Beem still a bubble boy, but better off than last year

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Nov. 3, 2009
By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent

Rich Beem couldn't imagine why someone would call him Monday afternoon.

What in the world, he chuckled, could he have to say about anything other than the perfect, crisp-morning, pleasant-afternoon fall weather in Texas? Or his kids. Or the Longhorns.

Well, there is that little thing called a number. His happens to be 124. And the magic number at the end of next week? That would be 125.

Video: Beem on '02 PGA Video

Oh, that.

Beemer has a little room to spare going into the final week of the season. Precious little. But he'll take it.

A good, fun week and decent finish at the Children's Miracle Network, and he's fully exempt for the 2010 season. That's his focus. Not the combinations and permutations. Not the what-ifs. And definitely not the other players.

"Obviously, I will be feeling pressure, but, at the same time, I'm not going to dwell on things I can't control,'' Beem said. "I'm going to go out there, and if I can be efficient with my golf game, it's going to be a non-issue Sunday.''

A year ago, the former PGA champion was struggling to make it into the top 125, and he missed. He finished 140th and found himself asking tournament sponsors for exemptions.

"It's a humbling experience,'' he said. "I wrote letters to pretty much every tournament I wanted to get into. Some I got in on my own number, some I played my way in.''

His best guess? He needed between 15 and 19 exemptions. He got them, and the tournaments got his gratitude. But he doesn't want to find himself going down that road again.

"It's kind of tough,'' Beemer said.

He's hardly alone. Every year, a collection of veterans and hopeful young faces find themselves looking at the same situation. This year's bubble boys also include former British Open champion David Duval, who has battled back from nowhere and is on the hot seat at No. 125. Then there's Ricky Barnes and Steve Flesch (Nos. 122 and 123), as well as Chris Riley, Jeff Maggert and Tim Herron (126-128) to name just a few.

It's a finer line than usual on those final few days of every season. Fall on the right side, and you've got a year to make it count and figure out how not to be walking that line again. Fall on the wrong side and, like Beemer did last year, you're left to rely on the kindness of others.

"You talk about only one more week,'' said Beemer, whose best finish in an up-and-down year was a share of sixth at the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun. "Hell, I've had 30 weeks, but I haven't done it yet. So are you going to blame your season on one week or everything that happened up until then?

"I'm not looking at the fact that I have one more week to do it. If I was going to concentrate on anything, it would be why I didn't do it earlier. Tell me again? Cause this is not fun.''

Feldman/Getty Images

Rich Beem has five top-25 finishes in 2009.

Beemer has a way of making you -- and himself -- laugh. No matter what.

He doesn't make excuses. He just picks himself up and moves on. He finds a way. The bad times, you see, are there to remind you that the good times aren't far away.

Beemer is doing just that. It would have been nice if he'd had two events to take care of business at the end of the year, but when the Viking Classic was canceled because of heavy rains that led to unplayable conditions, the magic number became one. And it's maybe a slight advantage to those just inside the top 125.

"I think the guys in my position right now, I don't think one iota less,'' Beemer said. "I think if they were 126th on the list, might have a different attitude about it. It affected everybody, and that's just the way it goes. We have no control over it. The PGA TOUR made the right call. We couldn't play.'''

So it's on to the magic of Disney World next week, where your kids can have a blast and you can go low on the Magnolia and Palm Courses. Beemer has finished in the top 25 the past two years and tied for third in 2005.

"The only thing I can do is go out and enjoy what I'm doing at the moment and make the best of a situation I don't want to be in,'' he said. "Certainly I'm going to be nervous. Certainly it's not going to be the greatest. The only way you're going to feel pressure is if you think about it and put it on yourself, so I don't handle pressure very well, so I'm not going to think about it.''

Instead, he's helping out with next Tuesday's Pro-Am party draw and playing in the Parent-Child the next day with 6-year-old Michael and 4-year-old Bailee. Last year, he and Michael shot 71 and finished second in his age group. And Bailee? She won her age group for just hanging out all day with dad and having a "fun day." No one else entered.

"They both got trophies,'' Beemer said. "Hers is bigger than his, and she didn't hit a shot. Try to explain that to the kids."

Beemer will be nervous, but not about his game. This has been a year of one step forward, one -- maybe 1 ½ -- back at times, but he said it all goes with playing golf.

"I still think I'm hitting the ball better than I ever have in my career,'' he said. "I'm putting it better, I'm chipping it better. I'm doing everything better than I ever have in my career. I think I'm a better player than I have been in my life, and I truly believe that.

"I feel absolutely fantastic about my game. But now, at this time of the year, it's just basically, let's just do whatever we can to get the ball in the hole as quickly as possible so we can keep our job. And then we've got a month and a half to reflect on what we need to work on, and let's see if we can attack it then.''

Enough said.

Melanie Hauser is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. Her views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.