New York's Sindelar feels at home in North Carolina  PGATOUR.com Editorial Coordinator CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The PGA TOUR hit the midpoint of the regular season this week and is quickly heading toward the inaugural playoffs for the FedExCup. And someone seems pretty happy about that.  Joey Sindelar is feeling great about his game going into the second half of season. (WireImage)
Joey Sindelar's played nine tournaments this year and what a dismal front stretch it was -- four missed cuts, three made ones with the best finish among those a tie for 56th, then two more missed cuts. Like heading into the turn having posted 6-over par, just praying for the 18th to get there. But just like that, an eagle on the 10th can help make a scorecard -- and a year -- a little brighter. Sindelar began his first round at the Wachovia Championship on Thursday at the par-5 10th hole, a 591-yard doozie. He notched a three there by hitting a near perfect 3-wood over the front bunker that nestled not 13 feet from the hole. "It's a beautiful second shot, and it did, it got just over the front bunker and the winds were blowing the right way to feed it to the cup and I got a 12-footer," said Sindelar. "When that kind of stuff happens, holy cow, it's fun. It makes me breathe. You know, it's not like you're all locked up, but it's like, whoa, this may be the day that we're on the good side of the coin -- it's all about bounces, a lot of it." With that fortunate bounce, the back half of his season is off to a much better start. Thanks to an eagle and a 69 in the first round, the 49-year-old is playing well again at the tournament he won two years ago and tied for sixth at in 2006. "Something is up. Do not ask the question because I don't know the answer, which is why does it happen here?" said Sindelar. "...It's a weird thing; I don't know. It's a fabulous second shot golf course here. You can see it. It makes you play, but we've played other really awesome places to this point. So I don't know what it is, but I'm very thankful that it occurs once a year." Being a New York state guy, he says, might also have something to do with it, since the weather is just changing this time of year and is usually when his season really gets going. Or maybe it's that the crowd has showered him with love over the past few years, especially after his win in 2004. "They've been nice enough to adopt me after three years ago, and it's awesome to hear all that," said the seven-time PGA TOUR winner, noting that the Charlotteans have been "in love with the TOUR" from the start. "Being lucky enough to win here, I'm reminded often on the golf course that, hey, maybe we can do it twice and that kind of stuff. I don't know what it translates into, but it sure feels good." His win two years ago gave him a boost in fan popularity and also a lift in the TOUR standings. Though he lost out on qualifying for the Masters by one person the next year -- "Jesper [Parnevik] birdied a hole from a fairway bunker on the last shot of the year. I hate the guy for it -- I finished 41st," jokes Sindelar -- the victory kept him fresh and relevant in a TOUR filled with youngsters. "I was 46 at the time, and it was effectively a bridge for me to the Champions Tour. One of my goals was always to try to stay what I call current to the Champions Tour, to be a PGA TOUR player when I go over. And when you win, you get the year you are in plus two," explains Sindelar, who turns 50 in March 2008. That's not to say that being one of the more experienced veterans on TOUR doesn't have its drawbacks. The personable Sindelar jokes that lately he's gone to tournament venues and not been recognized by the registration staff, who may not know some of the self-described "older guys." "I get the, 'Sir, can we help you?'" "Yes, I'm here to register." "Well, the pro-am registration is over there." "Well, I'm one of the players." "Right, can we see some ID?"
He takes it with a sense of humor, just as he did at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard earlier this year when someone came up and congratulated his 6-foot-1-inch, 17-year-old son for making the cut. Thinking the friendly fan was just being thoughtful and giving son Jamie props for being Sindelar's caddie, the TOUR pro didn't give it much thought. Then, "10 minutes later he comes back and he looked at me and he goes, 'I'm so sorry, I thought your son was Joey Sindelar.' But as we all know, there are some people that are not spring chickens that are more like me, and I'm playing with these young guys so I don't feel 49. It's hysterical." He's certainly hanging in there this week and hopes to continue his great record at the Wachovia Championship, where he missed the cut the first year but hasn't done worse than a tie for 33rd in the three years since. Though he still isn't sure why he plays so well in Charlotte, the Ohio State alum and member of the 1979 Buckeye NCAA Championship golf team has one more theory. "North Carolina has always been interesting for me because our Ohio State team won the National Championship at Bermuda Run [near Winston Salem, N.C.] in '80 and then my first win was at (the 1985 Greater Greensboro Open). Hopefully not my last but my most recent victory was here. So something is good about North Carolina with me," said Sindelar. Then he laughs. "Maybe it's because I'm friends with Davis [Love III] or something." |
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