Aided by a hot putter, Forsman contends with the young guys  PGATOUR.com Correspondent SAN ANTONIO -- Every so often, his neighbors drop by and mention they've noticed how all the hard work has finally paid off. The lawn looks great.  Dan Forsman is looking for his first top-10 finish in 2007. (Ferrey/WireImage)
Dan Forsman just smiles. Yes, he's had plenty of time on his hands this year to make sure the edging is perfect; the garden weed-free. He takes pride in what he's done. And what he hopes he's about to do. Forsman has been caught in that uncomfortable little just-about-fiftysomething purgatory between the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour where just about every player save Fred Funk, Tom Watson and Jay Haas spends a little time. No status except as a past Champion, which makes it tough when fields are down to 132 players. No need to write for exemptions -- those are for the younger guys. No Q-school. Twice was enough. And just sporadic competition makes it tough to keep a game sharp. But not impossible. For the past two days the 49-year-old Forsman has felt like Billy Casper. Everything he's looked at has gone in the hole. The sidewinder from 6 feet on his very first hole of the week. The 4-footer for par at the 18th hole on Friday that, so many other weeks, would have avoided the hole. But Friday, it was dead center for a second round 68, a two-day total of 133 at the Valero Texas Open and an opportunity at his first top-10 finish of the year. His first, in fact, since finishing sixth here in 2003. "Very gratifying to be 7-under,'' he said. "If I get hot the next two rounds, who knows.'' Call this one Forsman's lucky 13th tournament of the year -- he's played 10 on the PGA TOUR, three on the Nationwide Tour. The last time he made the cut was in May at the AT&T Classic. And a top 10? That would get him in next week's Frys.com Open -- a luxury he hasn't had in quite a while. In fact, he was an alternate coming into this week. And when he got in, he played in both the Monday and Wednesday pro-ams as a thank you. "I came here hoping to get in a la the John Daly (at the 1991 PGA Championship) sort of story on a lesser scale,'' he said. "But not for me because every start is significant.'' After winning five times on TOUR -- the last coming in the 2002 SEI Pennsylvania Classic -- Forsman has struggled. A little of this, a little of that. And, most recently, a balky putter, which was just fine until May. "I've been struggling,'' said Forsman, who was ranked 189th in putting coming into the week. "I don't have the answer for it. I just worked on it really hard over the weekend, really tinkered with a little of this, a little of that, spiced it up a bit and said, hey, you know, I think I can take that to the course this week.'' Then he bombed it out there on the 460-yard 10th hole Thursday -- his first of the tournament. "Starting on that hole...it's a brute, a monster,'' he said. "I've got a sidewinder 6 footer and I'm going, 'Okay Dan, you said your putter's been working so . . ' '' It went straight in. Center cut. "It got the momentum going,'' he said. Then he birdied the 12th and 13th . . . and opened with a 65. Friday, he did get 8-under after a birdie at the ninth, but bogeyed the 15th and settled for a 68. And a place on the leaderboard. It's all in the putting. "My key is you have to initiate,'' he said. "Whenever you play a golf shot, you have to initiate. With a forward press and what that does, it takes all the guesswork out. You hit it and go. I had gotten so mechanical, I had taken all the out all the feel. It allowed me to get some feel back.'' Now, if he can just close out the year. He doesn't turn 50 until July 15, 2008, but he said he isn't going to Q-school. In fact, he'll do what he did this year -- play a combination of PGA TOUR and Nationwide Tour events and play his way onto the Champions Tour. "Everyone I talked to said you need to keep playing,'' Forsman said. "Whether it's Nationwide, the TOUR or a combination thereof. I really realize the value of that. I can play at home with all of your friends, but it's nothing like being called to the first tee here where the pins are tucked, the rough is up and you're playing for something meaningful. "You know, when you miss by a shot or two down the stretch, it doesn't show up in the box score that you made the cut, but it hardens you, it seasons you as a player. Those are the experiences I'm clinging to the last year and a half. That if I can hang in there with the putter, I can get back. Kind of like what's happening so far this week.'' Forsman's 13 events have left him time to work on his game, his yard and help 17-year-old son Tommy with his game. In fact, Tommy just helped his Timp View High School team to a second-place finish in state and he was named to an all-state team.
His plans are to attend Arizona State -- Forsman's alma mater -- but he still has, as his dad put it, some work to do. "That's kept me in the fray, talking with him,'' Forsman said. "It's tough talking golf with a 17-year-old because, just like me at that age, he's got it all figured out.'' He laughed. This week at least, he seems to have things figured out. Those mudballs and shots that plugged the lip at last week's Viking Classic have disappeared. And his opening-79-on-the-way-to-another-missed-cut has morphed into two great opening rounds and a battle on the weekend. And, perhaps, a springboard onto the Champions Tour. "Those guys are very competitive,'' he said. "They're excellent players. I like to see what the young guys, what Mark Weibe did a few weeks ago (winning the SAS Championship). It gives me motivation to do similar type things.'' But back to this week where he put himself in position for a great run. And, for his neighbors to congratulate him once again. For the hard work on the golf course. |
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