After near-miss, Staten refocused on Nationwide Tour duties

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The walk started a nanosecond after the 15-foot birdie putt left the face of the putter.

After all, B.J. Staten could clearly see his ball tracking toward its intended destination, the cup on the 72nd hole of the 2007 Nationwide Tour Championship at Barona Creek Golf Club. A celebration fitting an incredibly clutch and timely stroke was waiting to happen ...

B.J. Staten played seven PGA TOUR events in 2007. (WireImage)

Staten's weren't the only set of eyes glued to the putt as it approached the hole. A group of Jimmy Walker's close friends and family members watched from a seventh-floor balcony in the Barona Valley Ranch Resort, knowing all to well what was riding on the roll. If it fell, Staten was headed to the PGA TOUR in 2008, bumping Walker, his good friend, from the 25th spot on the final money list.

Needless to say, excruciating tension hung heavily in the air on that balcony. In fact, the pressure was a little too much to take for Walker, who disappeared into his hotel room when Staten approached the final green.

Such is the delicate balance of life on the year-long grind called the Nationwide Tour, where the singular goal for more than 150 full-time and conditional members remains the same: Create a body of work over the course of 31 events to merit promotion to the PGA TOUR.

The journey, fraught with seminal triumphs and deep disappointments, begins anew next week in Central America, where the Movistar Classic of Panama will be staged at Panama Golf Club in Panama City. And, oh, by the way, Walker won't be in the field. Staten, however, will.

In the quiet moments of the offseason, Staten, whose disappointment also included a near-miss in the finals of the PGA TOUR National Qualifying Tournament, was left to wonder how that fateful putt stubbornly eluded the hole. He fielded a slew of sympathetic phone calls and agonizingly watched television replays over and over.

The putt that looked so pure on the way missed its target every time, refusing to break gently to the left as Staten believed it would. It took a while, but he finally reached the proper conclusion.

"That's golf,'' he said, accepting the vagaries of an often-times cruel and capricious game. "But in the end I had nothing to hang my head about.''

Financially, 2007 was a positive. Staten won $175,505 in seven events on the PGA TOUR, where he played full-time in 2006, and earned $193,091 on the Nationwide Tour. The total haul of $368,596 looked good on his bank statement, but if Staten could, he would have done things differently, concentrating on the Nationwide Tour, where he figures he likely could have found the $3,806 he needed to graduate under a rock.

"I was in a Catch-22 situation,'' said the 30-year-old Staten. "It's hard to turn down a tournament with a $5 million purse when we're playing for $500,000 (on the Nationwide Tour). So I was always wondering should I go here or should I go there? It clogs your mind.''

Staten laughed, recalling a situation that underscored the personal tug-of-war. He was traveling to California for the Livemore Valley Wine Country Championship at Wente Vineyards. Checking his cell messages during a plan change, he discovered he was the first alternate for the Shell Houston Open on the PGA TOUR.

"I didn't know what to do," he said. A conflicted Staten continued to the West Coast. Turns out, he made the right decision since he would not have gotten into the PGA TOUR event.

"I won't have that hanging over my head this year," Staten said. "At least I know where I'm going to be and that's where I'll focus all of my attention.''

Staten expects to play "a pretty full schedule'' and he enters '08 with high expectations based on his play last season. He saw improvement in his game, especially in course management, which he expects will serve him well.

If there is one area where he feels he is lacking, it is putting. This, despite the fact that statistics said Staten was in the top 25 in putts per round in 2007.

"I would like to get it in the hole a little quicker,'' he said, spouting a golfer's universal battle cry.

The sense is Staten will be just fine. He has a ton of experience, understands the difficulties travel can present and knows how to make a schedule.

"I know how long a season can be,'' he said. "I know not to beat myself up and how important it is to get away from the game. That gives me my best chance to succeed.''

When Staten dreams these days, it isn't about the missed opportunity at the Nationwide Tour Championship or how close he came in 2007.

"I just got outplayed,'' he said. "That has made me work harder and focus on my goals.''

Rather, Staten is thinking about what could be this season. And he sees the number "3.''

That's the number of Nationwide Tour victories required in one season to earn an instant promotion to the PGA TOUR.

"Someone does it practically every year,'' he said.

Staten failed to add, "Why not me?" But you can bet a dozen Titleists to a tee he's thinking it.