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By Helen Ross
PGATOUR.com Chief of Correspondents

HONOLULU, Hawaii -- When he was a teenager, he used to vacuum the carpet in the pro shop at Waialae Country Club at closing time a couple of days a week. He'd take out the trash and clean the bathrooms in the locker rooms and cart barn.

"Not so much physically scrubbing the toilets or anything," Parker McLachlin admitted with a grin. "But I'd go in and mop or do whatever was needed. That was my way to be able to play here and practice because we weren't members here."

Turns out, McLachlin worked as hard on the range as he did in the pro shop. The personable 27-year-old returns this week to Waialae for the first time as a PGA TOUR member to play in the Sony Open in Hawaii.

The young Hawaiian has played in the Sony Open two other times, and enjoyed the experience immensely. But McLachlin, who tees off at 1:50 p.m. ET with Andrew Buckle and David Chin, who is also from Honolulu, always knew something was missing.

"I was looking at all the other guys rather than looking at myself," McLachlin said. "Now that I'm a member of the PGA TOUR, it's like this is my tour. I belong. And this is the first of many events to come.

"That's a pretty big difference as far as feeling when I'm stepping out on the driving range or the first tee."

Everywhere he goes now, McLachlin sees people he knows -- marshals, volunteers, family and friends. McLachlin went to the same high school in Honolulu as Michelle Wie, and his father, Chris, still teaches there.

"Everybody's like, I remember when you used to clean my clubs, and I was like, yeah., that was me," McLachlin said, grinning. "So this tournament means a lot."

If Hollywood was scripting the action at the Sony Open, McLachlin would be the Cinderfella alternative to the 17-year-old Wie, who is bidding to become the first woman to make the cut in a TOUR event since Babe Didrickson Zaharias in 1945.

After all, not only did McLachlin take his first lesson at Waialae at the age of 8, he has a former U.S. Open winner -- and current Champions Tour star -- Scott Simpson on his bag this week. The two met when the 13-year-old Parker was hitting balls on the range and his instructor introduced them.

Simpson volunteered to caddie for McLachlin last year when he survived Monday qualifying and Simpson didn't. McLachlin has caddied for Simpson several times as well, including in the Sony Open the year after they met when the teen was barely bigger than the bag.

"I was, like, 5-foot-6, about 85 pounds," McLachlin recalled.

"I had the big bag and there were times when he was struggling to keep up," Simpson said, chuckling. "He was just a little guy then. He sprouted later. But he did great."

Simpson and the McLachlin family remain very close. McLachlin's father even caddied for Simpson at the Masters one year. So the seven-time TOUR winner has watched the UCLA product grow -- as a person and a golfer -- and he likes what he sees.

"He's really solid," Simpson said. "He has a really good attitude toward having good goals and working at them -- but at the same time being relaxed enough to enjoy the game and not be too hard on himself.

"That's the tendency with young players. They all want to be Tiger Woods. They want to be the best, and it's a frustrating game. He's got a really good attitude for handling that, persevering and not getting upset. I think that's one of his real strengths."

McLachlin says he learns by watching how Simpson, whom he calls the "consummate golf professional" conducts himself. When McLachlin fell a shot shy of getting his TOUR card last year, Simpson was quick to offer encouragement.

"He said, 'This is going to be the best thing for you. I think it's going to be really good for you to go out there and have a year to really groom your game,'" McLachlin remembered. "It's not so much certain things that he says, it's just spending time with him. You pick up little nuggets of wisdom."

Simpson thinks McLachlin has the game to succeed on the PGA TOUR. He has warned him, though, about looking for shortcuts and getting too caught up in what other players are doing.

"You see guys that do things better than you," Simpson explained. "You see guys who hit it farther. You see guys who make more putts. The tendency is, wow, why don't I try that or this?

"His swing's improved so much, his game has improved so much, (he needs to) just keep doing what he's doing and realize there are going to be bad weeks out here. You're going to have weeks when you miss cuts. But don't change anything. Just work on getting it better. I think he's going to do that.

"That is one of his strengths. He's got a level head. That's why I think he's got a great chance of making it and doing really well."

McLachlin comes from an extremely athletic family. His father played volleyball at Stanford. His mother Beth was an Olympian who came over to attend the University of Hawaii after meeting her future husband at a volleyball tournament.

McLachlin's brother, Spencer, plays basketball and volleyball for Punahou High and has just signed a scholarship to play volleyball at Stanford like his father. McLachlin's sister Bekka played volleyball at Salt Lake City Community College.

McLachlin, like his brother, dabbled in both sports until he got to junior high school. A seventh-place finish at the Junior Worlds in San Diego, though, convinced McLachlin that he might be able to take his game to a higher level.

He's at the highest level now, and McLachlin is enjoying his time as a TOUR pro in Honolulu. He's been extremely busy, though. There were meetings early in the week, and he played in the Pro-Junior on Tuesday.

McLachlin estimates he asked for 60-70 tickets, and gave them to his father to distribute. He's had upwards of 10 or 12 dinner invitations. He's been a popular target of the media and spent Wednesday giving "INSIDE the PGA TOUR" a look at his hometown.

"I've got so many other things going on outside the ropes that it's almost like when I'm inside the ropes ... this is kind of my sanctuary now," McLachlin said. "There are just so many other outside obligations being from Hawaii and growing up on this golf course (that) I need to take care of.

"It's not so pressure, but it's just like lots of people pulling you in different directions."

McLachlin feels learning how to manage his time -- on and off the golf course -- will be a key to his success. He knows this week is just the beginning of a marathon, not a sprint. He'd said he'd like nothing better than to be a candidate for Rookie of the Year because that would mean "I'm doing the right things.

"I'm excited to get this tournament started," McLachlin said. "I'm excited to have that feeling of what it's going to be like on the first tee. I think that's going to be pretty special. But as far as the whole year, I think I want it to go by real slow, you know? I want just to be able to enjoy everything and savor it because things can go by real quick.

"I want to just continue to try and have some perspective and enjoy what I am doing. This is pretty awesome to be able to play golf for a living and get paid for it and play great courses. It's pretty special."