Foursome of rookies see Sunday as a huge step forward  PGATOUR.com Correspondent AVONDALE, La. -- One round of golf, a mere 18 holes.  Young Kyle Reifers knows Sunday could be a career-changing day. (Mike Ehrmann/WireImage)
That's all that remains in the 2007 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. And it should be in the books about 5:00 p.m. CDT time Sunday. But not before a possible career-altering opportunity awaits some obscure players who meticulously worked their way up the tightly bunched leaderboard at the Tournament Players Club of Louisiana in Saturday's third round. Take a glance and check out the unfamiliar names like Kyle Reifers, Chris Stroud, Michael Sim and Jarrod Lyle hovering within go-low-round's striking distance of what every one of the 156 entrants wanted when the 72-hole event began Thursday -- an elusive tournament victory. Each of those challengers is a PGA TOUR rookie. And each has crept higher on the leaderboard through 54 holes than he ever has in his just-launched career. None of them are sleeping on the lead. Third-year player Nick Watney, also in search of his first PGA TOUR victory is at 12-under-par 204 after a third-round 68. But that doesn't mean Reifers, Stroud, Sim and Lyle won't be breathing some extremely rare air Sunday, learning volumes about what it takes to succeed in a dog-eat-dog business as they go. No one in this foursome of neophytes owns a wealth of one of the TOUR's most precious commodities, experience. The only way to gain some is to have your feet held to the fire. So that is just another reason why Sunday will be the most important round they have played in 2007. The most important reason, however, can be found stashed inside the tournament purse. At $6.1 million, it marks the largest in a regular event thus far this season, offering the champion the handsome sum of $1,098,000. Naturally, winning it and hoisting the championship hardware would be wonderful. But the second-place check worth $658,800 would be an idyllic consolation prize, as would third- ($414,800), fourth- ($292,800) or fifth-place ($244,000) cash. Money earned is what drives the players' engines. Win enough to fit inside the top 125 on the season-ending money list and a player's job is secure for 2008. Large financial gains like the above early in a season also are extremely beneficial in helping players who graduated through the Nationwide Tour or made it through Qualifying School the previous year get into more events. That is the short-end category where Q-School grads Reifers, who currently is 134th on the money list, and Stroud and Nationwide Tour alums Sim and Lyle (167th) find themselves. Seizing the day and pocketing as much loot as possible is highly advisable, especially for Stroud, who has yet to make a paycheck in five starts, and Sim, a young Australian making his start as a PGA TOUR member after sitting out the beginning of the season with a back injury. "I want to win the golf tournament,'' said Reifers, the first-rounder leader who is alone in fifth place after a 1-under 71 Saturday. "But I also know a big check can set up the rest of my year. But I can't afford to think about it like I need X amount. If I do that, it will drive me crazy.'' Stroud, a graduate of Lamar University who is tied for sixth at 7 under, also has a win in his crosshairs. "I feel like I can do it,'' he said Saturday. Despite missing his first five cuts in 2007, Stroud also felt that way Friday. He boldly told fellow Lamar alumni and New Orleans PGA TOUR professional Kelly Gibson he was going to win as he walked to the first tee for the second round. "I feel like I'm striking the ball well and putting it well,'' he said. "I feel like the only person in the tournament that can beat me is me.'' Nevertheless, Stroud expressed relief that he was playing on the weekend for the first time, calling it the "first step of many'' in his career. "My first was to make a check,'' he said. "The second is finish top 25, then top 10, then win. I can knock out a few of them with a good round tomorrow. I also know a big check can make a big difference in my life short term.''
Sim, in a 10-way tie for 11th, is happy to be competing again after hurting his back sometime around the Nationwide Tour Championship in early November. He claims he is feeling fine, is excited about his success thus far in his first official start is ready for the daunting challenge. "I'm looking forward to it,'' he said. "I'm sure I'll be a little nervous tomorrow because I've never been here before, but at the same time I'm hitting it well and have some confidence.'' Lyle, another Australian, said he decided to live by the Aussie phrase "no worries'' starting this week. He was putting too much pressure on himself with results-oriented thinking. "I just haven't played to my potential, but things are coming around this week,'' he said. "I hit it better here than I have all year. That's a real positive.'' And as far as the money goes, no worries, he said. "I keep an eye on it sometimes, but in the end it just about getting out there and playing good golf,'' he said. "That's something I'd like to do tomorrow.'' Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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