Injured Tomasulo not sure what to expect this week

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Peter Tomasulo will have to play golf in a custom boot, but he won't miss the Nationwide Tour Championship at Daniel Island.

Peter Tomasulo won't be lacing up his sneakers to play pick-up basketball anytime soon.

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Tomasulo broke a bone in his right foot playing basketball at Tennessee-Chattanooga's McKenzie Arena three weeks ago. He had to withdraw from the Nationwide Tour's Chattanooga Classic presented by Black Creek and he's missed the next two tournaments as well.

However, Tomasulo will return to competition this week at the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship at Daniel Island.

"The doctors just cleared me," Tomasulo said Monday from Long Beach, Calif., where he was about to fly out to South Carolina. "I have to wear a special boot, but I'm going to give it a go."

Tomasulo, 29, has one victory this season and sits 18th on the money list. With $220,712 in earnings he has done enough to earn his PGA TOUR card again for 2011.

"I'm a pretty competitive person and I want to be out there," he said. "The doctors said I can't really hurt it any worse than it already is. It's pretty painful."

Tomasulo says another reason he wants to play in the Nationwide Tour Championship is to participate in the post-tournament ceremony for those who graduate to the PGA TOUR.

"I want to be there because it shows that you have worked hard all year," said Tomasulo, who received his TOUR card at the festivities in 2008 after finishing 11th on the money list.

Tomasulo admits he won't exactly be prepared for the tournament and says he hasn't picked up a club since Oct. 4, which was the Monday of the week of the Chattanooga Classic.

"I'm well-rested," he joked, "but I'm rusty also."

He's tried putting on the carpet at home, but hasn't attempted too many full swings. Tomasulo, who won the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic Presented by Samsung in July, says that being the competitive person that he is, he wants to see how he'll respond.

"I'm hoping I can go out there and make some good swings," he said.

If Tomasulo can finish the 72 holes he'll receive at least $3,000 for his efforts. He thinks that might be the amount it will take to get him into two or three PGA TOUR events early in 2011.

Before his injury Tomasulo had made five straight cuts and was feeling very confident, "but then I got hurt so I don't know where I stand at this point," he said.

Another thing Tomasulo remembers from the Nationwide Tour Championship two years ago was how well the tournament was run.

"It's a nice event and everybody that's in the top 60 is happy to be there even though a lot of guys will be stressed out trying to get into the top 25," Tomasulo said. "It's a cool event."

As for playing basketball again, Tomasulo said: "It will be a long time before I do that."

John Dell has covered golf for the Winston-Salem Journal in North Carolina for the last 17 years. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.