Nationwide Insider: Second year key for Anderson

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Chris Condon/PGA TOUR

Mark Anderson has broken 70 in five of six rounds in 2011.

NATIONWIDE TOUR PLAYERS TO WATCH IN 2011: No. 8 Mark Anderson | The Top 10 to Watch

Like most Nationwide Tour pros, Mark Anderson worries about everything from his swing plane to which hotel he is going to stay in during a tournament week.

And there's also something that's been pressing on his mind these days, but it has nothing to do with golf. Anderson, 25, is in his second season on the Nationwide Tour and is a die-hard Carolina Panthers' fan.

One of his concerns is who will the Panthers take with the top overall pick in next month's draft.

"I don't know what they are going to do," Anderson said. "I was really hoping that Andrew Luck of Stanford was going to come out for the draft, but that didn't happen. I don't think (returning starter) Jimmy Clausen is the answer."

Whatever the Panthers do is out of Anderson's control, but he expects to be more in control this season on the Nationwide Tour.

He went through his rookie season in 2010 like a bull in a china shop, making plenty of noise in finishing No. 60th on the money list to secure his card for this season.

There were plenty of good tournaments (three top-10s in 2010) but there were plenty of bad moments as well, such as missing four of five cuts in August and September.

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So far this season, Anderson feels like he's in control, despite his short game struggles that he called "just a little rusty."

The Nationwide Tour will have two weeks off before making its domestic debut March 24-27 at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open.

Anderson, a 2008 graduate of the University of South Carolina who lives in Beaufort, S.C., has had a decent start to this season. He opened the year tying for 13th at the Panama CLARO Championship then slogged his way to a tie for 49th in the two-round Pacific Rubiales Bogota Open this past weekend.

It was a brutal test of the players and tournament officials because of heavy rain that forced the tournament to be reduced to 36 holes that was eventually won by Brenden Pappas.

"It was just unfortunate that we had some rain every day and the course was already so wet before we got there," Anderson said.

With two weeks to recharge his batteries Anderson said he learned a few things that he will work on.

"I will kind of re-access what I did well in those two weeks and I feel like I have some good feedback of what areas of my game I need to work on," Anderson said.

Just knowing what he needs to address is different from where Anderson was a year ago. When he first hit the Nationwide Tour he admits he was all over the place in his practice habits and even how much to practice from week to week.

There came a time at the end of the season when he was so wore down from grinding he made a rather bold decision. After playing a full season and finishing 60th on the money list he had earned exempt status to the second stage of PGA TOUR Qualifying School, but he elected to not go through that stage that would have possible led to the final stage.

He took a long-term view of his career and because he was spent he knew he couldn't give it 100 percent at second-stage qualifying.

"I guess it was kind of out of the ordinary to not go to that second stage," Anderson said. "But for me it was a couple of things and the biggest thing was I was mentally burnt out and I needed to take a break. I just knew I couldn't commit totally to that because of how I had worked so hard to grind to get inside the top 60 to earn my Nationwide Tour card for this season."

Anderson said he learned so much from last year's rookie season on the tour that he knew that getting another chance this season would be his best shot at getting to the PGA TOUR.

"I just think the best way to get to the PGA TOUR is through the Nationwide Tour," Anderson said. "The courses and the competition are just outstanding and it was in my best interest to go home, rest up, and come out ready to go this season."

Anderson plans on making his second season on the Nationwide Tour even better than his first. One of his goals is to be in contention more often on Sunday, something he said he never really did in 2010.

He also will continue to adhere to his superstition of playing in clean and shiny golf shoes.

More importantly, he says the off-season refreshed him mentally and physically.

"I feel like my second year out here I'll have more confidence and I understand the courses better and that's a huge advantage," he said. "I can prepare better and I know what it takes to be a professional and that all has to do with how the Nationwide Tour gives us those chances to learn."

John Dell has covered golf for the Winston-Salem Journal in North Carolina for the last 16 years. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.