Print this page  |  Close Window

By Dave Lagarde
PGATOUR.com Correspondent

The much-awaited call to the Adamonis home in Hallandale, Fla., came just after the clock struck 9 on Sunday evening.

Brad Adamonis vaulted to 30th on the Nationwide Tour money list with his win. (Wiremage)

"Can you believe it?'' Brad Adamonis asked, eschewing the usual hello, when his father, Dave, picked up the telephone.

"Yes I can,'' Dave Adamonis said proudly. "You took care of business.''

Yes Brad Adamonis, 35, had taken care of business on a golf course -- finally -- in windswept west Texas in his 120th start on the Nationwide Tour.

No matter that it took Adamonis 80 holes to secure what could have been his in 72. No matter that he outlasted Vance Veazey, Ron Whittaker and, last but not least, the guy who pushed him to the limit, Tjaart Van Der Walt, in a four-man playoff that went eight holes.

Brad almost gave his father Dave and mother Roberta, who were nervously following the progress on PGATOUR.com, a pair of matching coronaries when he bogeyed the 72nd hole.

Adamonis took care of business with eight playoff pars, silencing those demonic voices that inhabited his head and always seemed to scream the loudest whenever he got into contention coming down the stretch.

So know this about someone who beat golf professional bushes in South Florida, throughout New England and the Hooters Tour. He has plenty of game and has the potential to become one of professional golf's latest late bloomers.

"So many times players and caddies would come up to me, unsolicited, and tell me Brad was one of the best ballstrikers on Tour,'' Dave Adamonis said. "They couldn't understand why he hadn't won.

"I honestly believe Brad would get caught up in the process and trivialize things. He was thinking too much about the little things. No matter what they said about him, he had to validate it.''

Adamonis broke down the process. He said he never was rolling in the dough and it always was an issue. So whenever he started creeping up the leader board during a final round he would begin playing for, and trying to protect, a check rather than a victory.

"It was my biggest problem,'' he admitted. "It was a big mental hurdle to get over. I made birdies (on 14, 15 and 17) coming down the stretch. To have done it really helps me out.''

And Adamonis got another large helping hand from that first-place check of $85,500. He moved from 69th on the money list to 30th, just $11,379 outside "THE 25'' with two full-field events remaining on the 2007 schedule. He also locked up a spot in the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship at Barona Creek, which offers a $775,000 purse to its 60-player field.

So what happens now?

Well, there is a player headed to this week's Chattanooga Classic at Black Creek with a new attitude, someone flush with confidence that winning normally spawns.

"You know,'' Adamonis said, reflecting on the whirlwind that was Sunday afternoon, "that wasn't the best golf I've ever played.''

That's the thing about this vexing game called golf. Adamonis has been better and lost. On Sunday he was just good enough to clear the imaginary hurdle and leap into the winner's circle. Simply put, it was his time -- finally.

Adamonis made a tournament-high 21 birdies during the week. (WireImage)

Perhaps that was because Adamonis played with a new perspective in Midland. His good friend and Nationwide Tour running mate Erik Compton, who received a heart transplant at the age of 13, recently suffered a heart attack. Adamonis had Compton in his thoughts and prayers last week.

Compton invariably tells his buddy that he has more than enough gam to succeed.

"His message is I should never back down, even when I'm not playing my best,'' Adamonis said. "Sunday was definitely one of those days."

Compton passed along another message to Brad when Dave Adamonis recently visited Compton in the hospital.

"Erik said, 'You tell your son to go out there and do what he does best,' '' Dave said.

Adamonis did last week, something that his father believes will set him free.

"Now that he is over the hump I think we'll all see a different player with a different attitude and lots of confidence,'' Dave said. "To me that means we just might see a different guy out there, someone who knows what he can do. He knows he can do it now. I believe the sky is the limit.''

High expectations might take some getting used to for this 10-year veteran, who now has looked at golf from both sides now and had the stuff that it took to survive a nerve-wracking playoff.

"Things haven't always gone very well for me,'' he said. "But I kept on fighting it, trying to be positive. I am always trying to improve. It has been a grind.''

That may never change, but at least Adamonis put all that talk about him being a non-winner to a grinding halt -- finally.