New Game, New Thinking: Chad Collins profile

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As part of the New Game, New Thinking series, Chad Collins, one of 25 rookies on the PGA TOUR this season, recently spent some time with PGATOUR.com freelance writer Rudy Klancnik:

PGATOUR.COM: What's been your biggest surprise since you've made it to The Show?

CHAD COLLINS: Courtesy cars. That might not sound like much to guys who've been around this for a while, but there aren't a lot of courtesy cars around the Hooters Tour. Yeah, courtesy cars are pretty cool up here. And we're not talking economy cars either.

PGATOUR.COM: If you were a tree, what type of tree would you be? OK, bad question. If you weren't playing professional golf and driving courtesy cars, what would you be doing?

COLLINS: I have no clue. Honestly, I've been at this so long I'm not sure anything else makes sense.

PGATOUR.COM: Let's say you do take a break from the money chase and take it easy. What would we find you doing then?

COLLINS: That's easy. Fishing. Hunting. Or hunting and fishing. Either way, I'd be outside shooting at something. I love outdoors sports, that's for sure.

PGATOUR.COM: So if I asked you if you bagged a lot of birdies, that might be a double entendre?

COLLINS: A what?

PGATOUR.COM: Not important. Let's just move on. What's been the biggest adjustment to the PGA TOUR?

COLLINS: Practice time on these courses. We just don't have much time to practice and since I haven't played many, if any, of these courses, that puts rookies behind the rest of these guys.

PGATOUR.COM: What have been your impressions of the courses you've seen thus far?

COLLINS: They're all in fantastic condition, they're all pretty darn long and unforgiving if you're not on your game. The greens are tricky and you pay dearly is you're not rolling the ball well. That's why the guys who win out here consistently are out of this world.

PGATOUR.COM: How long before you're one of "those guys"?

COLLINS: Good question. I'm too inconsistent right now. I know I've got the tools to be a solid TOUR pro. But I've got to do it every week, not just every once in a while.

PGATOUR.COM: I was flipping through your bio and noticed you're an Indiana native. That means you're either a basketball nut or an Indy Car junkie, right?

COLLINS: I'm a golfing nut. I've been a pro since 2001 and that's my life. I love all sports, but I spend almost all of my time working on my game so I can compete out here every week.