TOUR Insider: J. Timberlake Shriners Hospitals Open

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Two years ago, George McNeill briefly labored as a club pro. Then he won the PGA TOUR's National Qualifying Tournament in his ninth trip to arguably the game's toughest tournament.

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George McNeill was second at the PODS Championship this season.

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• Inside the Field • Inside the Course • Q&A: Justin Timberlake

Obviously, things can change in a hurry in the slow-moving game. When McNeill tees it up this week in Las Vegas, he'll share the marquee with singer Justin Timberlake, the four-time Grammy winner. Not a bad way to shake some anonymity.

"Hopefully, one day, I will be more of a household name," McNeill said earlier this year.

This week's publicity won't hurt. McNeill is the defending champion of the Vegas stop that is now known as the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. The $4.1 million event returns to the distinct desert challenge presented at the host course, TPC Summerlin.

Timberlake, a singer, songwriter, record producer and actor, becomes the 13th celebrity in PGA TOUR history to host an event, joining the likes of Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr.

Much more will be written about the popular entertainer, so let's concentrate on McNeill, 33, who two summers ago was the assistant professional at Forest Country Club in Ft. Myers, Fla., before getting his game turned around. His closing 5-under-par 67 and 23-under 264 at TPC Summerlin dismissed nearest challenger D.J. Trahan by four strokes for his first official title. The $720,000 first prize doubled his season earnings and top-10 finishes.

McNeill has had uneven results this year, making 16 cuts in 25 starts, but he has had two top-10s, including a tie for second at the PODS Championship. Earnings of nearly $1 million are nice, but he can't help being motivated to continue to work hard to remain competitive.

"I was a club pro for about six or seven months. It wasn't very long, but it was long enough to drive me back to playing the game competitively," McNeill said. "I always keep that in the back of my mind, and I know I don't ever want to have to do that again, so I just keep plugging away out there and try and have fun."

It's fun when you shoot 23 under par. That's the lowest aggregate score in the four years that the event has been contested at 72 holes over TPC Summerlin and TPC The Canyons. No winner has shot higher than 266.

FALL SERIES NOTES

• There might be some confusion about the schedule given that last year's Las Vegas stop was called the Fry's.com Open and this year's event in Arizona, to be played next week at Grayhawk Golf Club, has the same name after it was known in 2007 as the Fry's Electronics Open. Fry's sponsored two events in the Fall Series last year, and remains the sponsor of the Phoenix area tournament in '08.

• Don't know how he'll play, but he'll be popular among the gallery. Triumphant U.S. Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger is rolling the dice in Las Vegas, his first start since the PGA Championship and only his second since he missed the cut at the Memorial Tournament presented by Morgan Stanley. Azinger, the 1987 Vegas champion, has made two of eight cuts in 2008.

• Azinger is one of five past winners in the field, and also is the oldest. The others are Davis Love III (1993), Bob Estes (2001), Troy Matteson ('06) and defending champion George McNeill.

• McNeill last year became the seventh first-time winner. He joins Jim Furyk (1995), Tiger Woods ('96), Phil Tataurangi (2002), Andre Stoltz ('04), Wes Short, Jr. ('05) and Troy Matteson ('06).

• Arron Oberholser, who has been sidelined for three months after undergoing hand surgery for a bone spur, is entered in this week's event at TPC Summerlin. He hasn't competed since he made the cut but did not finish -- essentially missing the 54-hole cutline -- at the AT&T Naitonal. He also is entered in next week's Fry's.com Open. He tied for 31st two years ago in Vegas.

• Dustin Johnson is back in action after winning the Turning Stone Resort Championship for his first PGA TOUR title. Johnson is the poster boy for experimentation in the Fall Series, using a new TaylorMade's Burner driver, Tour Preferred irons and TP Red ball in his victory.

• McNeill was the only player last year who posted four rounds in the 60s, while nine players did it in 2006. The last player to win in Las Vegas event with a round in the 70s was 1999 when Jim Furyk posted a fourth-round 71 on the way to a victory over 90 holes.