Things looking up for Porter after breakthrough victory

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Heard of Philip Nolan?

He was author Edward Everett Hale's fictional character -- an Army lieutenant -- in The Man Without a Country who, during his trial for treason, renounced his allegiance to the United States and was sentenced to sail on Navy ship for the rest of his life without ever setting foot on American soil.

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Ewan Porter won wire-to-wire in Australia last month.

Well, Ewan Porter was doing his best Philip Nolan impression as it applied to professional golf throughout the majority of 2007. Porter, a 25-year-old Australian, was bewitched, bothered and bewildered by the game. He chose to treat it like the four-letter word it is, ignoring his clubs, practice and tournaments for long stretches. As a result, when 2008 rolled around, he was The Player Without a Tour.

"I had no idea what I was going to do,'' Porter said. "I thought maybe I'd try the European Challenge Tour. But honestly I had nothing. I was bummed out totally.''

As luck would have it, Porter held enough status on the Australasian Tour to gain entry into The HSBC New Zealand PGA Championship and the Moonah Classic, the two events staged Down Under and co-sponsored by the Nationwide and Australasian tours.

"I knew about the carrots dangling out there for me,'' said Porter, who, after the downtime when he was more frustrated and distracted than dedicated to golf, became re-energized upon returning to Australia late in the year to play the New South Wales Open, his first event after bombing in the first stage of the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament.

Bolstered a positive stretch of play where he made four consecutive cuts and played his way into contention, Porter felt he found some answers to the riddle that is golf.

"I started feeling much better about my game,'' he said. "I came to the realization that you don't have to hit it perfectly on the first day of a tournament. I set out trying to minimize my mistakes and the game came into focus.''

The thing is, Porter was near perfect in the Moonah's opening round, shooting 67 to establish a lead he would never relinquish. That doesn't mean the path to his first victory as a professional was paved with rose petals though. His led by one entering the final round, but blew the doors off the throne room with a final-round six-under-par 66 in tempestuous conditions that sent the field's Sunday scoring average soaring to more than 74.

"I thought 66 was out of the question given the conditions,'' Porter said. "I played the round of my life.''

It was a life-changing round.

"I didn't know what I was doing the rest of the year,'' he said. "I was just hoping to get as many invitations from around the world as possible.''

No worries now mate. Porter owns membership to the Nationwide Tour through the 2009 season. That's nice, but his sights are set higher as he looks toward his ultimate goal of playing on the PGA TOUR. He already has moved to Phoenix, which he calls "an Aussie suburb,'' given the number of Australian pros who have set up shop there where they play and practice at the TPC of Scottsdale. He plans to play in 22 tournaments on the Nationwide Tour. He will be at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by Dynamic Industries when the circuit kicks off in the United States the week of March 24.

"I finally stepped up to the plate,'' he said. "I feel that I belong out there."

That wasn't the case in 2005, when Porter held conditional status on the Nationwide Tour. He made just three cuts in 17 events, a season he referred to as "horrendous'' and "abysmal.'' But he's sure things will be different now that he has a confidence-building victory and $148,249 in official Nationwide Tour earnings -- second to fellow Aussie Jarrod Lyle -- tucked in hip pocket.

"I'm so much more prepared this time around,'' Porter said. "The great thing now is I can set a schedule for the entire year. In 2005, I had to play in as many tournaments as I could get into and I got burned out.''

Porter has been stunned by the reaction to his victory in his homeland. The media has rushed in and run with his success story that has an intriguing and mystifying twist.

"Without sounding arrogant, the media response was overwhelming,'' said Porter, who since has hired a professional to help manage his time. "I've never had to deal with anything like it. I had requests from television, radio, magazines and newspapers. It was a great problem to have, but I don't want to arrive on the first tee on Thursday and wonder where my first tee shot is going to go.''

The media frenzy was created by Porter's comfortable feeling at Moonah. Let him explain.

"I've never been religious or spiritual, but I had a close friend, Scott Laws, who died suddenly on Dec. 28,'' he said. "He just went to sleep and never woke up. Scott was always there for me in hard times when I was in the depths of despair. He'd always tell me to hang in there. When I played at Moonah, I felt he was there watching over me. There was a real spiritual presence.''

It came at the perfect time in the perfect tournament that opened so many doors that previously were shut. Since winning at Moonah, Porter has been informed that the previous six champions there have gone on to earn PGA TOUR cards the following season. There is one caveat. None have retained their privileges although Scott Sterling, who won in 2007, has a chance to break the streak.

"If he doesn't, I plan to,'' Porter said, laughing.