Blackmar preparing for Champions Tour career  PGATOUR.com Correspondent HUMBLE, Texas -- A six footer for birdie. A pitching wedge to 3 feet on the final hole for another birdie. A heck of a finish. Heck of a way to take a little of the sting out of two 9s on your scorecard, too. A quadruple bogey on the fifth; a triple at the eighth. Water. Multiple times. Both holes.  Phil Blackmar is looking forward to his next tournament in Houston this November as a member of the Champions Tour. (Condon/PGA TOUR/WireImage)
An 82 to go with an opening 75. Ten-over par at the Shell Houston Open. Last place. And a start. That Phil Blackmar walked off the course with a smile on his face and his son at his side should speak volumes about the last two days. It's been a decade since the 6-foot-7 former University of Texas player won the Shell Houston Open at the old TPC at The Woodlands course, but it's also mere sixth months until he tees it up again in the Houston area. But that next time it will be in his debut as a member of the Champions Tour. Yes, Blackmar turns 50 in September and he'll celebrate at the Administaff Small Business Classic. And, yes, he has a bit of work to do. This was his first event of the year and only his third event in the last 12 months. And eighth event, period, since the start of the 2001 season. "As poorly as I scored, I enjoyed it,'' he said. "I wish I could play tomorrow and the next day. That's a change for me as poor as my attitude was there for a while.'' He pretty much walked away from competition in 2000 and turned to broadcasting, where he made a name for himself with the USA Network. Now that USA is out of golf and Blackmar has only limited opportunities, he's ready to get back on the course. "It's just a process,'' he said. "I have some things to figure out. Just in the course of the last two days, I've figured out a couple of things.'' He needs to get his putter going and settle on a driver. But the good news? He hit three or four drives over 340 yards at Redstone. And once he settles on a driver, "that will be a heck of a bonus out there (Champions Tour).'' Blackmar didn't start working on his game until November and has only played a few rounds, period. "I was a little nervous,'' he said. "I'm not competitively sharp at all.'' That will come with time. But not at the expense of his family. His youngest son is a freshman starter in right field on Corpus Christi Carroll's baseball team. His wife Carol, a UT-ex too, is coaching Texas A&M-CC's golf team. And there are the three oldest to keep up with too -- two of them will be at A&M. "When I was out here as a player, golf came first,'' he said. "Now, I'll still be a player, but my family will be first.'' |
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