Matteson carries strong '06 finish into 2007  PGATOUR.com Senior Correspondent KAPALUA, Hawaii -- Troy Matteson shook his head in wonder. "Things change pretty fast in golf," he said with a grin. He had just bogeyed the 18th hole at Kapalua Resort's Plantation Course Friday to shoot a still-satisfying 3-under-par 70 but watched his playing partner, Adam Scott, birdie it. The two-shot swing meant that Scott, ranked No. 4 in the world, edged him by a stroke on the day and on the leaderboard through 36 holes of the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship. 
"Anytime you can play with someone of Adam's caliber, you learn a lot," Mattson said after completing 36 holes at 143, tied for eighth with Luke Donald and Stephen Ames. What Matteson learned on an unusually damp but typically blustery day on Maui is that he's not far from being in the same class. For a young player still establishing his chops on the PGA TOUR despite a win under his belt after one season, this was no small epiphany, though linear thinking would have brought him to that conclusion, having seen for himself how slight the gap between success and oblivion. After all, Matteson's victory in the Fry's.com Open last fall literally pulled him off the edge of a rather deep gorge. The 2005 Nationwide Tour money leader had not distinguished himself through his first 27 starts of the '06 PGA TOUR season. The too-many raps sheet read two top-25s and 14 missed cuts. Then came his rising in the fall. One of four rookie winners in '06, Matteson shot four rounds in the 60s to capture the Las Vegas stop after consecutive top-10s. He nearly captured the Walt Disney World Golf Classic the week after, tying for second place, and then he capped his run by with tie for ninth in the Chrysler Championship in what was his 10th straight week signing scorecards. "I was looking at the second stage at Q-School and then in a few weeks I'm going to the Masters," said Matteson, who qualified for a trip to Augusta National Golf Club for the year's first major by finishing 36th on the money list. (The top 40 earn automatic berths.) "It's really hard to believe." Maybe so, but his turnaround is easy to understand. With help from his swing instructor, Jeff Paton, Matteson applied some rhythm and tempo to what was a sound golf swing. That enabled him to strike the ball more solidly. He gained accuracy and distance. And confidence. He's still riding the momentum of that finish. "I was lucky to be in the position I was in, where I could still get into tournaments late in the year," he said. "That was all I needed was that little burst, but if I hadn't had the status to get in, I'd have never had the chance to get it going and win." And he wouldn't be in Hawaii with 33 other winners from a year ago, getting a jump on the rest of the TOUR in the first tournament of the new FedExCup competition. Furthermore, he's getting a jump on his own internal progress report. "Coming here, I'm not sure I was expecting that for 10 years, or at least not after just one on the PGA TOUR," Matteson confessed. "It's a great experience when you can play with some of these guys who have won majors or multiple titles and test your game against them and against a pretty tough golf course. Coming here validates that you belong on the TOUR and that what you are doing is good." But he knows he can be better. "Guys like Adam, they are just so much more proficient doing the simple things, and that's how they separate themselves," Matteson said. "You don't necessarily notice that until you play with him or Vijay, who I played with in Tampa. It's all part of the learning process. I'm getting a pretty big lesson in how to manage your game this week. I already feel like I'm just a little bit ahead of where I was last year." And he knows now it doesn't take much to get there. |
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