D.J.'s Blog: Building confidence with Laird
By D.J. Gregory, Special to PGATOUR.COM
Hello. My name is D.J. Gregory and I would like to welcome you to my journey. I am 30 years old and was born with cerebral palsy. Due to my disability, I walk with the aid of a cane. During the 2008 PGA TOUR season, I will be traveling for 45 weeks and attending 44 events on the schedule. Each week, I will choose one professional to follow and I will chronicle my experiences while walking the course with him during each round of competition. Along the way, I will also have the opportunity to speak with fans and volunteers.
This journey has been a life-long dream of mine and this opportunity would not be possible without the generous support of the PGA TOUR, ACCUSPLIT, Southwest Airlines, Ashworth, FootJoy and tournament staff at each venue. I am excited to share my experiences with you and I hope you will check PGATOUR.com often and share in my year-long adventure.
D.J. WEEK BY WEEK: Click on the PGA TOUR player below to read D.J.'s blog for that week
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PGA TOUR CHARITIES: Donate to United Cerebral Palsy | Send D.J. an email | D.J.'s JOURNEY: The longest walk in golf
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NORTON, Mass. -- The Deutsche Bank Championship, the second event in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, is no ordinary week. This is the only tournament that has a scheduled Friday start and Monday finish due to the Labor Day holiday.
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Last week I spent some time with PGA TOUR rookie Martin Laird. Martin and I actually met in Memphis where we were in the same group that experienced the FedEx flight simulator during the week of the Stanford St. Jude Championship. Martin qualified for the Deutsche Bank Championship by virtue of his top-10 finishes in his three previous events.
Martin's earliest memory of golf is going to the golf course with his father. "As soon as I could walk, I was addicted, I guess," he said. Martin is originally from Scotland and came to the United States to play golf at Colorado State University. "It was a great experience," he said. "I had never been to the States before. I came over on a golf scholarship and loved it. Four years there, loved the state and it was a great college town."
Martin's favorite club in his bag right now is his putter. "I've been putting great the last month and that's the reason I'm here," he explained. Martin has played some great golf over the past month just to qualify for the Playoffs and while he doesn't admit to being superstitious, Martin says he and his caddy aren't tempting fate. "There's little things that me and my caddy haven't changed over the last month and we've been playing well, like the same yardage book holder, things like that," he said. With three top-10 finishes to qualify and advance in the Playoffs, I wondered what Martin's confidence level was. "Obviously my confidence is as high as it could be right now," Martin said. "The first couple of weeks when I was playing well I was pretty nervous, but last week that was kind of a big breakthrough for me that I felt comfortable the last round when I was playing well and I was in the top 10. I think that's something I can take forward to this week. Hopefully I'm there again and can handle the pressure."
Martin has worked very hard to get to the PGA TOUR including spending time playing on mini-tours and on the Nationwide Tour. "Experience on the Nationwide Tour was great," Martin said. "That helped me get out here on the PGA TOUR ultimately and it helped me get prepared for the PGA TOUR and it's a great learning Tour. I'm having a great year this year. Iit's been a lot of fun, even when I wasn't playing great it was fun"
As mentioned previously, last week was a different one on TOUR with the competition held Friday-Monday, I asked Martin what the change was like. "It's very different, I keep calling yesterday Thursday and today Wednesday, I don't know what day of the week it is right now," he said.
Martin's a rookie on TOUR and he told me the travel was the most difficult adjustment. "And not getting to see friends and family nearly as much," he added. "You kind of feel like you don't really have a home because you're on the road so much. The best part you know the competition and there's a great group of guys out here. I just love the competition that's why I play. You practice your whole life to try and be out here." He said maintaining confidence when you're not playing well is the biggest challenge. "That's what really killed me this year when I wasn't playing well," he said. "I had no confidence. Doing that and trying to get everything else organized to focus on your golf."
As for walking the course, the TPC Boston is an easier course to walk then I remember in my previous appearances at this event. This course plays to 7,415 yards which seems to be a long course, but I really feel like the walk around the course last week was a very comfortable one Besides the par 3s, there are two holes on the front nine, the short par-4 fourth, where you can actually see the entire hole from the middle of the fairway, and the par-4 sixth where you can see the entire hole from the tee box. On the back nine, if you walk halfway up the 12th fairway on the left, you can see all of the action on the 12th hole and then walk 30 yards right and be at the 13th fairway and green.
On Thursday afternoon I visited Massachusetts General Children's Hospital and spoke to some of the kids there. Hopefully I provide some inspiration and encouragement to them that if you have a dream, don't ever give up until you accomplish your dream. Also, on Saturday night I had the chance to visit Fenway Park and see the Boston Red Sox play the Chicago White Sox.
I would like to thank Martin and my friends Kelly Thompson and Neil Como for joining me last week. Thanks, too, to Kelly for a home-cooked meal on Thursday night. I would also like to send out one final thank you to Eric Baldwin, Brandon Roll and the entire staff at the Deutsche Championship.
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PARAMUS, N.J -- My week began with a trip from Greensboro, N.C., to South Hadley, Mass., where I played golf for only the fourth time this year at a charity event for the Holyoke Hospital at the Orchards Golf Club. My team -- Robert Gamez, Neil Como and Nelson Fujiwara -- had a for a truly memorable day of golf.
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On Tuesday I traveled to Paramus, N.J., for The Barclays, the first tournament in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, where I followed Ken Duke. Ken was 10 years old when his father introduced to the game of golf. He played many sports growing up but decided to stick to golf because it was an individual game. Ken's greatest memory from this year is finishing second in Milwaukee. "I never had a chance to win like that and I was tied with two holes to go and had some good shots coming in," Ken said. "I didn't lose, I just got beat."
Ken says the everyday routine is the toughest challenge he faces "(The) travel, hotel, laundry, come play golf, practice, everything that goes with it," he said. When I asked Ken what his biggest fear was and how he overcame it, he gave a very candid answer. He was diagnosed with scoliosis when he was in seventh grade and had to wear a body cast, which he took on and off while he practiced. "(The) end of my ninth-grade year they told me I had to have surgery, and I didn't know what that meant," Ken said. "I felt like I was done playing sports, I was done with everything." In February 1985 he had surgery where doctors inserted a 16-inch Harrington rod in his back. "That's why I think I have appreciated where I am right now because I don't know how long I'm going to keep playing," Ken said. "I don't know how long my back will stay up. It's a touchy situation. It's tough, but I'm thankful I'm here."
Ken doesn't know if he has any superstitions or whether they are just habits, but he always starts the round with three tees in his pocket and he marks his ball with the same coin. He's an extremely down-to-earth person who truly appreciates where he is and how hard he has worked to get here. He looked up to Jack Nicklaus as a golfer, but Larry Bird was his idol growing up. "I've worked hard for what I have today (and it's the) same with him," Ken said. "He didn't have anything -- he had to help his family. (I've) just done a lot of studies on Larry and just how successful he was. Same deal here, growing up with not a lot and working hard to get there and reaching your goal." Ken's goal of reaching the PGA TOUR took a little longer than most. "It took me 10 years to get through qualifying school in '04 and I told my wife if I never made it back to the TOUR, I've been there once, I tried it, I've done it," he said. "The experience on the Nationwide Tour is a big stepping stone and after you get out here and get comfortable, it's fun, it's worth it." Ken understands that he is very fortunate to be where he is. "I think the best is just being able to compete with the best in the world and testing your game to see what it's all about and being around all of these great athletes," he said.
Ken's family travels with him quite a bit on TOUR and when he is home one of his favorite activities is spending time with his daughters. Ken also enjoys fishing, primarily for bass. He's proud of the 8-pound and 12-pound bass he's caught.
Walking Ridgewood Country Club is not to terribly difficult with the holes being relatively close together which means on some holes you don't have to start at the tee to see all of the action. The toughest hill to walk on this course would be on the par-3 eighth hole as you walk from the tee to the green.
I would like to thank Ken for spending time with me last week. At the end of the week, he told me that having me follow him was an inspiration, and that really meant a lot to me. "I knew you were out there pulling for me," Ken said. "So I was trying to do as good as I could do and I appreciate everything you do." I would also like to say a special thank you to my Mom for joining me in New Jersey last week. And to my good friend Jim Nantz and the entire golf crew at CBS Sports, I appreciate your continued support throughout the entire 2008 season. Thanks for featuring me in the end-of-the-year 2008 memories, too.
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GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Last week began in Detroit when I had the opportunity to meet with some representatives from the Greater Detroit affiliate of the United Cerebral Palsy Foundation. Then I went to Greensboro for the Wyndham Championship, which was my first-ever PGA TOUR event in 1990. The tournament returned to Sedgefield Country Club this year for the first time since 1976.
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I followed Davis Love III, who won the tournament in 1992 and 2006. Davis told me he feels comfortable in Greensboro because he played college golf at UNC and has spent a lot of time in the area. "I understand the grass and the courses," he said. "You get good fan support. When we played at Forest Oaks I had played there a whole bunch, so I knew the golf course real well. Now I have to transfer it over here to Sedgefield. It's kind of like a little bit of a homecoming."
Davis's earliest memory of golf is dragging a club around under the furniture when he was in diapers. His father was a club pro and instructor so "we grew up at the golf course." When he and his brother, Mark, wanted to find their father, they would start on the second hole where they lived and play around to No. 9. "That's always where Dad was," Love recalled. "As we got older and older we got more interested in it, we got to have our own goals. But in the beginning, it was just to be where Dad was." Davis played three years at UNC and loved the experience -- "just being a part of a great college and a great town and a great team, being able to watch basketball, football, and all of the great sports there."
Davis says the caddy-player relationship is like a marriage. "You have to both get along, you both have to do your share and you have to agree to disagree and be real positive on things," he explained. "If you have a really good caddy he can help you. If you have a pretty good caddy he can not hurt you. If you have a bad caddy he can really screw you up. I think that's the main thing is you you've got to have somebody that you enjoy being around and that you have fun with and that way you can play your best. You don't really have to have somebody that's going to make you a better player, you just have to have somebody that will let you be as good as you can be (and) you need a friend."
Off of the course Davis enjoys hunting, fishing and snowboarding. "Anything to get outside and do something athletic and outdoors oriented, I love all of it." He also likes riding his motorcycle. In fact he received a custom bike for his 40th birthday and was featured on an episode of "American Chopper." When I asked Davis if he had any superstitions he laughed and told me a story about the late golfwriter Bob Drum, who was doing a piece on the same thing for CBS. Davis said he didn't have any superstitions and Drum walked away "kind of mad," as Davis recalled. "He was interviewing somebody else and I went up and I said, 'Does only using white tees count?' He said, 'All right, you're superstitious," so he started rolling the camera. He said, 'All right, give me some more. I said, 'All right, I like 1963 or '64 pennies. He goes, man, you are superstitious. You think things that you do are habit like I don't like blue tees or I don't like pink tees and you start thinking about it. I have a lot of habits that I think have turned into superstitions."
Davis and his brother also have become involved in golf course design. When Davis started playing well, people came to him with design projects and he eventually formed his own company. "It was just something that my brother and I could do together and give something back to the game and create something of our own," Davis said. "It's a little bit different then playing or teaching and we really enjoy it. Plus we like the outdoors. We like the tractors. I think the most exciting part probably is when you see the land and you start getting an idea of what it's going to look like and get to start building it and then in the end when it comes time to play, it's pretty exciting to see it go from a piece of raw ground to all of a sudden a year later there's a golf course."
Like his friend Fred Couples, Davis says the best part of playing golf is the time inside the ropes. "To go out and compete and do what you love to do, it's fun," he said. "The hardest part is all of the whole rest of the day. The TOUR has gotten so big and so busy that you have to manage your time. You have to avoid the distractions and deal with the pressure. Really that time inside the ropes is so much fun, it makes the rest of it worth it."
Davis often travels in his RV. "The best thing about the bus is having your stuff," he said. "It's like having a small apartment that you get to take with you to every tournament, so you've got your pillow, your sheets, and your satellite card and your refrigerator and it just makes it feel a little bit more like home."
Even though Sedgefield Country Club plays short yardage-wise and to a par 70, it is still a good walk. There are a few holes on each side where you have to navigate some hills. This is a short course, but a very hilly piece of property.
I was able to see some friends last week I haven't seen for a very long time. Special thanks to Davis and my sister Ann for being my "caddy" last week, as well as to Brokie and Ann Lineweaver and Sara and Troy Hopkins for their hospitality. I also had the opportunity to see my brother Ken for the first time this year.
See you in New Jersey for the start of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.
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BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- Welcome to my adventure at the 90th PGA Championship, the season's final major at Oakland Hills Country Club where I followed PGA TOUR veteran Stewart Cink.
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Stewart resides in Duluth, Ga., at the TPC Sugarloaf, where coincidentally I lived for nine months during 2002 and 2003. Stewart's greatest memory from this year is winning the Travelers Championship. "I played some good tournaments," he said. "But to go as long as I did without winning and then finally get one, that was easily the best." Stewart stands sixth in the FedExCup standings so he has clear goals for the rest of the year. "I'd like to try to defend my spot or to move up because that's pretty hefty change they're handing out at the end of the year," he said.
Stewart's parents got him interested in playing golf. "They picked up golf when they got married because they wanted to do something outdoors and they wanted to do something that was back then relatively inexpensive," he explained. "Instead of paying for a babysitter they just took me to the course. I picked it up by watching them and some of my earliest memories literally are riding in the cart in a little booster seat. I would get out and go and find my dad's ball, and tell him if that was his or not."
As all of you know, I interview the player I am following each week and this one had a slightly different twist due to the participation of his wife, Lisa. She had some interesting things to say about the relationship between Stewart and his long-time caddy, Frank Williams. "I would venture to say that Frank, his caddy, is one of his best friends now," Lisa said. "Having that other personality on the course complement yours is extremely important. Frank is very even-keeled just like Stewart riding through the ups and downs so I think ... that's even more important than what club or yardage." Stewart added that it's important a caddy and a player know each other's tendencies. "During stressful situations like coming down the end of a tournament, (when) you know the tournament's on the line or making the cut, he can sense when I need something to slow down (or) maybe take an extra (club) because of adrenaline or something," Stewart said. "He knows that because he's been seeing me hit shots and do these things under pressure and not under pressure for 10 years. So, it's hugely important."
I asked Stewart how his preparation changes for a major like the PGA as compared to other TOUR events. "It doesn't change much because I try to approach every tournament like it's the most important tournament of the year and just try to be ready to play no matter what," Stewart said. "In fact, I'm not really one to go into tournaments real early and play a lot of practice rounds. I have a short attention span (so) I feel like if I'm there Sunday night or Monday and play and play and play, that by the end of the week I'm just ready to just head out."
Stewart's pre-round routine includes a workout in the fitness trailer. He says fitness has changed the game quite a bit. "First, Gary Player and then Greg Norman and now Tiger," Stewart explained. "Everybody has just become more conscious about not really their physique because that's more of an appearance, but more their strength, the health of their back and their knees and their shoulders, joints. Golf is just not a natural move for the body to make and it can cause so many injuries. If you keep yourself in good shape you're doing two things: You're stronger so you can play better and put your swing in a better position, (and) you're also preventing injuries. The way the purses are out here on TOUR now, you can extend your career by just a few years and be successful and that means quite a bit of extra paydays down the road. So you want to stay competitive as long as possible out here."
All the activities Stewart enjoys off of the course involve his family. "I like playing golf with my family," he said. "They all started playing golf recently, especially my younger son, Reagan. He's been playing all summer a lot, so that's been kind of neat to watch." They also enjoy camping, mountain biking and spending time at the lake. "We're big outdoors people," he said. "Skiing in the winter is our passion. I can't wait for the snow to start so I can stop playing golf and go skiing." Asked what fans don't know about Stewart, his wife was quick to answer. "He's hilarious," Lisa said. "He's just a really funny, witty, smart guy and graduated with honors and had one of the highest GPAs in high school."
Stewart will play on the U.S. Ryder Cup team next month. "It's a huge honor, just because you beat a lot of really great players to get on the team and gotten more points or gotten picked or whatever," he said. "You feel the whole country pulling for you to win and I know everybody want's the U.S. to win the Ryder Cup."
Stewart also believes that giving back to those less fortunate is extremely important. "It's a huge part of the PGA TOUR and also all of the individual players," he explained. "The TOUR has given away a billion dollars and made a huge impact to the communities we play in. Individually I support a charity in my hometown that gives grief counseling to kids that lose their parents when they're young. We chose to do it free of charge and everybody in this tournament does something like that."
Off of the course this week I had some great opportunities. On Thursday I met with course manager Steve Cook and his maintenance crew. I also got to speak with Ed, who works with the Wounded Warriors Foundation and is in charge of Patriot Golf Day, a fundraiser on Labor Day weekend. Ed served in Iraq and was hit by an IED in 2004. It was an honor to meet Ed and thank him for his service. Then on Saturday, the Professional Tour Caddie's Association made me an honorary member, which I really appreciate.
Oakland Hills is a fair walk. There are some hills and slanted areas to navigate, but at the same time a lot of the holes are close together and you can make good use of the crosswalks all around the course. If I had to rate this course on a scale of one to 10 in terms of difficulty, it would be 6.
I would like to say thank you to Stewart and Frank for their kindness last week. I would also like to say thank you to "Jelly" and Donna and the Professional Tour Caddie's Association, as well as Bill Newton, course manager Steve Cook and his entire maintenance crew staff for their hard work and hospitality.
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AKRON, Ohio -- My week began with a visit to the Cleveland affiliate of UCP for a meet and greet along with a facility tour. I really enjoyed having the opportunity to interact with all of the clients at the facility and to talk about my amazing journey this year.
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Then I got to follow second-year PGA TOUR player Johnson Wagner at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. He qualified for the event when he picked up his first career victory earlier this year at the Shell Houston Open. "Winning Sunday of Houston definitely" was his greatest memory of the year, Johnson told me. "Just coming down the stretch with the lead and feeling the pressure and being able to pull it off (was amazing)." Johnson isn't satisfied, though. "(My) major goal is to qualify for THE TOUR Championship, get in that top 30 which would get me back to Augusta, which is the ultimate goal," he said.
As I have found out, even though golf is technically an individual sport, the player-caddy relationship is very important. Johnson's caddy is Steve Hale whose nickname is Pepsi. "I think this is our fourth season now, so I think it's big for me because it's nice to have someone on the course there you can talk to and trust and he's one of my best friends," he said. Johnson travels the TOUR with his wife Katie in an RV. He enjoys playing with new gadgets and recently got the new iPhone, Video-game systems like the Nintendo Wii and Playstation 3 are another passion. He also likes watching movies and listening to music.
I have really enjoyed talking to the players about the prospect of golf becoming an Olympic sport and Johnson was no exception. "I can't give you a good argument why it should be," he said. "But I can't give you an argument why it shouldn't be. ... There are so many good opportunities. You could have two-man teams. You could do so many different things with golf being an Olympic sport. It wouldn't have to be an individual gold medal. I think it would be great for the game." Johnson also said that he would love to play in the Olympics, "Any chance I get to represent my country would be great."
Johnson said winning the Shell Houston Open didn't change his life, it changed his career. "I was in the Masters the next week," he explained. "I'm in (the Bridgestone Invitational) because of it. It helped get into the PGA Championship. It's allowed me to play with better players, play in bigger tournaments and kind of test my game at the highest level." His first trip to Augusta National was particularly amazing. "We got there late Sunday night and I was out on the course at about 9 Monday morning," he recalled. "I probably slept for about two hours that night. I just couldn't wait to get out there. I probably would have teed off at 5 if they'd let me. Just the fans, the golf course, just the whole atmosphere -- that place is second to none. It was just a dream come true and I can't wait to get back."
Johnson attended Virginia Tech where he was medalist at the 2002 Big East Championship. Johnson said the tragedy of 2007 hurt the entire community. "I think the students and the faculty and all of the people in Blacksburg have done a great job honoring those lives lost and the memorial is up there now," he said. "I went to the opening football game last year and it was real special; (it's) just such a great community of people and I think they've become stronger for it. ... I always felt very safe there. There's not much you can do to stop a maniac like that. ... But I think the campus is probably safer now then it ever has been."
Johnson's quest to earn his PGA TOUR card began on the Nationwide Tour where he played for four years. "I got right to the Nationwide Tour out of college which was great I never had to play mini-tours," he said. "I played out there for four years. ... I got better every year ... so I had a good progression of play. I just think the Nationwide Tour really helped me prepare to stay out here when I got out here."
We have entered into a very tough stretch of the PGA TOUR season with many marquee events in a row. Some players will play in six of the next seven events but Johnson is ready after taking two weeks off leading up to the Bridgestone Invitational. "I was kind of preparing myself to play a bunch in a row -- especially big events," he said. "So I've been looking forward to this stretch of the year since I won and since I knew I was going to be playing most of these events. I'm very excited about it."
Firestone Country Club's South Course may be the second easiest course on the PGA TOUR to walk. This course has a lot of holes that are up and back so you can watch the action on one hole and then turn to your right or left and be at the next fairway to watch the tee shot. Walking Firestone this week was a good "rest" week after Royal Birkdale and Glen Abbey in the previous two weeks.
I had a great week in Ohio last week. Johnson and Katie are very genuine people. One thing, I will always remember is Johnson saying he was honored I chose to follow him this week. It didn't matter what his score was, he always spent a few minutes talking to me after the round. I really had a great week with Johnson and Katie and feel like I have gained two more friends. I also would like to say thank you to Pepsi and the staff at the UCP Cleveland affiliate. I appreciate my good friends Nelson and Kerri Fujiwara for joining me in Ohio, too.
See you at the PGA Championship where I will spend time with Stewart Cink.
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OAKVILLE, Ontario -- I began the week traveling 4,375 miles from Manchester, England to Toronto where I would attend the RBC Canadian Open played at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ontario.
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Last week, I followed Carl Pettersson who was a classmate of mine at Grimsley High School in Greensboro, N.C. That's right -- we went to the same high school and graduated the same year but neither of us knew it until Wednesday afternoon. Not only were we classmates, we also lived in the same neighborhood and didn't know that, either. Carl said that one of his greatest memories from high school was winning the state championship his senior year.
I asked Carl if he thought golf should be an Olympic sport. "I think it would be nice," he said. "I was actually talking to my wife about that the other day. If it was an Olympic sport, I'd like to play in it ... and hope the pros support it." Carl, whose father introduced him to the game at the age of 5 or 6, loves golf. "To be honest with you ... I'm a bit of a golf nut," he said. "I watch it, I play it, I eat and sleep it and I'm fortunate to do this as a dream of mine." Even if Carl didn't play golf professionally, he said his career would be something in the golf industry. Carl also believes the player-caddie relationship is extremely important. "I rely on my caddie a lot, he's a good friend of mine, and we get along very well together," he said. After spending the week with Carl, I did see that he and his caddie Grant Berry not only have a great working relationship, but they are also good friends off of the course.
Carl said that some of his greatest memories involve spending time with his kids. "Anytime I have a week off and play with them is a great time,' he said. Carl and his family love to spend time at their beach house in North Carolina and take the boat out on the water. Last Friday, Carl's tee time was delayed until 4:45 p.m. due to weather. So what did he do? He took his family to a nearby safari lion drive-thru park. "It's like a zoo, but you drive your car through and they've got lions, monkeys, giraffes, zebras, so the kids loved it, and it was pretty easy on the old folks -- all we had to do is drive the car," he said, laughing. "It was actually fun, we enjoyed it, so it was good we did that and had lunch."
Carl attended N.C. State University and played golf in the Atlantic Coast Conference. "I think the ACC is one of the top if not the top conference to play golf in," he said. "I was only at N.C. State for two years, but competed against a lot of guys who are out here now." He said playing for Wolfpack coach Richard Sykes "was a phenomenal experience." I asked Carl, who still lives in Raleigh, if he gets into the Tobacco Road rivalry between N.C. State, UNC and Duke. "Well, N.C. State used to be in that rivalry, but we've kind of lost our ways," he said. "It's more Carolina and Duke. I try and go to two football games each year and a few college basketball games. I wish we were just a little bit better. In the state of North Carolina, college sports is bigger than the professional sports."
Carl told me he thinks it's important to give back to charity -- especially athletes like himself. "Obviously you're living a dream," he said. "We're fortunate to do what we love. If you can help somebody else out along the way, I think it's nice." Carl and Tim Clark, a PGA TOUR player from South Africa who was a teammate of his at N.C. State, sponsor a charity event that benefits Children's Flight of Hope in Raleigh. The charity arranges private airline flights for seriously ill children
I asked Carl what is the best part and most difficult part of playing golf professionally. "The best part about playing professional golf is you're living the dream," he said. "The most difficult part is probably the travel, being away from home all of the time. When you're not playing that well, it's not that much fun, but you got to get through that. Everybody goes through those times. I enjoy playing golf. I don't like to play bad, but even the bad day is not that bad, really."
Last week was a crazy week, Glen Abbey absorbed over 8 inches of rain, and we had several weather delays. In a bit of good fortune, Carl had a morning start on Thursday and just after he holed out his final putt on the 18th hole, the horn blew and the delay lasted five hours, 40 minutes. As a result, Carl did not begin his second round until late Friday, and we had to return early Saturday to finish. Saturday was the most tiring day last week as I walked 22 holes, almost 10 miles and 29,847 Accusplit steps.
Glen Abbey is an interesting walk. The front nine is relatively easy, but the back is more challenging with five holes in a valley. The 11th hole begins with a 50-foot drop from the tee to the fairway, then, when you get through the 15th hole, the players take a shuttle from the green to the 16th tee. Also, there is a pretty good walk between the ninth green and 10th tee. Dealing with all of the weather this week and the wet and soggy ground from all of the rain we had, made for an extra challenge, and I am proud to say no falls!
I had a great time in Canada. Congratulations to my fellow Whirlie on his tie for 11th. I would also like to thank Carl's caddie Grant and Tournament Director Bill Paul and his entire staff for their hospitality. Once again, I would like to thank Continental Airlines for providing our air travel to Canada.
See you next week in Akron, Ohio, for the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.
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SOUTHPORT, England -- Last week I traveled 4,445 miles from Moline, Ill., to UK for the 137th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. This was my first time to Europe and it was a memorable week. It was kind of cool to see people drive on the left side of the road with the driver on the right side of the car. You might have thought we were in the movie National Lampoon's European Vacation when we made a few wrong turns and our car with a stick shift stalled a few times. It was pretty funny.
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I followed Sean O'Hair, the winner of the 2008 PODS Championship, at Birkdale. Sean, who turned pro at the age of 17, won the 2005 John Deere Classic and earned a spot in the Open Championship the following week. "Obviously winning your first is just awesome," he said. "Your family's there so you get all emotional and all of the memories of working your tail off on the mini-tours just paid off and then you're going to the British Open. It was just kind of wow. Even the day before I left, I didn't know if I was going, I didn't know if I was going to be able to go because I didn't have my passport." When he arrived in Scotland that Wednesday, O'Hair took a nap and then went to the range. He played with Tom Lehman, David Frost and Tim Petrovic, who helped show him the ropes and "I ended up getting 15th and I had the time of my life. It was great."
As we approach the Olympics, I asked Sean on what he thought of golf becoming an Olympic sport. "That'd be neat," he told me. "It would almost compete with the Ryder Cup a little bit. It would be interesting to see how it kind of mixes in with that. I think it would be awesome."
As we all know golf is technically an individual sport, but when you talk to TOUR players a lot of them point to the team effort -- especially when talking about the importance of their caddy. Sean was no different. "This is my second week of six weeks on the road," he said. "So basically I'm going to be spending more time with my caddy then I am my wife in the next month and a half, so I think it's extremely important (to be friends)." Other then carrying the bag and figuring yardages Sean says a caddy is a "psychologist almost, especially like right now if you're struggling with your confidence. Your caddy's probably talking to you, trying to get you to start thinking a little bit better. A caddy can be anything you want."
Sean told me he is learning how to prepare for majors. He took the week prior to the Masters off and instead of going home to Pennsylvania, he went to Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., to work with his caddy at the TPC Sawgrass. "We just worked on a lot of wedges," he said. "(We) worked on the shots that I knew I was going to have because I've played that course before." Sean ended up finishing 14th, so he thinks the targeted preparation worked well.
I asked Sean what was different about the Open Championship as compared to the other three majors. "Well, obviously it's the oldest championship," he said. "The U.S. Open is tough because the U.S. Open is our national Championship and obviously that's what you're supposed to want to win. But the Masters and the British for me are as high as it gets. Obviously, the Masters with the mystique of it, but with the British, it's the history of it -- just thinking about all of the guys who have won that cup, and drank from it and just the history about it is to me what it's all about. Plus I love the golf there. My favorite thing about (if) is just the golf is different then it is here."
Sean, who is the consummate family man, made six trips to q-school before he got his TOUR card. "If you're good enough to be on the PGA TOUR you should pass through (the first stage) with ease," he said. "For me, it was always about trying to get past second stage. People don't realize how good these guys are and how good the guys who aren't on TOUR are. To make it out here is the hardest thing in the world." Sean says that he's living his dream. "From the time I was little, I wanted to do this, and to be living it is really cool." One superstition Sean has is that he doesn't play balls with the number 3 on them -- he only plays 2s and the occasional No. 1.
Royal Birkdale is not a very hilly course from tee to green inside the ropes, but as a spectator this course is a good challenge to walk. There were many uneven areas which for me was a challenge and there were some good hills to go from some of the fairways to greens. There were also many dirt and mud areas where spectators walk, which when wet made for an added challenge. Considering the rain and wind I think we were pretty lucky. Sean had the good draw. We played Thursday afternoon so we missed the dreadful weather that morning. The toughest weather conditions were on Saturday with steady winds of 25 mph and gusts up to 45. Not only was it tough for the players, but I had the extra challenge of bracing myself with the wind several times. I am proud to report that I had no falls on Saturday!
Thanks to Sean for spending time with me this week. I would also like to send thanks to Continental Airlines for providing our air travel. It was great to have my Mom and Dad along for my first trip to Europe and the Open Championship, too.
See you next week at the RBC Canadian Open!
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SILVAS, Ill. -- Last week, I was at the TPC Deere Run for the John Deere Classic where I had the opportunity to spend time with Peter Lonard.
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Peter first started playing golf at the age of 13 when his dad took him to play during a visit to his grandparent's house. He admitted to some superstitions, one of which is that he only asks a caddie to carry the bag, get yardages and make sure to put his clubs in the right slots. He also said his lucky number is 13.
Peter plays full-time on the PGA TOUR, but he has also spent time playing in other countries and the Australasian Tour. He said the depth factor is the biggest difference. "Here, we're unbelievably spoiled to the point where it's almost embarrassing," Peter explained. "It's good but embarrassing. Differences between lifestyles of playing here and places like Europe or Australia is that America gives you a better opportunity to get the most out of your game."
That said, Peter has also experienced difficult times during his professional career which includes contracting Ross River Fever in 1992, a disease carried by a mosquito. "I played the first year on anti-inflammatory and '93 was when I got the fatigue side of it. It pretty much stopped my golf career," he said. "All of a sudden I didn't have stamina." Peter gained upwards of 90 pounds, sitting around the house for a year and a half without a job.
Fortunately, things improved with his health when the money started to run out. "I started with baby steps, doing smaller tour pro-ams," Peter said. "I think the hardest thing about that was actually going back and doing stuff I had worked through ten years before. I got out of that section and into the proper tours and all of sudden I was right down in the pack again. Really unfit with a pretty ordinary golf swing, so it probably took four or five years to get over it. ... Just as I started to improve I was offered the club job, so I took the club job and then it all started to fall into place. (I played well in) a couple of co-sanctioned events ... on the Australian Tour and Europe and I thought if I kept chasing my tail off, I would win again."
During his professional career, Peter has had the opportunity to represent Australia on the International Team in The Presidents Cup. "Well I think it's special No. 1 because (of) ... being able to represent the rest of the world (and) the opportunity to play in a team event. Golf doesn't teach you a lot of team mentality and I grew up in team sports and I really enjoyed the camaraderie of playing on a team."
According to Peter the best part of playing golf professionally is that "you get someone to carry your bag." He also went on to say the most difficult part is the travel. "I'd love to live in Australia and I'd love to have the house and I'd love to have the dogs and that sort of stuff, but that's actually going to take hold until I get a bit older." Peter also said that he's a creature of habit when it comes to deciding where to eat when he's on the road. "I like my local bars so I pretty much eat at the same place every week every year. I can pretty much tell you exactly where I ate every tournament."
If he only had one more round of golf to play Peter said that round of golf would take place at St. Andrews and in his foursome would be Jack Nicklaus, so Jack could tell some stories.
Unfortunately Peter had a tough time at TPC Deere Run this week, and over the weekend I followed Rich Beem. This course, this course is extremely hilly on the front nine -- I fell on the cart path on the fifth hole. The first six holes on the course are the most challenging to walk, but after that, the course did get a lot easier and more flat. Special thanks to the local media members who walked with us during the tournament; I appreciate their support and taking time to tell my story. Yes, that's right I did have one fall this week and it was a good one -- the local television crew even caught it on tape. That's right, there's proof of my fall!
Congratulations to John Deere Classic champion and my good friend Kenny Perry on his third victory of the year. Special thanks to Peter Lonard for his kindness, insights and candor last week along with Rich Beem, Kenny and Kenny's caddie Freddie Sanders. I would also like to thank Phil Boyer for being my "caddie" last week in the Quad Cities; it was a most enjoyable week.
See you next week from the British Open where I will be following Sean O'Hair.
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BETHESDA, Md. -- My week began as I traveled from Detroit to Houston to pay my respects and show support to my good friend Jim Nantz. I would like to send my condolences to the entire Nantz family on the unfortunate loss of Jim's father.
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Last week I had the honor of spending the Fourth of July week in our nation's capital at the AT&T National hosted by Tiger Woods. The tournament was played at Congressional Country Club just 25 minutes from Washington, D.C.
On Wednesday night I had a special opportunity to visit Walter Reed Medical Center and visit with some of the military personnel. I met David Woodard, who is a member of the 2nd Platoon Chaos 230th Infantry 4-10 Mountain. These are the guys who go into dangerous situations before anyone else -- definitely guys you want on your side. He was injured on April 28 by an EFP (Explosively Formed Projectile) that caused serious damage to his lower leg. Thanks to the dedication and expertise of the medical teams that have helped him, David is on his way to recovery. For all of you who feel my story is inspiring -- and I appreciate your sentiments -- this evening I was reminded that true inspiration is all around us in these brave men and women who sacrifice their lives to protect our freedoms.
I followed Rich Beem At Congressional this week. Most people think this guy seems pretty cool, but that is a dramatic understatement, Beemer is a regular guy and a very talented golfer. His father is a teaching pro who used to coach at New Mexico State. Beemer was 5 or 6 the first time he played in a tournament. "I actually had to go ask my dad before I teed it up -- I said, 'Dad am I supposed to shoot a low score or high score? I didn't remember.'"
Before he joined the TOUR, Beemer used to play money games at El Paso Country Club. "The old saying used to be: If you think you have game to play on the PGA TOUR, come play in the Wednesday and Friday game," Beemer recalled. "If you can money there, then you've got a shot at being out here. It wasn't thousands of dollars, but it was definitely more money then I had in my pocket. I remember teeing it up and having $500 or $600 on the line and my paycheck was only $450 every two weeks. So it certainly prepared me to get out here and not be afraid of any situation or anything that would come that might happen."
Last Monday in Detroit, Beemer successfully survived a five-man playoff for four spots in the British Open at Royal Birkdale. Then he came to the D.C area where he won the 1999 Kemper Open as a rookie on the PGA TOUR. "I came in, I felt like I was playing well and if you feel like you're playing well then you probably are," Beemer recalled. "It was just one of those weeks where what benefited the most was making a lot of birdies and I wasn't afraid ... of making a bad number because I knew that right around the corner I was going to make some more birdies. So just everything about that week was special and I'll never forget it."
Believe it or not, Beemer loves to shop. "I'm a mall-lovin' dude," he said. "I don't care what it is, I love to shop, I could go in and buy everything at every single shop. I know it's horrible -- people are going to laugh at this -- but I literally love to shop. Put me in a mall, I could stay there for hours." Beemer also enjoys snowboarding and wake-surfing, his newest hobby.
Charity also has a special place in Rich's life. "I think it's probably one of the top motivations why we all play out here," he said. "I've been associated with quite a few charity events and each year I go back and they say we want to make this bigger and better and stronger. It's not only what I'm able to do but it's motivating everybody else around you to fire it up to dig deeper in their pockets and that's kind of the challenge and that's what I like doing."
If he only had one round of golf left, Rich "would play with my caddie (and) my wife, (because) she's a blast to play with." Beemer says his final round of golf would be at Black Rock in Coeur D' Alene, Idaho, and "we're going to have a cart with a big cooler on it. If it's going to be my last round, we're going down in flames, baby."
Rich said his idol is Jack Nicholson. "He's awesome. He's a fantastic actor. He's slick, he's smooth. What's not to love about Jack Nicholson?"
Congressional was probably in the top-five most difficult to walk to date. Unfortunately, I did record one fall during the final round. Congressional is a very old-style course which provides a good challenge for the players as it played to 7,255 yards and a par 70. This was a great week on and off the golf course. Not only did I get to visit Walter Reed Medical Center, I met the O'Connell family whose hospitality was greatly appreciated. I also believe I gained another friend in Rich Beem who made the week memorable with many laughs and jokes along the way. I also want to thank Doug Wells for joining me this week. See you next week at the John Deere Classic where I will spend time with Peter Lonard.
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GRAND BLANC, Mich. -- Last week the journey continued at Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club where the Buick Open celebrated its 50th anniversary. There was a special opening ceremony that culminated with tee shots being hit by inaugural Buick Open champ Billy Casper and defending champion Brian Bateman on Wednesday.
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I spent time with PGA TOUR rookie Kevin Streelman, a 2001 Duke graduate, last week. Kevin was a three-sport athlete in high school, playing tennis, basketball and golf. Kevin actually came close to playing tennis in college but the late Duke coach Rod Myers saw him play in some AJGA events and invited him to visit the campus. "I fell in love with it and it just kind of worked out from there," Kevin said.
Earlier this year, as the third alternate, Kevin got into the Buick Invitational six minutes prior to his tee time. He went on to shoot 67-69 and found himself paired with Tiger Woods in the third round.
"It was pretty crazy," he said. "All of a sudden I looked at the leaderboard and I remember walking on No. 11 and it was like a two-shot lead over Tiger Woods. I thought this was pretty cool right here. I hung on and birdied the 18th, when I (did) I had a good feeling that I might be with him the next day. It was awesome."
Three weeks ago, when we returned to Torrey Pines for the U.S. Open, Kevin was leading after the first round. By Sunday, Kevin wasn't in contention anymore, but he created a special Father's Day memory. On the final hole, Kevin had his caddy give the bib and the bag to his father. "He goes alright, but you got to get me a 3 or 4," Kevin recalled. "I said, all right Dad, we'll do it." So he hit a good drive then 3-wood to the back of the green. He chunked his chip and left himself a downhill 30-footer for par that hit the back of the cup and dropped in.
"The place went absolutely crazy," Kevin said. "I wish I could see it all again on video because it was a blur, but I remember my dad just sprinting towards me and he just gave me a huge hug. It was definitely the best moment of the year for me, to share that with him."
Another special moment came on the Memorial Day weekend when Kevin married Courtney. "We enjoy traveling together," he said. "We enjoy going to fun restaurants and checking out new places, museums and hanging out with Courtney now is pretty cool."
It was a long journey for Kevin to reach the PGA TOUR, though. Kevin estimated he put about 400,000 miles on three cars playing the mini-tours. "To get through q-school this year was really pretty emotional for me and my family and my sponsors," he said. "It was the true vision of hard work pays off. I was never an All-American out of college or anything. ... I had to do it on my own. That's kind of fine with me and how I was raised. We're blessed now to be out here." He reached the finals this year for the first time in six tries, and he was one of only nine players to advance through all three stages of q-school.
Kevin has worked extremely hard to get where he is and he does not take what he has for granted. Kevin is extremely down to earth and just a regular guy. If you would like to learn more about Kevin please visit his website at: www.kevinstreelmangolf.com
I wondered if Kevin felt like an underdog and he told he did. Kevin says he knows the success rate for q-school grads isn't always s high as for players who compete on the Nationwide Tour, but he plans to buck those odds. "It's pretty pessimistic and that's not really how I like to live my life, especially at this profession," Kevin said. "Coming to the Midwest, now I feel kind of close to home for me, it's kind of go time for me to do hopefully a little run." And he seems to be doing just that. Kevin entered last week's Buick Open with momentum after posting his first top-10 finish at the Travelers Championship. He opened with a 73 but rallied with a 63 to make the cut. He zoomed into contention with a third-round 62 and went on to tie for 10.
"The 62 was ... a blast," Kevin said. "(I had) a ton of birdies putts going in. I told Mikey, my caddy, on No. 17 (that) it doesn't matter where I aim this putter because the thing is going to go in. The hole was like the size of this table. It's fun for anyone to get in the zone, but for us as professional athletes you almost try and learn as much from that to try and get there as frequently as possible, it's kind of fun to get into that state of mind."
I would like to thank Kevin and Mikey for spending time with me last week, as well as Courtney and Kevin's parents Mary Lou and Dennis. As always, I would like to thank the many fans who offered their support and encouragement. And congratulations to my good friend Kenny Perry on his victory at the 2008 Buick Open!
Warwick Hills is a relatively easy walk with the holes being so close to each other. However, even though it's an easy walk I still covered 28 miles in walking and 84,119 Accusplit steps this week. This is a very easy course to walk, but I think the reason why it's a good walk is because there are no short cuts or cut-overs.
See you next week in our nation's capital for the 4th of July where I will be following Rich Beem.
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CROMWELL, Conn. -- Last week was a very interesting and busy one for me.
My stay in San Diego was extended until Monday in order to walk the U.S. Open playoff between Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate on Monday with 30,000 of my closest friends. On Tuesday I traveled 2,939 miles to Connecticut for the Travelers Championship. It was almost like old home week for me since I went to school in Springfield, Mass., about 40 minutes from Cromwell. I also have a lot of friends who still live in the area, so I had the opportunity to see some of them.
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This was the eighth time that I have attended the Travelers Championship at the TPC River Highlands. I was following second-year PGA TOUR player Steve Marino. It was Men's Health Week at the tournament and as part of the celebration, Steve, his caddie and I all wore pedometers. I am proud to say that I won the competition for the week with a total of 69,339 steps. Steve came in second with 63,873 and his caddie, Matty, was third with 60,409.
Steve was introduced to the game by his father and grandfather, who cut down a 5-iron for him when he was just 3-years-old. "Probably my first most vivid memory of golf was I was hitting golf balls in the backyard, and I hit one through the back door window," Steve recalled. "My parents weren't too happy about that. I wasn't allowed to play golf for a little while." Steve attended Virginia and played golf in the ACC, which he believes is the strongest conference in the country. "You look at the guys that are out here on TOUR," he said. "I know Arizona State has their starting five golfers from their team on TOUR right now, but there's a ton of guys from the ACC out here (like) Lucas Glover, Jonathan Byrd, Troy Matteson, (Matt) Kuchar, (James) Driscoll, and those are just the guys from my era out here."
Steve won the 1999 Virginia State Amateur the summer after his freshman year. "It was really funny because ... I wasn't really playing much golf at all. I actually had a full-time job at a law firm working 9 to 5 everyday." So he had no expectations. "I was just excited to play and get out of the office," he said. Steve barely made the field for match play but kept getting stronger and stronger. "It was just awesome, my parents were there, and it really just kind of happened out of nowhere and at that point, I really started to think that I had some potential in this game."
As a TOUR rookie last year, Steve made 21 cuts in 31 starts, posted four top-10s, made over $1 million and finished 63rd in the FedExCup race. He's picked up where he left off this year, finishing in the top 10 three times in 17 starts. His first year out of college was spent on the Canadian Tour. "That was an awesome experience, but I don't think I was mature enough at that point of my life to be traveling through Canada and all over the place," he said. "It was too much distraction." So Steve decided to stay at home in Florida and play the mini-tours there so he could practice and focus on getting better.
His game improved, and in 2006 Steve began trying to Monday qualify for Nationwide Tour events, playing well enough to gain status for the rest of the season. He reached the final stage of q-school where he shot 62 in the fourth round to move from 100th place into the top 20. Two more solid days earned Steve a ticket to the PGA TOUR. The pressure, he said, was intense. "(When) you're playing to win a tournament, if you screw up, there's always next week," he explained. "When you're playing out there at q-school, if you screw up, there's no tomorrow pretty much. You've got to wait a whole another year to get back to that point."
Steve's first start on the PGA TOUR was at the Sony Open in Hawaii where he was paired with Michelle Wie. He was amazed by the fans and the media following their group. "It was actually really cool," he said. "I really enjoyed every second of it. She was super nice and super cool, and I think she's got a lot of game." Steve's favorite course on TOUR is Torrey Pines. "The first time I went there as a rookie I just loved the place," he said. "It's so beautiful out there. It's long and it's hard. I like the cliffs -- you don't really see anything like that anywhere else that we play."
When Steve was a kid, he really wanted to be a basketball player. "I think to this day I might enjoy playing basketball more then I enjoy playing golf," he said. "But once I stopped growing and I put on a little weight and I realized I was a lot slower then everybody else, and I couldn't jump as high, that dream kind of went out the window." So it comes as no surprise that along with his father, Michael Jordan is one of Steve's idols. "Michael Jordan was everything when I was growing up," he said. "I always watched his games. I just thought the guy was amazing. That's probably why I liked basketball so much. Then my dad brought me into the game, and he taught me the things I needed to do to become a man. He's always been there for me."
Last week in Connecticut was definitely one of the best weeks on TOUR for me this year. I want to thank Steve and the entire Marino family for their hospitality on and off the course. I know I made some new friends. I would also like to thank Neil Como for being my "caddie" this week along with his wife Cassandra.
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LA JOLLA, Calif. -- I began last week by traveling 4,752 miles from the East Coast to San Diego and Torrey Pines, the site of the 108th U.S. Open, the year's second major. I had a five-hour delay in Baltimore due to weather and my luggage didn't arrive in California with me. But once I got here, everything was great.
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My week at Torrey Pines got off to a very interesting start on Wednesday. I got to meet Mark Woodward, the course superintendent at Torrey Pines, and attend the daily maintenance meeting. Mark and Bill Newton, the media relations director for the Golf Course Superintendents Association, took me around the course so I could see it from a maintenance point of view and learn about how the USGA sets up the course. I thought this was extremely interesting.
I walked with Stuart Appleby this week. He told me that the U.S. Open may be the hardest physical test among the four majors. "Augusta (National) is probably one of the toughest mental tests because it's such an amazing place," he said. "All of the other U.S. Open courses don't hold nearly the mystique that Augusta does, but I think it's the toughest. They're looking for par to be their score and just the demands on shot making are very, very high."
Stuart got off to a great start on TOUR this year with five top-10s. However, this was the first year in a while that Stuart had not qualified for the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship, a tournament for the previous year's winners that he won three consecutive times. "That's sort of been my nest egg and I've done well, won it and gotten off to a great start on the year," said Stuart, who did not win in 2007. "It was a little bit like, well, how do I start my year off, what do I do, I haven't done this before in a while."
Stuart hasn't always played well on the West Coast. But he was able to translate his hard work on the practice range during the offseason into those top-10s, which he calls "probably the highlight of the year."
Stuart began playing golf at the age of 14 when his parents started taking lessons. He'd pick their brains when they got home and try to copy what they told him. He was shooting 130 in the beginning, but "I got hooked, and the next two to three years there was no lie, I loved it."
He also played Australian Rules Football as a child, though, and he enjoyed being part of a team. "I would come home and watch matches every now and then," he said. "I miss the team aspect of it very much." Still, Stuart was just as comfortable playing golf. "Golf was also very much like me," he said. "I was a bit of a loner. I like doing things myself. I like the way I did things. I like the solitude of the golf course, the mental test of it, but I also loved assisting and being in a team and that sort of stuff."
That's why he likes the unique nature of the Presidents Cup so much. "It's a very pressure-packed week," he said. "You're trying your best to focus on your own game and do better at that, and the better you will do that, the better you will play." The 1998 win in his native Australia was particularly sweet. "It's been a very big drought since then, but just a great, great format, I'm really hopeful I get as many more of these as I can, they are really a lot of fun," Stuart said.
If he wasn't a professional golfer, Stuart doesn't know what he would do for a living. "I really could have done a lot of things" he said. "But they probably wouldn't be as good a paying job as what I have now." The job is amazing, he says, but frustrating at the same time. As his two young children grow older, he knows it will be more and more difficult to leave them for weeks on end.
He's also finding himself becoming more settled. "I used to drive the motor sports stuff," Stuart said. "(But) the track days are gone now with kids. Sitting by the pool during the summer hanging out with the kids, I guess (I'm) being a bit more of a family man." And not surprisingly, Stuart has learned from his own parents. "What I see in myself today and the things that I have today, the good things that are needed for golf, I think I saw all that with growing up on the farm with my father," he said. "I think they were two very critical people. Now being a father, I understand that's a role that I've got to take on, hopefully be somebody they (my kids) can look up to and emulate to some degree."
Given the chance, Stuart says he would like to meet historical figures like Thomas Edison or Leonardo da Vinci -- "(it) would be cool to sit down and look over their neck and see what they were doing, because those guys were unique in any era."
This was the second time during the 2008 season that we were at Torrey Pines. The South Course is also used in the Buick Invitational in January. This time the course played drastically different with the graduated rough the USGA uses. The course also was dried out which made it play a lot faster. Mark Woodward told me that greens were rolling at 11.5 on the Stimpmeter while for the U.S. Open the speed was 13. The South Course played to 7,569 yards and a par 72 for the Buick Invitational while it was 7,643 yards long and a par 71 for the U.S. Open. I still found the South Course to be a relatively fair walk with a few hills and the holes being relatively close together with a few short cuts.
I'd like to thank Stuart, as well as Bill Newton of the GCSA and Mark Woodward, for spending time with me last week. Thanks also to the fans, including former NFL quarterback Dave Krieg, for their words of encouragement. And one final thank you goes out to Nelson Fujiwara for joining me last week in San Diego.
See you in Hartford, Conn., for the Travelers Championship where I will spend time with Steve Marino.
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MEMPHIS -- If I had to sum up my time last week at the Stanford St. Jude Championship in one word, it would have to be adventurous.
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I began the week on Monday with an appearance at the United Cerebral Palsy Mid-South Annual Fundraising Golf Tournament, where I had the opportunity to speak to participants about my journey. It was a great experience for me. I also had the thrill of a lifetime at the FedEx Flight Simulator. I admit, I had difficulty with the take-off, but nailed the landing.
On Thursday afternoon, I had the opportunity to take a tour of the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. I really enjoyed learning about St. Jude and all of the services and care they provide to children. On Friday night, I attended the FedEx business seminar where I was introduced to the crowd and was once again able to talk about my journey and what an amazing experience it has been.
It was another hot week on the PGA TOUR with temperatures in the mid 90s all week, with little breeze. The course was relatively flat, a welcome break after the week before in Columbus. I am proud to report I had no falls this week and drank plenty of liquids.
The PGA TOUR pro I followed at the Stanford St. Jude Championship is a "dirt bag" who, along with his caddie, likes to harken back to medieval times and eat whole chickens from Boston Market with his fingers when he's on the road. This is also the man who finished runner-up to Sergio Garcia at THE PLAYERS Championship a month ago. Meet Paul Goydos.
"The greatest memory (of THE PLAYERS) was how people reacted," he said. "I've played good golf before, but very rarely do I get the opportunity for the public to actually be a Paul Goydos fan. I have Paul Goydos fans -- they're my kids and an occasional acquaintance -- but it seems like the country got behind me a little bit, at least for a while. So the really exciting part wasn't necessarily my good play, but the reaction of the crowd."
Paul's first memory of hitting balls was at age 10 when he hit wiffle balls in the neighborhood with his dad's World War II-era clubs. Paul doesn't have superstitions, he has what he likes to call "routines".
"I carry coins that are dated with my girls' birthdays, a quarter or a penny, either 1990 or 1992 depending on what I find in my bag," he shared. He also marks his balls with their birth years and, in 2003, Paul began placing a "PG" on his balls as well in memory of his late father.
Paul's long road to reach the PGA TOUR included mini-tours and the Nationwide Tour, as well as the TOUR's grueling qualifying school. "You're playing for how you're going to make a living," Paul told me. "Q-school (to me) is the ultimate golfing opportunity. ... If you go out and play your game and play good golf for six rounds, you're going to get your TOUR card and the opportunity to play for $300 million against Tiger Woods."
Among Paul's greatest memories from q-school is when he hit the green with his second shot on the last hole of the final stage in 1992. He could've three-putted and still earned his TOUR card. "That 200-yard walk to the green, knowing I had gotten my card for the first time, was probably the best moment of my career," Paul said.
To Paul, the best part about playing on the PGA TOUR is his fellow competitors. "There's not one guy on the PGA TOUR that I wouldn't want to have as my next-door neighbor," he noted. "That says a lot about our sport, a lot about the game we play. The toughest part is the travel, being away from his family and having to talk to your kids over the phone.
Call him a "Dirtbag," and Paul will grin from ear-to-ear; guilty as charged. You see, "Dirtbags" is the nickname for the baseball team at his alma-mater, Long Beach State. At THE PLAYERS, Paul wore a Long Beach State hat throughout the entire week and generated national attention for his university.
"I actually bought that hat in the airport the week before," he admitted. "I'm sitting in the airport to fly to Jacksonville. I looked at the price, $14.99. If it had said $25, I would've put it back on the shelf. I said what the heck? Why not, let's just wear the hat and see what happens."
Well, by now, we all know what happened -- Paul almost captured THE PLAYERS title in regulation but eventually lost in a playoff to Sergio. Paul's father started working at Long Beach State in the late 1950s and his mom lives across the street from the school to this day.
"Long Beach State was