Eschewing business, LaBelle pursues his career on the links  PGATOUR.com Senior Correspondent HONOLULU -- Doug LaBelle II always knew that if he couldn't cut it as a golfer, a sweet desk job was waiting for him back home in Mount Pleasant, Mich. It was far from, um, a pleasant thought, though, even if it was a potentially cushy position working for a well-established firm where he might have been treated like family.  Doug LaBelle II hopes never to go into the family business. (Marco Garcia/WireImage)
Probably because he is family. His father and uncle together have spent 45 years building LaBelle Management into one of the largest restaurant and hotel operators in mid-Michigan. LaBelle has all but wiped this fact from his memory, not because he isn't proud of his dad -- he is, very much so -- but because he never wanted to get too comfortable with any setbacks he might encounter on the way to pursuing his dream. "I always knew I wasn't cut out to be a desk jockey. I didn't even want to think about it," said the PGA TOUR rookie, who in his chosen profession has not always enjoyed dandy lodgings or a regular paycheck. "I never wanted to get to where I felt like I had something to fall back on. "I saw how hard my father worked, all the hours he put in before he could reap the benefits. I just knew that wasn't going to be for me, and I wasn't going to allow myself to even consider it." LaBelle took another big leap away from loafers and power lunches Sunday at the Sony Open in Hawaii. In just his fourth PGA TOUR start and his first as a member, LaBelle, who turns 32 later this week, closed his own deal like a savvy veteran, firing a career-low 5-under-par 65 at Waialae Country Club. The furious finish, second lowest of the day, gave him a 9-under 271 total and a tie for fourth place with world No. 2 Jim Furyk, K.J. Choi and Steve Stricker, the 2006 Comeback Player of the Year. LaBelle's bogey-free closing effort capped the strongest performance of the weekend. He shot 66 on Saturday for a 9-under-par effort over his final 36 holes. Throw in the two birdies he converted on his last two holes Friday just to make the cut on the number and you have a guy who went a blistering 11 under over 38 holes, a binge if ever there was one. "It's what I've been looking for, it's something I've felt was in me," said LaBelle, who reached the PGA TOUR after finishing 15th on the Nationwide Tour money list in '06. "If you get a chance you have to take advantage of it, and I got the start I wanted out here. It's something to build on." Sure is. LaBelle, who credited solid driving and improved putting for his performance, earned $204,750 and 984 FedExCup points and heads to the Buick Invitational armed with something even more valuable -- confidence. Not that he's ever been lacking. A two-time All-American at the University of New Mexico, LaBelle suffered from a bit of youthful delusion when he embarked on the path to golf's upper tiers. "My first thought about professional golf was that it was going to be easy, and I was going to make a lot of money," he said, laughing at the thought. "The older I got the more I realized it wasn't easy and that the pond was really big, and that it wasn't a pond, it was more like an ocean. In Michigan I was a big fish in a small pond. Now I'm just trying to survive with the sharks." LaBelle played on the Australasian and Canadian Tours as well as four years on the Nationwide Tour before finally gaining status on the PGA TOUR. His victory in the 2006 Price Cutter Charity Championship was crucial in his progress, but he'll gladly tell you the whole experience of the Nationwide Tour -- be they wins, losses, cuts and bruises -- has been worthwhile. He applied the lessons he learned to his first visit to Hawaii. "The Nationwide Tour is just a great place to play," LaBelle said. "It helps you find a comfort level. If you can get comfortable playing the golf course and not worry about your surroundings, then you can compete anywhere. It's when you start thinking about where you are or worrying about who you're playing with, then you waste energy on things that you can't control, and then things just aren't going to go your way. "I was into my own game today and for much of the week, and I was comfortable with what I was trying to do. I never felt that nervous. It was just me and the golf course." LaBelle made reference earlier to the brutal hours his father put in, but that doesn't mean he doesn't value a strong work ethic. In fact, ask him about his leisure time, and his face goes blank. He likes to work out. He likes to hang out at the golf course. There's no mystery to why he keeps improving. "I'm actually trying to do a better job of relaxing, but it's hard for me," said LaBelle, who went to the beach in Oahu for just one hour all week but otherwise wore out the practice facilities at Waialae. "I've got a practice mentality. Eventually I might learn how to have more balance, but right now I'm pretty focused. I have a lot of goals that I hope to reach someday. Out here it's all about executing." Well, better to execute than to be an executive. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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