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By Dave Lagarde
PGATOUR.com Correspondent

By all accounts, patience is a virtue in the game of life.

Chez Reavie averaged only 26.8 putts per round last week in Knoxville. (WireImage)

Things operate a little differently in the game of golf. In it, patience is an absolute essential, a must-have for a player to excel at the game's highest levels. Often it can be a necessity that takes a while to learn.

Chez Reavie understands about this patience deal being acquired knowledge. It is a lesson he took away from his first full season on the Nationwide Tour in 2006.

And it paid handsome dividends last week in the Knoxville Open presented by Food City, where Reavie ate the Fox Den Country Club golf course alive, shooting a 72-hole total of 17-under-par 271.

A 65 on Saturday and a 68 on Sunday led to Reavie's first Nationwide Tour victory, one that produced his career-best payday of $85,500 and moved him well inside "The 25'' at fifth with $181,347.

Things might have been different in the final round had Reavie, 25, not experienced some growing pains in his fledgling professional career in 2006. The most valuable thing he discovered was a golfer's need to "stay patient.''

"Last year, I would get upset if I wasn't 5 under through 15,'' said Reavie, whose given name is William Chesney Reavie. "This year I've realized that good rounds will come to you. You just can't press on this Tour.''

Reavie, who began the fourth round with a one-shot lead over tournament alternate Kyle McCarthy, had to call on that knowledge at a crucial point Sunday. He made things look easy early on, chasing away a flock of fluttering butterflies in his gut by bolting from the starting gate by going eagle, birdie, par, birdie. That's when trouble reared its ugly head.

Reavie's four-shot cushion evaporated like water on a Phoenix sidewalk in July when he made three bogeys before the turn. Suddenly, he and McCarthy were running head to head. Had it been 2006, Reavie would have had demons inhabiting his noggin, each one asking questions about his ability to close.

That's when he remembered patience. He stepped back, took a deep breath and composed himself.

Bingo!

Reavie bagged three consecutive birdies, while McCarthy made a bogey. His comfortable cushion restored he coasted to the finish line.

"I had to remember to stay patient,'' said Reavie, the 2001 United States Public Links champion and a three-time All-America at Arizona State. "That was the biggest thing I learned last year: Stay patient and play my own game.''

That's what Reavie heard over and over from his instructor, CBS Sports' golf analyst Peter Kostis, who, like Reavie, resides in one of America's golf meccas, Scottsdale, Ariz.

"He beat it into my head,'' Reavie said.

Kostis also played the role of Dr. Melfi to Reavie's Tony Soprano, dishing out some very helpful golf psychology following the end of Reavie's Nationwide Tour rookie season. Reavie, who owned conditional status after placing 119th in the finals of PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament, started 2006 by making his first 15 cuts.

Trouble was, there was only one five-figure paycheck that came after he finished tied for sixth in the Peek'N Peak Classic in early July. He scored three more top 25s in his next five events and then slammed into the competitive wall.

Because of his status, Reavie felt he had to chase the money if he had any hope of squeezing into the Tour's top 20 leaders in that category, thereby securing his PGA TOUR playing privileges in 2007. He kept pushing and pushing, wearing himself to a frazzle.

"Knowing what I know now I would have taken a week off somewhere there,'' Reavie said. "I didn't and I got tired. Live and learn.''

In Reavie's case, it was the hard way. He made only two of seven cuts to finish the season, winning a mere $7,747 of his total earnings of $93,713. He finished 63rd on the money list, missing his chance to shoot for the PGA TOUR moon in the Nationwide Tour championship.

Enter Kostis. He told Reavie to take three days to think about his season, to think whatever thoughts he liked, no matter how negative. Then it was time to purge the bitter taste of a blown opportunity and start thinking positively. No other thoughts would do.

Reavie did just that, telling himself he had played very well considering his conditional status. The positive approach worked.

"It helped me get through Q-School,'' said Reavie, who finished as the 26th Nationwide Tour qualifier.

And the time and hard work he put in with Kostis during the off-season as well as the lessons learned in 2006 had him prepared to play better in 2007.

The victory in Knoxville was proof positive that patience pays off.