Maginnes: Hometown hero Sindelar ready to determine his fate  PGATOUR.com Contributor VERONA, N.Y. -- He is at home here in upstate New York. Literally.  Joey Sindelar has seven PGA TOUR titles. (WireImage)
Horsehead's own Joey Sindelar stands on the threshold of the game's greatest mulligan. But as he looks forward to his 50th birthday, he is reveling in familiar surroundings. There was a smile in his eyes as he talked of friends and family who made the two-hour trip to support Horsehead's most famous son at the Turning Stone Resort Championship. Joey gave them a lot to cheer about on Thursday and Friday, too. A pair of 68s have Joey contending in what could be his last PGA TOUR event here. In March, Joey will join an impressive group of guys heading to do battle on the Champions Tour. Jeff Sluman made his debut last week. Fulton Allem is making his debut in Cary this week. Others soon to come include John Cook, Larry Mize and Sandy Lyle. Among those players, Joey has been the most active PGA TOUR player in his late 40s. He won the Wachovia Championship just three years ago. But the 2007 season hasn't been a success by Joey's standards. He comes to Turning Stone well outside the top 125 on the money list. The last time he finished the season outside the exemption threshold was back in 1994. That was the only year in a career that started in 1984 where Joey lost his TOUR card. When asked if he was interested in trying to play both the Champions Tour and the PGA TOUR next year, Joey laughed and said, "I have been battling cuts for a long time." He went on to say that he would love the opportunity, but he needs to play really well over the next several weeks to maintain his exempt status on the PGA TOUR. He added that he didn't want to sound like the old commercial but that the kids on TOUR now are really good. None of that has dampened Joey's spirit in the least. He is the unofficial spokesman on the PGA TOUR for this region. His association with the old B.C. Open is one in which he and the tournament could take pride. Next summer, he will be back at his old haunt, En Joie Golf Club in Endicott, for the Dick's Sporting Goods Classic on the Champions Tour. While he is looking forward, he is thoroughly enjoying one more trip around the PGA TOUR. In some ways, this has been a good-bye season for Joey and his contemporaries. The passing of time should never be sad. Lamenting the inevitable is a fodder for fools. It is perfectly natural that John Cook and Joey Sindelar move on and make way for young guns like Brandt Snedeker trying to join him in the winner's circle. John and Joey have had their day in the sun. They have certainly earned the reward that has become the Champions Tour. It is somehow fitting when you look at the leaderboard that there are so many young guns looking for their first victory on TOUR here at the inaugural Turning Stone Resort Championship. As Joey's lengthy career on TOUR draws to a close, there are others who are just getting started. But Joey has put himself in contention once again. He has thrilled the upstate N.Y. golf fans twice before with his wins at the B.C. Open. A win at Turning Stone would be the dream end to a long and storied career. Not that he is going away. He plans to play some more this fall and probably a few events on TOUR at the beginning of the year. Then Joey will join the Champions Tour full-time after he turns 50 on March 30, and the Champions Tour will be a better place for it. Joey has brightened driving ranges and locker rooms for longer than some of today's young studs have been alive. He is sure to do the same on the Champions Tour. |
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