Print this page  |  Close Window

By Dave Lagarde
PGATOUR.com Contributor

The third time is the charm.

Tripp Isenhour has played well in spurts in 2007, but week-to-week consistency has eluded him. (WireImage)

At least that's the way the saying goes. But fortunes at professional golf's highest level, where nothing is guaranteed, don't necessarily adhere to old saws like the above.

Tripp Isenhour, a two-time winner on the Nationwide Tour in 2006 and one of a handful of players who have used it as their avenue to the PGA TOUR on three occasions, can tell you chapter and verse on the subject.

One might think Isenhour's third tour of duty on TOUR would be one of the circuit's best amateur chef's days of wine and roses. But turned out Isenhour's wine was corked and his roses were wilted.

"I got off to an inauspicious start,'' said Isenhour, 39, another of the handful for former Georgia Tech All-Americans who dot the PGA TOUR roster. "I made a lot of cuts (five of his first six), but I wasn't playing very well.''

The scorecard doesn't lie. It agreed with Isenhour, who only broke 70 four times in his first 23 rounds with a best finish of tie for 31st. He made a little more than $67,000 in official earnings, nothing more than pocket change by today's astronomical purse standards.

But things took a decided turn for the better at The Honda Classic in South Florida. Isenhour shot 68-67 on the weekend and climbed into a tie for fifth, worth $200,000.

"I played golf the way I know I can play,'' he said.

It was just a snippet of a good run though, a weekend's worth of exemplary play. And basically that's how long it lasted in a game with no guarantees. Isenhour drove across Florida to Tampa, where he claims he had a "golf hangover'' at the PODS Championship. Then in a game with no guarantees, a balky back intervened.

Neverthless, he moved on to the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard hoping to once again gather the momentum he had on the weekend at The Honda Classic. But Isenhour attempted to play through the pain. It was a mistake, one that cost him five valuable weeks of activity.

"I was too dense to rest it for a few weeks,'' Isenhour said. "It was just spasms and I believed I could handle it.''

Isenhour insisted he played good golf, but saw nothing in the results over the next four months. Again the numbers don't lie. He entered 14 events, withdrew from three, missed the cut in eight others and had a best finish of tie for 34th in the three times he played the weekend. He made a little less than $46,000 in that stretch to fall behind in the FedExCup and money chases.

Opportunity knocked at the Canadian Open presented Franklin Templeton Investments when he opened with rounds of 65-68 and found himself a shot out of the lead. But he was thwarted by a third-round 73 as he slipped into a tie for 15th.

Isenhour scored another top-20 finish three weeks later at the Wyndham Championship, making enough to qualify for the playoffs. Misfortune struck again, though, when he was forced to withdraw following the first round of The Barclays. Isenhour will have to rest now until the Fall Series begins Sept. 20. And he is taking it philosophically.

"You could say I'm a journeyman and a member of the rank-and-file,'' he said, looking back on a career that includes four Nationwide Tour victories and four-plus seasons on the PGA TOUR. "I know I'm not Tiger Woods, but I still play the game at a pretty high level and I'm getting close to the maximum from my ability.''

The kitchen is another place Isenhour gets the maximum out of his abilities. He and Brian Bateman could go head-to-head in a PGA TOUR version of The Iron Chef and the outcome would be too close to call. Isenhour likens all the prep work involved in preparing a great meal to the strategy involved in preparing for a tournament.

"I like to see steps of a recipe and I get into the process,'' Isenhour said of his work in the kitchen. "It really is like golf because you need a recipe to play a course. Cooking involves preparing and if you don't prepare well the dish will not turn out well.

"It's the same in golf. You have a recipe that calls for 18 steps and you better follow them. But sometimes you have to improvise just like in cooking.''

Isenhour will have to cook up lots of low numbers down the stretch if he is to maintain his playing privileges on the PGA TOUR in 2008. He is in 137th spot with $448,424, more than $110,000 behind Bill Haas, who is 125th. But there is time to make up ground.

"I won't be focused on that,'' he said of the annual money chase. "I just go to the first tee and hit the golf ball. If I play the way I'm capable of playing things will take care of themselves.''