Wilson, Hayes ready to rebound at U.S. Bank Championship  MILWAUKEE (AP) -- With many top players overseas for the Open Championship, anyone who tees off Thursday in the U.S. Bank Championship at the Brown Deer Park Golf Course has a big chance to jump up the FedExCup points standings and climb the money list with a $720,000 first-place prize on the line.  Mark Wilson says he'll need to polish his mental toughness to win again. (Stan Badz/PGA TOUR/WireImage)
"I've always seen myself as a journeyman who is just going to make enough money to support my family and go back to Q-School," said Wisconsin's Mark Wilson, a pro since 1997. "Of course, I didn't want to do that every year, but that's what ended up happening." Wilson, a Menomonee Falls native, had not made a professional splash until winning the Honda Classic in March. He said he wouldn't even have made the tournament without a bit of luck at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic six weeks earlier. Wilson was practicing at his in-laws in January and was deep on the alternate list for the tournament. But a caddie called him as the tournament was teeing off and said Olin Browne had pulled out and to get to the course. Wilson didn't make it in time to grab Browne's slot, but Fred Couples pulled out, too. Wilson went on to shoot par or better all weekend to finish 33rd. A few weeks later, he won the Honda Classic in a playoff despite self-imposing a two-stroke penalty in the second round after his caddie gave advice regarding club selection to a fellow competitor. "Things came together that week for some odd reason and I played some of the best golf under the pressure that I've ever played in my life," Wilson said. "All of sudden to win, and be in World Golf Championships and majors, I guess I was thrown there really quick, and now I've got to have the mentality of the top player in the world, where you're not playing for the money any more to support your family, you're playing for the competitive nature of golf." That's where Wilson has crumbled recently, missing the cut in four of the last eight tournaments he's entered. He said he'll need to polish his mental toughness to win again. "That's what I did so well at the beginning of the year, I trusted what I was doing in my mechanics and then just went out and played golf," Wilson said. "I'd say lately I've been more scared on the golf course, not sure what I'm thinking in my putting, if it doesn't work for a few holes, I try something new. That's not the right answer, but it's tough when things aren't going well." Things weren't going well for J.P. Hayes earlier this season, either. Hayes, a two-time winner on TOUR, consistently felt bad with bouts of dizziness and minor chest pains that began in October. The doctors kept telling him he'd be fine, but Hayes needed assistance off the course at the PODS Championship in March. He was diagnosed with vasovagal syncope, which causes low blood pressure and fainting, and took more than a month off to recover. Now he takes a supplement -- sometimes as many as eight times a day -- that includes electrolytes and salt to help him maintain his blood pressure. "Why it started, I don't know," Hayes said. "And they said it would probably end the way it began. It would probably go away." Hayes managed to finish tied for sixth at THE PLAYERS Championship in May, but missed three of four cuts coming into Milwaukee. He said he's ready to contend again. "I'm really happy with the way I'm playing," Hayes said. "I missed a couple of cuts prior to last week, but it sure wasn't because of the tee to green part of it. It was because of my putting." And with the field, he and Wilson have as good of a shot as anyone else in the wide-open field. "I've still got my chin up," Wilson said. "I keep reminding myself ... I've had a great year. A lot of people would love to trade places with me." Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. |
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