over Richy Werenski, essentially locking up his PGA TOUR card.