D.J.'s Blog: Closing the journey with Gore
By D.J. Gregory, Special to PGATOUR.COM
Hello. My name is D.J. Gregory and I would like to welcome you to my journey. I am 30 years old and was born with cerebral palsy. Due to my disability, I walk with the aid of a cane. During the 2008 PGA TOUR season, I will be traveling for 45 weeks and attending 44 events on the schedule. Each week, I will choose one professional to follow and I will chronicle my experiences while walking the course with him during each round of competition. Along the way, I will also have the opportunity to speak with fans and volunteers.
This journey has been a lifelong dream of mine and this opportunity would not be possible without the generous support of the PGA TOUR, ACCUSPLIT, Southwest Airlines, Ashworth, FootJoy and tournament staff at each venue. I am excited to share my experiences with you and I hope you will check PGATOUR.com often and share in my year-long adventure.
| ESPN's E:60 feature on D.J. Gregory | |
|
D.J. WEEK BY WEEK: Click on the PGA TOUR player below to read D.J.'s blog for that week
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
D.J.'s JOURNEY: The longest walk in golf
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Welcome to the Children's Miracle Network Classic presented by Wal-Mart, the finale of the 2008 PGA TOUR season and the last event of my 44-tournament journey. The week began on Tuesday when I had the opportunity to go to the Magic Kingdom and ride a few rollercoasters, which was a lot of fun.
| Inside the numbers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
During the tournament, I walked with Jason Gore, who became a father for the second time about five weeks ago when he and his wife Megan welcomed Olivia into the world. He said everything about the game of golf is a challenge, particularly the travel and being away from his growing family. He said the player-caddie relationship is like an on-course marriage. "You're the president of on-course operations," Jason said. "He's the vice president. I think it's very, very important to having a good relationship and getting on the same page."
Jason played the Nationwide Tour before he made it to the PGA TOUR, and he considers it time well spent. "I think the most important thing about playing golf professionally is learning how to be a professional golfer," Jason said. "The Nationwide Tour provides younger guys an opportunity to wake up in a different bed every week or eat at unfamiliar places or get used to unfamiliar grasses and different greens. Everything's different. It's not like you're stepping up to your home club and you know where the driving range is; you know where this putt breaks."
Jason earned an instant promotion to the PGA TOUR in 2005 after winning three times on the Nationwide Tour. Earlier that year, Jason had a memorable experience at the U.S. Open, where he played in the final group on Sunday.
"It was a rapid lesson in humility," said Jason, who finished 49th. "It was a great week -- it was an unbelievable week -- but I think it was the first week that I finally realized that I can play out here with these guys. It was a very rapid learning experience dealing with media, golf (and) after that week (I knew that) no matter what I faced, I was never going to face something as crazy as that on the golf course."
To cap off that memorable summer stretch, Jason won the 84 Lumber Classic.
With q-school on the horizon for many TOUR pros, I wanted Jason to talk about why it's so stressful. "It's once a year," he said, "and it means you're whole year. Q-school is brutal because it just matters technically so much, but really it's not. It's six rounds of golf; it's all the same. You go out and play golf and you count them up at the end."
Jason's biggest fear in life is failure. "You never want to look in the mirror and say I failed at doing something," he explained. "But then again, you don't want to look in the mirror and say I never gave it a shot. So, it's kind of a double-edged sword."
Charity is close to Jason's heart. He's hosting a tournament this year to raise money for a horse therapy ranch for autistic children. "I think it's very important," he said. "Guys out here don't realize how easy it is for us to touch someone's life or just change it for a moment. Just giving a little can mean so much to somebody."
Jason says the best part about playing professional golf is picking up the trophy. "When you accomplish that, just having that three or four minutes of being able to walk up and pick up the trophy and hold it over your head is the best part," he said.
If Jason weren't a pro golfer, his dream would be to be a rock star. "Really, I don't know," he said, laughing. "I have no idea, I'm pretty much unemployable. I have a degree from Pepperdine, but I'll find something to screw up along the line." Jason loves being a dad, though, and he enjoyed the parent-child tournament earlier in the week at Disney. "I played about two holes and he ran after wild turkeys," he said, laughing. Jason also enjoys playing the drums, guitar, and hanging out with buddies at home.
Since this was the final event of my 2008 journey, I asked Jason how it felt to be the final player chosen. "It's a dubious honor for you," he said. "Were you just looking for somebody? Thank you. I've been reading all of your stuff. I think it's awesome what you're doing. You're a great writer and I think it's fantastic."
The Children's Miracle Network Classic is contested over the Magnolia and Palm courses. The Magnolia course is the longer of the two courses by over 500 yards, but both courses were fairly easy to walk with flat terrain.
As I close the week at Walt Disney World, I would like to thank Jason for his kindness. I had many friends and family join me for the final event to witness the completion of a personal challenge and life-long dream. Special thanks to all of you for taking the time to join me in Florida and help make the final week a memorable experience. One final note -- please watch E:60 on ESPN on Tuesday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. ET to see a feature on my journey.
As I close my year on the PGA TOUR, I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to the players and entire PGA TOUR staff for all of the support and encouragement. Thank you for making 2008 a memorable year!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PALM COAST, Fla. -- Welcome to the 43rd event of the 2008 PGA TOUR season, the Ginn sur Mer Classic played on the Conservatory Course at Hammock Beach Resort.
| Inside the numbers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
My week actually began on Tuesday at TPC Sawgrass where I spent the day with a crew that is producing a feature on me that will air on ESPN's E:60 on Tuesday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. ET. I played the 17th hole and, yes, the first shot was hit in the water just after 7:45 a.m. I proceeded to hit 11 more balls in the water, and then on shot No. 13, I hit to 15 feet from the hole and missed the putt by 6 inches.
Then I headed south to the Conservatory Course where I followed Troy Matteson at the penultimate event on TOUR this year. He started hitting balls in the backyard at the age of 7 when his dad bought an old set of Jack Nicklaus junior clubs.
Troy had a very successful career at Georgia Tech, winning the 2002 NCCA individual title earning All-America honors three times. Among his teammates were Matt Kuchar and Bryce Molder, so it was tough to crack the starting line-up.
"When I first got to Tech, I was a pretty decent high school player, and I had probably seven teammates who were really, really good," he said. "It just took me a half a year to make the team, so it was pretty exciting."
Troy said his greatest memory of 2008 was finishing second at the PODS Championship. "I had a chance to really screw it up coming down the stretch," he recalled. "On No. 16, I hit it in the woods, pitched out in the fairway, almost hit it in the water, missed the green and chipped in for par -- which really saved my bacon that week. That's probably one of my highlights of the year, just saving a good par, which made a big difference in money at the end of the week."
Troy said his biggest fear is failure. "I don't think you ever really overcome it," he said. "I think you get better at dealing with it, but out here in golf, a lot of times your job is guaranteed for a year or two at a time, and I think that creeps into everyone's mind."
Troy also spent some time on the Nationwide Tour. "The first year I struggled," he said. "I got my teeth kicked in a bunch. Sometimes, the competition is just as good out there as it is out here." The Nationwide Tour helped Troy get used to being on his own and traveling, too. "The events obviously aren't as big, (and) there aren't as many people, so you get eased into that environment a little bit," he explained. "For me it was excellent. I had a year where I struggled, and I had a year where I did really, really well.
"The 2005 year (when he won twice) will always stick with me as being a great year." Troy also experienced q-school, which he likened to a job interview. "If you play good, you really control your destiny," he said. "If you're not playing well, the best way to describe it is: It's just bleeding raw emotion for about two months. It's like going through a really stressful time in your life except you know this is more brought on by your own actions. You've decided to sign up, you've decided to do this and it's just a necessary evil in our business."
When I asked Troy who his hero was, he said the number of choices made it a tough question. "When I was a kid, there were a lot of guys out here," he explained. "Norman was a big guy that we all looked up to in golf. That was kind of who was world No. 1. Faldo was No. 1 for a little bit, but I think everybody wanted to be Greg Norman. Now I think all kids want to be Tiger."
One of the things Troy enjoys most are his pro-am days and the opportunity to meet new people. "You don't know who you're going to run into," he said. "You might play with a guy who's CEO of XYZ company. You might play with a guy who's just a local sponsor. You'd be surprised who you end up liking and just the people you meet."
Off of the course, Troy enjoys hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities. In fact, if he weren't a professional golfer, Troy would probably fish for a living. "That's probably what I would want to do, although I don't know if I'd be that good at it," he said. "Those guys are pretty good."
The Conservatory Course was a long walk but not too difficult. The players took shuttles from the 11th green to the 12th tee and again from the 18th green to the first tee. One interesting thing about this course is that on many occasions, you walk in waste areas, especially on the fourth hole where spectators were required to walk down the left side of the hole.
I would like to thank Troy Matteson and his wife Shauna for spending time with me last week. I would also like to send a special thank you to my friend Alyssa for hanging out in Florida, another great week on the PGA TOUR.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCOTTSDALE -- Welcome to the Fry's.com Open where I spent time with PGA TOUR veteran Olin Browne.
| Inside the Numbers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Olin was one of Paul Azinger's assistant captains at the Ryder Cup last month. "I'm getting chills talking about it," he said. "The way Paul set up the team and brought everybody together and the job that the guys did playing, it was just the stars lined up and everybody played to the maximum of their ability." Olin said stars like Boo Weekley were born that week in Louisville, but the team atmosphere was particularly special. "We're all out here on our own, but to a part of a group like that where guys come together under that kind of intense scrutiny and pressure and rise to the occasion under that kind of stress was a benchmark experience for me, and I'll never forget it."
Olin first became interested in golf when he worked at a golf course on Cape Cod the summer after his freshman year in college. "I had a couple of lessons when I was a little guy, but really the first time I really started playing was that summer and I played every day," he said. Olin told me his biggest challenge is keeping his concentration. "I'll step over a shot and my brain will start pinging to something else, whatever it is I got to try and back off and start over again," he said. "I guess the more pressure you get under, the more you narrow your focus, the more focused you get or the less focused you get. That's always been kind of my struggle." So Olin relies on his caddy quite a bit. "If something isn't right, he can back you off," he explained. "If something is right, he can reinforce ... to the point where you get up there and make the best shot that you can ... so I think it's absolutely critical."
Olin loves to hang out with the "fam." Now that his children are older -- his son is in college now and his daughter is a senior in high school -- they don't travel with him as much as they did. His wife's job as an attorney keeps her busy, too. "The hardest thing about our jobs is we play 30 weeks a year, which means we have 22 weeks vacation, which is a pretty good job," he said. "People would kill for it, but it's 30 weeks intensive. So, I miss a lot of things. You have to have an understanding family and you have to make up for it when you're together." There was a time when Olin wasn't sure he was ready to be a husband and a parent, though. "I think that's something where you've got to have your priorities lined up and you got to have your wits about you," he said. "Parenting in this day and age is so complicated. Kids are presented with so many options and so many distractions and it's really hard in this day and age to get them to stay on a good path. There are so many temptations in life, and I think that if you think you have all of the answers to all of the questions, then you're a pretty arrogant person. So I think we do a lot of learning on the fly."
But as much as he misses his family, Olin enjoys the vagabond life of a professional golfer. "I'm not good at sitting still so if I had to go to the same office every day for 50 weeks a year, I'd probably pull my hair out," he said. "It's a great way to make a living. I'm outdoors all day long and I'm competing in something I love to do. I've got a great group of friends out here."
Olin grew up in Washington, D.C., and one of his idols was Washington Redskins quarterback Sonny Jurgensen. "I wore his number 9 whenever I played any sport," he said. "I just loved the way the guy played." Olin also said he was a huge fan of the Olympics when he was a kid and he loved the ski racers like Jan Ingemar Stenmark and Frans Klammer. "I had an uncle that was on the U.S. ski team, so I skied when I was a kid and I heard a lot of his stories," he said. "I was a huge winter sport fan."
One of my favorite questions to ask players is how they choose where to eat when they're in the road. Olin usually finds one place and sticks to it for the week -- like Corona's, the place in Florence, S.C., he used to frequent when he played the Nationwide Tour. "It had the best margarita you've ever had in your life and homemade tortillas and homemade quesadillas," Olin remembered. "My brother was caddying for me at the time, we'd go there four nights, five nights. What happens is you find two or three good restaurants and you tend to go back to them year after year." In Scottsdale, he returns to the same Italian and Chinese restaurants.
The Raptor course at Grayhawk is relatively flat. There are a few places on the course where you can watch multiple holes from one position. We had some warm temperatures last week, but low humidity and a breeze, so it was another chamber-of-commerce-weather week and another opportunity for me to work on my tan.
As I end the week in Arizona, I would like to thank Olin for the time he spent with me. See you next week in Florida at the Ginn Sur Mer Classic.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LAS VEGAS -- Welcome to the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. This year all four rounds were contested at TPC Summerlin, where low scores were the order of the week. In fact, the 36-hole cut was 6 under which tied a PGA TOUR record for the lowest 36-hole cut in history.
| Inside the Numbers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last week I spent time with defending champion George McNeill who was introduced to the game of golf by his grandfather. "My earliest memories are going to the driving range (and) just hitting balls with (him)," he said. George's victory in Vegas last year meant he qualified for the winners-only Mercedes-Benz Championship which George said was one of the best memories of 2008. "That was a great way to start the year and they do a hell of a job," he said.
George had a minor scare toward the end of the summer when a cyst was removed from his throat. George said he's pretty much 100 percent now, but it was scary at first because doctors said it might be cancerous. "I'm sitting there going, well, I'm 32 years old, how does that happen?" he said. "Obviously, it does. It happens to a lot of people -- and a lot of people who are a lot younger then I am. It definitely opened my eyes and made me aware that there are people who suffer. I got through it easy. I was out of commission and couldn't play golf for about three weeks and that was real simple, but there's a lot of people who suffer and have to deal with a lot more then I do."
George played his college golf at Florida State, where he earned All-Atlantic Coast Conference and All-American honors. The competition in the ACC was fierce. "I look at the list of players who were at the other schools and I look at all of the All-Americans and most of them are out here on TOUR now," George said. "So I'm playing against them then and I'm playing against them now."
I asked George what it was like to come back and defend his first TOUR title. "Playing a practice round earlier this week, I remembered almost every shot like it was yesterday in the final round," he said. "I hit it here, I hit it here, I wish wouldn't have hit it there, but I did and stuff like that, it's been great. The people, the welcome back was generally good."
George says his biggest fear is not being successful at what he does. "I don't know if I necessarily overcame it yet, but I'm doing OK," he said. George said Bo Jackson -- "he was good at everything he did in all sports" -- and Cal Ripken Jr. are two of his idols. If he old had one round of golf left to play, George would include Cal in foursome and they would play at Turnberry in Scotland.
George had a long road before arriving on the PGA TOUR. He played the mini-tours and the Nationwide Tour before earning medalist honors at q-school in 2006. "(The) Nationwide (Tour) was great -- other then I played awful and didn't keep my card," he said. "The mini-tours (were) just a stepping stone to get where I am now. I never necessarily enjoyed it. I knew it was just part of it. I know there's a pecking order and you got to put in your time ... and the rewards will come." George says q-school is difficult because if you're not successful, Monday qualifying is your only option. "It's a once-a-year thing," he said. "If you play one bad round you could be done for the whole year. You don't have another chance until the following year."
George says the best thing about his job is that he's playing a game he loves but adds that the travel can wear you out. "It's not all the glamorous life," he said. "For some players, it's a little more glamorous. For guys who are kind of the bottom half of the field, we've got to fight the traffic, fight the commercial airlines, fight the hotels and everything else every week." When he's not playing golf, George enjoys outdoor activities like boating, fishing and hunting. If he wasn't a professional golfer he'd make his living doing something outdoors.
TPC Summerlin is a very fair walk with a few cutovers where holes go back and forth. The second hole, for example, goes down one side and then you walk directly to your right and back to find the third hole. Overall, this course was a nice break after walking the La Cantara course at the Valero Texas Open.
In addition to hosting the tournament last week, Justin Timberlake also performed a a concert with some of his friends on Friday. I would like thank my friends at Golf Digest for giving me the chance to attend the concert, which was a great show! I also would like to thank George and his wife Ryan for their kindness last week. I really had a memorable week on and off the course in Las Vegas.
See you next week from Scottsdale, Ariz., and the Frys.com Open!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- Welcome to our final stop in the Lone Star State during the 2008 PGA TOUR season where I spent time with PGA TOUR rookie and 2008 RBC Canadian Open champion Chez Reavie at the Valero Texas Open.
| Inside the Numbers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Not surprisingly, Chez told me his greatest memory from 2008 was "knocking in that birdie putt on 18 in Canada to win." Chez said winning was awesome. "It's amazing how fast it all kind of happened. Just kind of play, keep making birdies and the next thing I know, I win a golf tournament. It was great."
Chez played his college golf at Arizona State University along with fellow TOUR player Jeff Quinney. "It really helped me build a lot as a player," he said. "I'd always dreamed about playing professional golf. Jeff Quinney won the U.S. Amateur when I was a freshman, so I got to see what kind of game it took to win one of the greatest tournaments out there. He definitely pushed me and helped me become a better golfer without him realizing what he was doing."
Chez said the greatest challenge he faces in the game of golf is playing against the best in the world each week. "Mentally, probably the toughest thing is just getting up everyday and just the grind of trying to play your best golf and you don't get away with much out here."
Since winning earlier this year Chez has qualified to play in some limited field events including the Masters and British Open, where he will make his debut across the pond. He's really looking forward to the opportunity. "When I played the Masters as an amateur, it was the ultimate motivation for me to get my game right and become a successful professional golfer," he said. "I would've never dreamed that it was going to happen this quick, but I'm looking forward to it. I can't wait to get back there and be back at that place, it's great."
Prior to joining the PGA TOUR this year, Chez spent time playing on the Nationwide Tour. "I had a blast," he said. "I was playing with a lot of friends I grew up with, played college golf with and we just got to go out there and hang out. ... We went to dinner all of the time and it was a lot of fun, I wouldn't trade it for anything." I asked Chez what was the biggest difference between the PGA TOUR and Nationwide Tour, and he laughed. "The money," he said. "The Nationwide Tour it was crucial for me because coming out of college I wasn't ready to play on the PGA TOUR. Some guys are, some guys aren't. I wasn't one of them, so I learned how to play as a professional. I learned how to play week-to-week-to-week, different places. I got comfortable with the environment. Then coming up here, there's a lot more people, the travel is a little bit easier, but you've got to deal with a lot more when you're actually playing in golf tournaments. My number one goal this year was to keep my card. Obviously I wanted to win; I was working as hard as I could to win, but number one priority was just to stay out here and just try and adapt to the different courses and luckily I've been able to do that."
I asked Chez what's the best part of playing professional golf as a career and the most difficult aspect of being a professional athlete. "The best part about it is that I'm still doing what I love," he said. "I grew up playing golf, I'm still playing the game -- only now I'm able to make a living doing it. ... The most challenging part is just challenging yourself to make it to another level to play against the best in the world. A lot of times you're uncomfortable doing it at first, you've got to just keep pushing yourself and realize that sometimes you're going to fail and sometimes you're not going to play your best, but you'll be more equipped to play well next time."
Last week the Valero Texas Open was played at the Resort Course at La Cantera which many warned me could be the toughest walk on the PGA TOUR. It is a very solid challenge with quite a few uphill and downhill situations. The players take a few shuttles on the course, one between the fourth green and fifth tee, another between the 18th green and first tee (if you start on the back) and finally back to the clubhouse from scoring. I think La Cantera is a great challenge to walk, but I will say that still the toughest course on TOUR to walk is the Plantation Course at Kapalua, home of the Mercedes-Benz Championship.
I would like to say a special thank you to Chez for spending time with me last week. Thanks to my friends Nelson, Kerri, and Alyssa for hanging out in San Antonio, too. I want to tell the kids in Mrs. Fuji's fifth grade class at Meadows Elementary School in Houston how much I enjoyed speaking to them.
See you next week in Las Vegas at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VERONA, N.Y. -- After THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola I made a quick trip home to Savannah for only the fourth time all year. Then I went to New York for the Turning Stone Resort Championship, and it sure did feel like the Fall Series, or maybe even early winter. Temperatures were in the mid-40s to mid-50s all week with a steady wind and even some rain the first two days.
| Inside the Numbers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
I spent time with Woody Austin, who as a young child growing up in Tampa, Fla., was very good at many different sports -- including basketball, baseball, tennis and bowling. In fact, Woody didn't begin playing golf until the eighth grade. When he got to high school, though, Woody's mother wanted him to focus on one sport. "I was so small -- I was only 5-foot-3 and 90 pounds soaking wet -- so everybody was growing, everybody was just getting much better and bigger," he remembered. "Golf was fresh. I had only been playing for a couple years so I picked it up and I actually started playing pretty good when I really started putting full time into it." Still, when I asked Woody the greatest challenge he faces in the game of golf, he had a one-word response: "Me."
One of my favorite questions to ask the players is the importance of the player-caddie relationship. Woody doesn't see a separation between the two. "I think we're a team," he explained. "The relationship is important because I want it to be a buddy, I want it to be a friend. I want to go to battle with a friend, I don't want to go to battle with somebody that I can blame for my problems. I think that's a cop-out, a giant cop-out." Woody said that his idol is Jack Nicklaus. "Absolutely did it all, and not only golf part, but he did it all, he did it in an era where there was no private planes, there was no easy travel, and he did it with a family from the get go," Woody said. "So, he accomplished everything, he accomplished it all in an era of tough times and he did it the right way and you never heard problems from the man, you never heard about anything bad."
Woody was 31 when he got to the PGA TOUR after stints on the mini-tours and later, after a spending time in the business world, on the Nationwide Tour. "When I got out of school it was a lot of harder then it is now," he explained. "We didn't have the Nationwide Tour when I got out of college. So all you had were the mini-tours and they were expensive and they didn't pay. ... You would have to pay $300-$500 in entry fees for a two-day tournament and if you won, you'd win $1,000- $1,200, so you couldn't make any money. The hard part was trying to work, make the money to play the mini-tours and then be successful enough to keep going."
In 2007 Woody had the opportunity to represent the United States in The Presidents Cup. "(It was an) absolute blast," he said. "I think I showed I was having a lot of fun. I think that format suits my personality. I miss that confrontation, so to speak. I miss the one-on-one match-ups. In the match-play format, I like to think that if I'm playing with you at the exact same time and I'm looking over at you, I don't think I'm going to let you beat me. I don't care who you are."
I asked Woody how he thought he would do playing golf with equipment from 20 years ago. "I wish we could play at least half of the tournaments with old equipment," Woody said. "Then, these young guys would see how easy they've got it. If you took today and put in a rule where we'd have to play with 20-year-old equipment, I'd be top five in the world."
Off of the golf course Woody likes to play sports and loves to spend time with his family. "Right now I play soccer with my boys," he said. "It's got to be active. I'm not a gym guy. Put me on a basketball court running up and down; put me on a baseball field or soccer field. It's got to stimulate me otherwise I can't work out." I asked Woody what's the first thing he thinks of when someone mentions family. "Sacrifice all of the way down. My mom sacrificed for me. I feel like every good family relationship, everything is all about sacrifice."
Yardage-wise Atunyote Golf Club is a very long walk -- one of the longest courses the PGA TOUR has played in 2008 at 7,482 yards. However, I believe the walk is fairly easy because the course is extremely flat.
I want to thank Woody for his kindness last week. I would also like to thank my dad for joining me in upstate New York. See you next week in warmer San Antonio for the Valero Texas Open.
ATLANTA -- Welcome to the finale of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, THE TOUR Championship. However, last week was a busy one even before I arrived in Georgia. Normally I travel to the TOUR venue on Tuesday but last week was a little different. On Wednesday I flew from Orlando, Fla., to New York where I spoke to the GolfWorld National Sales Meeting. Immediately following my talk, I flew to Washington, D.C., where I attended the United Cerebral Palsy's annual gala that night. I was honored to be the first recipient of UCP's Expanding Horizons Award. I want to take a moment and thank the TOUR staff and players and Jim Nantz at CBS Sports for all of the kind words that were said in the video tribute that was shown at the gala, I truly appreciate it.
| By the numbers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
I arrived in Atlanta on Thursday morning and spent the week with TOUR veteran Dudley Hart. Dudley's father was a club pro in the Rochester, N.Y., and Buffalo, N.Y., area. "So I kind of grew up on a golf course -- at least in the summer time," he said. "I would go to the golf course with my dad pretty much every morning at 6 o'clock and play golf, play tennis and swim. It was kind of like unsupervised day care." Dudley's earliest memory of the game is going to the 10th tee at Brookly, a golf course Rochester, trying to hit balls about 30 yards in the air and over a creek. "I used to take my dad's practice balls out there and hit them and he used to be pretty upset at me," said Dudley, who was 4 at the time.
Dudley began the 2008 season playing on a major medical exemption due to a family crisis last year. For the last half of 2007, Dudley put away his golf clubs to care for his wife, who was had been diagnosed with a nonsmoking tumor in her lung, and their triplets. I asked Dudley the first thing he thinks of when someone says the word: family. "The first thing to come to my mind is my three kids," he told me. "They're almost seven now and life hasn't been the same since they were born and it's all been for the better." Given his extended layoff in 2007, I asked Dudley what type of goals and expectations he had coming into this year. "You're a little more nervous than you probably would be starting the year because you haven't competed for seven-eight months by the time that January rolls around," he said. "I was fresh and I was probably more excited to be there." He played the Monday pro-am at the Sony Open in Hawaii, and he doubted anyone was as happy as he was to be there. "I was out of the house and I was back out with the guys and so that was exciting," he said.
The 2008 season has been a great year for Dudley, who made the 30-man field for THE TOUR Championship for the first time in his career. He doesn't have to think too far back to remember his best experience of the year. "I made a long putt on the last hole at (the) BMW (Championship) and at the time I thought I needed that to get into this event, so it was kind of looking at it as a pretty important putt," Dudley said. "t turned out I didn't necessarily need it, but at the time I did so to make that putt when I felt like I needed (it) to get here was pretty gratifying."
Off the course Dudley loves to spend tine with his family and admits he is a sports junkie. He has season tickets to both the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres. "My kids are getting older now," Dudley said. "My son's into hockey -- he's addicted to it -- so taking him to practices and games is a blast when I'm home. That's kind of my relaxing time." Dudley said his hero is his dad. "He's taught me everything I know not only about golf, but about life and he was an incredible influence on me," Dudley said. "He gave me so much and sacrificed so much for me when I was young so I could play golf. I owe him everything I have now." Dudley and his father are co-owners, along with TOUR veteran Jeff Sluman, of a course in Rochester, N.Y., called Lake Shore Golf Club. "I think being in golf, playing for a living and basically growing up in the game, it's nice to have something that's basically yours," Dudley said. "It's one of those golf courses where people that are playing there, their fathers and mothers have played there, their grandparents have played there. It's a community type golf course and it's fun to be involved with that."
Charity is also very important to Dudley, "Being in sports we are so pampered and so spoiled and we're in a position to be able to help so many other people that just donating some of your time can really raise a lot of money and it doesn't take a lot of work," Dudley said. "I do a lot of things at home with charity outings and I love to do as much as I can."
Dudley said the best part of playing golf professionally is being your own boss and living a dream. "We all kind of grew up dreaming about this (but) you never really know if it's going to come true or not until you get out here and you stay out here and have some success," he said. The hardest thing is the travel. "A lot of people think traveling it's so great," Dudley said. "You get to go see a new city and new places (but) pretty much when we're in a city, we see the golf course, a restaurant, and a hotel and that's about it, so it's not as glamorous as people think and being away from home is tough."
East Lake is an extremely fair walk. The first four holes are relatively easy and close together while the fifth hole has a decent hill. The ninth hole is a pretty good walk being a 600-yard par 5. On the back nine, there are a lot of back and forth holes so you are real close to the next fairway. Overall, it was a fair walk that did not make me overly tired. A crew from ESPN followed me around the course during the first two rounds as part of a feature they are working on about my journey that will air on the show E:60 on Tuesday Nov. 11.
I would like thank Dudley, his caddy David Nelson and his childhood friend, Rich Kreiger, for their kindness last week. Special thanks to my dad and my cousin Randy and his wife Jenn for joining me last week, too. Last week was the final event in the FedExCup and I would like to send a special thank you to the entire staff at FedEx for their support throughout the entire season. Last week was a truly memorable week on and off of the golf course.
See you next week from the Turning Stone Resort Championship.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MADISON, Miss. - Welcome back to the PGA TOUR at the Viking Classic. After an off week, I decided I needed a little more exercise, so I walked nine holes of the pro-am with my friend Robert Gamez. That brought my total for the week to 81 holes.
| By the numbers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The rest of the week, I got to spend time with PGA TOUR and Champions Tour veteran Fred Funk. Fred first got interested in the game of golf at age 10 when he caddied for his dad and decided that it would be more fun to play than carry the bag. Prior to turning pro, Fred was the golf coach at University of Maryland. He actually thinks he would be a better coach now "because of the experiences I have had out here."
When choosing a caddie, Fred has always looked for someone he can relate to and someone who will say the right things at the right time. "It's kind of a personality match, it's very important to have a caddie that matches," he said. His wife Sharon was on the bag last week, which was neat. "I love when Sharon is on the bag," Fred told me. "She has a lot of fun, very energetic, very visual, tries to make me really focus in on what I'm doing, something I don't always do."
Off the course, Fred enjoys the time he spends with Sharon and their two children. He also likes snow skiing and water skiing, but he can't do either right now because of his knee. His idol is Jack Nicklaus. "I looked up to (him) as a golfer as a kid," Fred said. "Then I would have to say my parents and my brother I looked up to the most."
Fred is playing the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour this year, so I asked him some of the differences between the two. Strength and depth of field are two of the main ones he cited. "Out there, you have 15-20 guys you have to beat week in and week out, and out here you 144 or 156 guys you have to beat other than yourself," Fred said. He's also learned that splitting time between the two Tours can be counterproductive.
"To try and play both Tours, you've got to have no ego, no goals, nothing," Fred said. "You're just playing for fun. If you have any goals and high aspirations I don't think you can play both Tours, it dilutes your potential of doing anything in the FedExCup or doing anything in the (Charles) Schwab Cup. You've got to decide one or the other."
The Funks have added their name to a charity named Challenge America. The organization started as Challenge Aspen and was designed to take military personnel skiing. Challenge America has been expanded to focus in on all disabled people. "Not only the disabled themselves, but the family and what they have to do to deal with," Funk said. "The troops that come home and they're half of what they were, they don't have legs, or people with CP or people with MS, people with brain problems, autism.
"(We want to) give awareness more to the general public and grow awareness that these people are able-bodied; they're not disabled people. We've got to get rid of the label and if takes a generation or two generations, however long it takes, we've got to turn this whole thing around." Funk said the campaign is being launched at the Kennedy Center next June. "This is a big deal for us," Funk told me. "I mean, look at you, you're totally able bodied, strong mind, you can do anything and some people just don't look at it that way."
No matter how Fred is playing, he always seems to be having a good time, and he is a crowd favorite. "When I'm playing my best, I will interact with the crowd as far as acknowledging them," Fred said. "It's not so much talking to them and everything, but acknowledge them when they acknowledge you. They like that. They are not just out there like billboards being painted." Fred said that if he only had one round of golf left, he would play at Cypress Point with some of golf's legends: Sam Snead, Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson.
Annandale Golf Club was a fairly easy walk and fairly flat. I did notice that the walk for spectators from the 17th green to the 18th tee is a lengthy journey. This was the first time all year that I had over 20,000 Accusplit Steps each of the four days. Unfortunately, Fred missed the cut by one shot, so over the weekend, I walked with my good friend Robert, as I had in the pro-am. Special thanks to both Fred and Sharon for their kindness last week.
See you next week from Atlanta and THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ST. LOUIS -- I spent last week at Bellerive Country Club for the BMW Championship, which is the third event of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. I walked with Ben Crane this week, and it was a special week.
| Inside the numbers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
As I have learned throughout my journey, charity is very important to all of the PGA TOUR players. Ben and his wife Heather host a golf tournament each year to raise money for two charities. "One is for young boys who don't have fathers, who grew up in the ghetto of Fort Worth, and the other is for children who have been trafficked into the sex trade in Southeast Asia," he said. "With every dollar we make, the first part of that goes to what we feel like is a good charitable cause. We feel pretty passionate about giving."
As you can see, Ben is truly a great man, and last week at the BMW Championship, he proved it even more. On Thursday, Ben told me he wanted to do something extra special for me -- he wanted to donate 10 percent of his earnings last week to my favorite charity. I will be honest and tell you I didn't know how to respond.
Ben was introduced to the game by his grandfather when he was around 5 years old. "I got to hang out with him and go play a little bit, so that was kind of the beginning," he said. Now he has a family of his own, his favorite memory of this year is traveling with his wife and their 2-year-old daughter Cassidy. Their second child is due in about six weeks, so that's a big source of excitement. Not to mention, Ben has been completely healthy for the first time in about eight years.
Ben told me having perspective is the greatest challenge he faces in the game of golf. "Sometimes you get too focused on if you're having a great year or bad year, whatever, you just need sometimes a little perspective on it, and I think sometimes that's a little harder to see as a player."
His faith has helped him deal with his chronic back problems. "I just kind of turned it over to Him and just said: Whatever you want to do with me and with this golf gift thing, I'm OK with," Ben said. "When I finally got to that place was when I started to get better. So, that taught me a lot. I think I've really carried a theme of thankfulness through this year just to be out here and to be playing."
Ben said religion has had a huge impact in his life. "I definitely feel because I know the Lord, I've got a sense of who I am and that's something outside of this game," he said. "I think that's the most important thing, is that I know what God says about me, and it's pretty awesome." Not surprisingly, if he wasn't a professional golfer Ben told me he would probably be in the ministry. "I think I'd either be serving somewhere or ... trying to be involved in a cause greater than myself."
Ben said his biggest fear is failure. "Failure, I think, is something along the lines of not trying," he told me. "I don't think failure is not succeeding, I think it's not giving it all you got. So I think that's something I always remind myself is that my job is to give it all I got and then it's up to God to do whatever he is going to do with it."
Ben had a long road to reach the PGA TOUR. He didn't get his TOUR card the first time he went to qualifying school. He considered playing mini-tours, but then he decided to try to Monday qualify on the Nationwide Tour. He won the seventh event he qualified for, so suddenly he had stability and status. "That was probably the biggest step," Ben said. He played two years on the Nationwide Tour before earning his TOUR card, and he's already won two PGA TOUR events.
Last week got off to an interesting start with Thursday's first round being washed out due to over 3 inches of rain. Bellerive is a decent walk without many hills, and, in some cases, the holes intersect each other. The most challenging part last week was walking through the mud and wet terrain. We had to play catch-up after the rainout and had to walk 36 holes on Saturday. I will admit I was very tired. That said, I am proud to say that I completed all 36 holes on Saturday with no falls.
I was extremely excited to spend the week with Ben Crane, because he has always said hi and asked how I am doing whenever I've seen him this year. Special thanks to Ben and his wife Heather for a truly memorable week, I feel like I made some new friends last week. Ben's caddie Brett was great, too.
I would also like to thank my Dad for joining me in St. Louis, as well as the participants of the Sunshine Through Golf Foundation for joining me on my walk on the weekend. Next week is an off week on the PGA TOUR, so I will see you in two weeks from the Viking Classic in Jackson, Miss.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NORTON, Mass. -- The Deutsche Bank Championship, the second event in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, is no ordinary week. This is the only tournament that has a scheduled Friday start and Monday finish due to the Labor Day holiday.
| Inside the numbers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Last week I spent some time with PGA TOUR rookie Martin Laird. Martin and I actually met in Memphis where we were in the same group that experienced the FedEx flight simulator during the week of the Stanford St. Jude Championship. Martin qualified for the Deutsche Bank Championship by virtue of his top-10 finishes in his three previous events.
Martin's earliest memory of golf is going to the golf course with his father. "As soon as I could walk, I was addicted, I guess," he said. Martin is originally from Scotland and came to the United States to play golf at Colorado State University. "It was a great experience," he said. "I had never been to the States before. I came over on a golf scholarship and loved it. Four years there, loved the state and it was a great college town."
Martin's favorite club in his bag right now is his putter. "I've been putting great the last month and that's the reason I'm here," he explained. Martin has played some great golf over the past month just to qualify for the Playoffs and while he doesn't admit to being superstitious, Martin says he and his caddy aren't tempting fate. "There's little things that me and my caddy haven't changed over the last month and we've been playing well, like the same yardage book holder, things like that," he said. With three top-10 finishes to qualify and advance in the Playoffs, I wondered what Martin's confidence level was. "Obviously my confidence is as high as it could be right now," Martin said. "The first couple of weeks when I was playing well I was pretty nervous, but last week that was kind of a big breakthrough for me that I felt comfortable the last round when I was playing well and I was in the top 10. I think that's something I can take forward to this week. Hopefully I'm there again and can handle the pressure."
Martin has worked very hard to get to the PGA TOUR including spending time playing on mini-tours and on the Nationwide Tour. "Experience on the Nationwide Tour was great," Martin said. "That helped me get out here on the PGA TOUR ultimately and it helped me get prepared for the PGA TOUR and it's a great learning Tour. I'm having a great year this year. Iit's been a lot of fun, even when I wasn't playing great it was fun"
As mentioned previously, last week was a different one on TOUR with the competition held Friday-Monday, I asked Martin what the change was like. "It's very different, I keep calling yesterday Thursday and today Wednesday, I don't know what day of the week it is right now," he said.
Martin's a rookie on TOUR and he told me the travel was the most difficult adjustment. "And not getting to see friends and family nearly as much," he added. "You kind of feel like you don't really have a home because you're on the road so much. The best part you know the competition and there's a great group of guys out here. I just love the competition that's why I play. You practice your whole life to try and be out here." He said maintaining confidence when you're not playing well is the biggest challenge. "That's what really killed me this year when I wasn't playing well," he said. "I had no confidence. Doing that and trying to get everything else organized to focus on your golf."
As for walking the course, the TPC Boston is an easier course to walk then I remember in my previous appearances at this event. This course plays to 7,415 yards which seems to be a long course, but I really feel like the walk around the course last week was a very comfortable one Besides the par 3s, there are two holes on the front nine, the short par-4 fourth, where you can actually see the entire hole from the middle of the fairway, and the par-4 sixth where you can see the entire hole from the tee box. On the back nine, if you walk halfway up the 12th fairway on the left, you can see all of the action on the 12th hole and then walk 30 yards right and be at the 13th fairway and green.
On Thursday afternoon I visited Massachusetts General Children's Hospital and spoke to some of the kids there. Hopefully I provide some inspiration and encouragement to them that if you have a dream, don't ever give up until you accomplish your dream. Also, on Saturday night I had the chance to visit Fenway Park and see the Boston Red Sox play the Chicago White Sox.
I would like to thank Martin and my friends Kelly Thompson and Neil Como for joining me last week. Thanks, too, to Kelly for a home-cooked meal on Thursday night. I would also like to send out one final thank you to Eric Baldwin, Brandon Roll and the entire staff at the Deutsche Championship.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PARAMUS, N.J -- My week began with a trip from Greensboro, N.C., to South Hadley, Mass., where I played golf for only the fourth time this year at a charity event for the Holyoke Hospital at the Orchards Golf Club. My team -- Robert Gamez, Neil Como and Nelson Fujiwara -- had a for a truly memorable day of golf.
| Inside the numbers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
On Tuesday I traveled to Paramus, N.J., for The Barclays, the first tournament in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, where I followed Ken Duke. Ken was 10 years old when his father introduced to the game of golf. He played many sports growing up but decided to stick to golf because it was an individual game. Ken's greatest memory from this year is finishing second in Milwaukee. "I never had a chance to win like that and I was tied with two holes to go and had some good shots coming in," Ken said. "I didn't lose, I just got beat."
Ken says the everyday routine is the toughest challenge he faces "(The) travel, hotel, laundry, come play golf, practice, everything that goes with it," he said. When I asked Ken what his biggest fear was and how he overcame it, he gave a very candid answer. He was diagnosed with scoliosis when he was in seventh grade and had to wear a body cast, which he took on and off while he practiced. "(The) end of my ninth-grade year they told me I had to have surgery, and I didn't know what that meant," Ken said. "I felt like I was done playing sports, I was done with everything." In February 1985 he had surgery where doctors inserted a 16-inch Harrington rod in his back. "That's why I think I have appreciated where I am right now because I don't know how long I'm going to keep playing," Ken said. "I don't know how long my back will stay up. It's a touchy situation. It's tough, but I'm thankful I'm here."
Ken doesn't know if he has any superstitions or whether they are just habits, but he always starts the round with three tees in his pocket and he marks his ball with the same coin. He's an extremely down-to-earth person who truly appreciates where he is and how hard he has worked to get here. He looked up to Jack Nicklaus as a golfer, but Larry Bird was his idol growing up. "I've worked hard for what I have today (and it's the) same with him," Ken said. "He didn't have anything -- he had to help his family. (I've) just done a lot of studies on Larry and just how successful he was. Same deal here, growing up with not a lot and working hard to get there and reaching your goal." Ken's goal of reaching the PGA TOUR took a little longer than most. "It took me 10 years to get through qualifying school in '04 and I told my wife if I never made it back to the TOUR, I've been there once, I tried it, I've done it," he said. "The experience on the Nationwide Tour is a big stepping stone and after you get out here and get comfortable, it's fun, it's worth it." Ken understands that he is very fortunate to be where he is. "I think the best is just being able to compete with the best in the world and testing your game to see what it's all about and being around all of these great athletes," he said.
Ken's family travels with him quite a bit on TOUR and when he is home one of his favorite activities is spending time with his daughters. Ken also enjoys fishing, primarily for bass. He's proud of the 8-pound and 12-pound bass he's caught.
Walking Ridgewood Country Club is not to terribly difficult with the holes being relatively close together which means on some holes you don't have to start at the tee to see all of the action. The toughest hill to walk on this course would be on the par-3 eighth hole as you walk from the tee to the green.
I would like to thank Ken for spending time with me last week. At the end of the week, he told me that having me follow him was an inspiration, and that really meant a lot to me. "I knew you were out there pulling for me," Ken said. "So I was trying to do as good as I could do and I appreciate everything you do." I would also like to say a special thank you to my Mom for joining me in New Jersey last week. And to my good friend Jim Nantz and the entire golf crew at CBS Sports, I appreciate your continued support throughout the entire 2008 season. Thanks for featuring me in the end-of-the-year 2008 memories, too.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Last week began in Detroit when I had the opportunity to meet with some representatives from the Greater Detroit affiliate of the United Cerebral Palsy Foundation. Then I went to Greensboro for the Wyndham Championship, which was my first-ever PGA TOUR event in 1990. The tournament returned to Sedgefield Country Club this year for the first time since 1976.
| Inside the numbers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
I followed Davis Love III, who won the tournament in 1992 and 2006. Davis told me he feels comfortable in Greensboro because he played college golf at UNC and has spent a lot of time in the area. "I understand the grass and the courses," he said. "You get good fan support. When we played at Forest Oaks I had played there a whole bunch, so I knew the golf course real well. Now I have to transfer it over here to Sedgefield. It's kind of like a little bit of a homecoming."
Davis's earliest memory of golf is dragging a club around under the furniture when he was in diapers. His father was a club pro and instructor so "we grew up at the golf course." When he and his brother, Mark, wanted to find their father, they would start on the second hole where they lived and play around to No. 9. "That's always where Dad was," Love recalled. "As we got older and older we got more interested in it, we got to have our own goals. But in the beginning, it was just to be where Dad was." Davis played three years at UNC and loved the experience -- "just being a part of a great college and a great town and a great team, being able to watch basketball, football, and all of the great sports there."
Davis says the caddy-player relationship is like a marriage. "You have to both get along, you both have to do your share and you have to agree to disagree and be real positive on things," he explained. "If you have a really good caddy he can help you. If you have a pretty good caddy he can not hurt you. If you have a bad caddy he can really screw you up. I think that's the main thing is you you've got to have somebody that you enjoy being around and that you have fun with and that way you can play your best. You don't really have to have somebody that's going to make you a better player, you just have to have somebody that will let you be as good as you can be (and) you need a friend."
Off of the course Davis enjoys hunting, fishing and snowboarding. "Anything to get outside and do something athletic and outdoors oriented, I love all of it." He also likes riding his motorcycle. In fact he received a custom bike for his 40th birthday and was featured on an episode of "American Chopper." When I asked Davis if he had any superstitions he laughed and told me a story about the late golfwriter Bob Drum, who was doing a piece on the same thing for CBS. Davis said he didn't have any superstitions and Drum walked away "kind of mad," as Davis recalled. "He was interviewing somebody else and I went up and I said, 'Does only using white tees count?' He said, 'All right, you're superstitious," so he started rolling the camera. He said, 'All right, give me some more. I said, 'All right, I like 1963 or '64 pennies. He goes, man, you are superstitious. You think things that you do are habit like I don't like blue tees or I don't like pink tees and you start thinking about it. I have a lot of habits that I think have turned into superstitions."
Davis and his brother also have become involved in golf course design. When Davis started playing well, people came to him with design projects and he eventually formed his own company. "It was just something that my brother and I could do together and give something back to the game and create something of our own," Davis said. "It's a little bit different then playing or teaching and we really enjoy it. Plus we like the outdoors. We like the tractors. I think the most exciting part probably is when you see the land and you start getting an idea of what it's going to look like and get to start building it and then in the end when it comes time to play, it's pretty exciting to see it go from a piece of raw ground to all of a sudden a year later there's a golf course."
Like his friend Fred Couples, Davis says the best part of playing golf is the time inside the ropes. "To go out and compete and do what you love to do, it's fun," he said. "The hardest part is all of the whole rest of the day. The TOUR has gotten so big and so busy that you have to manage your time. You have to avoid the distractions and deal with the pressure. Really that time inside the ropes is so much fun, it makes the rest of it worth it."
Davis often travels in his RV. "The best thing about the bus is having your stuff," he said. "It's like having a small apartment that you get to take with you to every tournament, so you've got your pillow, your sheets, and your satellite card and your refrigerator and it just makes it feel a little bit more like home."
Even though Sedgefield Country Club plays short yardage-wise and to a par 70, it is still a good walk. There are a few holes on each side where you have to navigate some hills. This is a short course, but a very hilly piece of property.
I was able to see some friends last week I haven't seen for a very long time. Special thanks to Davis and my sister Ann for being my "caddy" last week, as well as to Brokie and Ann Lineweaver and Sara and Troy Hopkins for their hospitality. I also had the opportunity to see my brother Ken for the first time this year.
See you in New Jersey for the start of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- Welcome to my adventure at the 90th PGA Championship, the season's final major at Oakland Hills Country Club where I followed PGA TOUR veteran Stewart Cink.
| Inside the numbers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Stewart resides in Duluth, Ga., at the TPC Sugarloaf, where coincidentally I lived for nine months during 2002 and 2003. Stewart's greatest memory from this year is winning the Travelers Championship. "I played some good tournaments," he said. "But to go as long as I did without winning and then finally get one, that was easily the best." Stewart stands sixth in the FedExCup standings so he has clear goals for the rest of the year. "I'd like to try to defend my spot or to move up because that's pretty hefty change they're handing out at the end of the year," he said.
Stewart's parents got him interested in playing golf. "They picked up golf when they got married because they wanted to do something outdoors and they wanted to do something that was back then relatively inexpensive," he explained. "Instead of paying for a babysitter they just took me to the course. I picked it up by watching them and some of my earliest memories literally are riding in the cart in a little booster seat. I would get out and go and find my dad's ball, and tell him if that was his or not."
As all of you know, I interview the player I am following each week and this one had a slightly different twist due to the participation of his wife, Lisa. She had some interesting things to say about the relationship between Stewart and his long-time caddy, Frank Williams. "I would venture to say that Frank, his caddy, is one of his best friends now," Lisa said. "Having that other personality on the course complement yours is extremely important. Frank is very even-keeled just like Stewart riding through the ups and downs so I think ... that's even more important than what club or yardage." Stewart added that it's important a caddy and a player know each other's tendencies. "During stressful situations like coming down the end of a tournament, (when) you know the tournament's on the line or making the cut, he can sense when I need something to slow down (or) maybe take an extra (club) because of adrenaline or something," Stewart said. "He knows that because he's been seeing me hit shots and do these things under pressure and not under pressure for 10 years. So, it's hugely important."
I asked Stewart how his preparation changes for a major like the PGA as compared to other TOUR events. "It doesn't change much because I try to approach every tournament like it's the most important tournament of the year and just try to be ready to play no matter what," Stewart said. "In fact, I'm not really one to go into tournaments real early and play a lot of practice rounds. I have a short attention span (so) I feel like if I'm there Sunday night or Monday and play and play and play, that by the end of the week I'm just ready to just head out."
Stewart's pre-round routine includes a workout in the fitness trailer. He says fitness has changed the game quite a bit. "First, Gary Player and then Greg Norman and now Tiger," Stewart explained. "Everybody has just become more conscious about not really their physique because that's more of an appearance, but more their strength, the health of their back and their knees and their shoulders, joints. Golf is just not a natural move for the body to make and it can cause so many injuries. If you keep yourself in good shape you're doing two things: You're stronger so you can play better and put your swing in a better position, (and) you're also preventing injuries. The way the purses are out here on TOUR now, you can extend your career by just a few years and be successful and that means quite a bit of extra paydays down the road. So you want to stay competitive as long as possible out here."
All the activities Stewart enjoys off of the course involve his family. "I like playing golf with my family," he said. "They all started playing golf recently, especially my younger son, Reagan. He's been playing all summer a lot, so that's been kind of neat to watch." They also enjoy camping, mountain biking and spending time at the lake. "We're big outdoors people," he said. "Skiing in the winter is our passion. I can't wait for the snow to start so I can stop playing golf and go skiing." Asked what fans don't know about Stewart, his wife was quick to answer. "He's hilarious," Lisa said. "He's just a really funny, witty, smart guy and graduated with honors and had one of the highest GPAs in high school."
Stewart will play on the U.S. Ryder Cup team next month. "It's a huge honor, just because you beat a lot of really great players to get on the team and gotten more points or gotten picked or whatever," he said. "You feel the whole country pulling for you to win and I know everybody want's the U.S. to win the Ryder Cup."
Stewart also believes that giving back to those less fortunate is extremely important. "It's a huge part of the PGA TOUR and also all of the individual players," he explained. "The TOUR has given away a billion dollars and made a huge impact to the communities we play in. Individually I support a charity in my hometown that gives grief counseling to kids that lose their parents when they're young. We chose to do it free of charge and everybody in this tournament does something like that."
Off of the course this week I had some great opportunities. On Thursday I met with course manager Steve Cook and his maintenance crew. I also got to speak with Ed, who works with the Wounded Warriors Foundation and is in charge of Patriot Golf Day, a fundraiser on Labor Day weekend. Ed served in Iraq and was hit by an IED in 2004. It was an honor to meet Ed and thank him for his service. Then on Saturday, the Professional Tour Caddie's Association made me an honorary member, which I really appreciate.
Oakland Hills is a fair walk. There are some hills and slanted areas to navigate, but at the same time a lot of the holes are close together and you can make good use of the crosswalks all around the course. If I had to rate this course on a scale of one to 10 in terms of difficulty, it would be 6.
I would like to say thank you to Stewart and Frank for their kindness last week. I would also like to say thank you to "Jelly" and Donna and the Professional Tour Caddie's Association, as well as Bill Newton, course manager Steve Cook and his entire maintenance crew staff for their hard work and hospitality.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AKRON, Ohio -- My week began with a visit to the Cleveland affiliate of UCP for a meet and greet along with a facility tour. I really enjoyed having the opportunity to interact with all of the clients at the facility and to talk about my amazing journey this year.
| Inside the numbers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Then I got to follow second-year PGA TOUR player Johnson Wagner at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. He qualified for the event when he picked up his first career victory earlier this year at the Shell Houston Open. "Winning Sunday of Houston definitely" was his greatest memory of the year, Johnson told me. "Just coming down the stretch with the lead and feeling the pressure and being able to pull it off (was amazing)." Johnson isn't satisfied, though. "(My) major goal is to qualify for THE TOUR Championship, get in that top 30 which would get me back to Augusta, which is the ultimate goal," he said.
As I have found out, even though golf is technically an individual sport, the player-caddy relationship is very important. Johnson's caddy is Steve Hale whose nickname is Pepsi. "I think this is our fourth season now, so I think it's big for me because it's nice to have someone on the course there you can talk to and trust and he's one of my best friends," he said. Johnson travels the TOUR with his wife Katie in an RV. He enjoys playing with new gadgets and recently got the new iPhone, Video-game systems like the Nintendo Wii and Playstation 3 are another passion. He also likes watching movies and listening to music.
I have really enjoyed talking to the players about the prospect of golf becoming an Olympic sport and Johnson was no exception. "I can't give you a good argument why it should be," he said. "But I can't give you an argument why it shouldn't be. ... There are so many good opportunities. You could have two-man teams. You could do so many different things with golf being an Olympic sport. It wouldn't have to be an individual gold medal. I think it would be great for the game." Johnson also said that he would love to play in the Olympics, "Any chance I get to represent my country would be great."
Johnson said winning the Shell Houston Open didn't change his life, it changed his career. "I was in the Masters the next week," he explained. "I'm in (the Bridgestone Invitational) because of it. It helped get into the PGA Championship. It's allowed me to play with better players, play in bigger tournaments and kind of test my game at the highest level." His first trip to Augusta National was particularly amazing. "We got there late Sunday night and I was out on the course at about 9 Monday morning," he recalled. "I probably slept for about two hours that night. I just couldn't wait to get out there. I probably would have teed off at 5 if they'd let me. Just the fans, the golf course, just the whole atmosphere -- that place is second to none. It was just a dream come true and I can't wait to get back."
Johnson attended Virginia Tech where he was medalist at the 2002 Big East Championship. Johnson said the tragedy of 2007 hurt the entire community. "I think the students and the faculty and all of the people in Blacksburg have done a great job honoring those lives lost and the memorial is up there now," he said. "I went to the opening football game last year and it was real special; (it's) just such a great community of people and I think they've become stronger for it. ... I always felt very safe there. There's not much you can do to stop a maniac like that. ... But I think the campus is probably safer now then it ever has been."
Johnson's quest to earn his PGA TOUR card began on the Nationwide Tour where he played for four years. "I got right to the Nationwide Tour out of college which was great I never had to play mini-tours," he said. "I played out there for four years. ... I got better every year ... so I had a good progression of play. I just think the Nationwide Tour really helped me prepare to stay out here when I got out here."
We have entered into a very tough stretch of the PGA TOUR season with many marquee events in a row. Some players will play in six of the next seven events but Johnson is ready after taking two weeks off leading up to the Bridgestone Invitational. "I was kind of preparing myself to play a bunch in a row -- especially big events," he said. "So I've been looking forward to this stretch of the year since I won and since I knew I was going to be playing most of these events. I'm very excited about it."
Firestone Country Club's South Course may be the second easiest course on the PGA TOUR to walk. This course has a lot of holes that are up and back so you can watch the action on one hole and then turn to your right or left and be at the next fairway to watch the tee shot. Walking Firestone this week was a good "rest" week after Royal Birkdale and Glen Abbey in the previous two weeks.
I had a great week in Ohio last week. Johnson and Katie are very genuine people. One thing, I will always remember is Johnson saying he was honored I chose to follow him this week. It didn't matter what his score was, he always spent a few minutes talking to me after the round. I really had a great week with Johnson and Katie and feel like I have gained two more friends. I also would like to say thank you to Pepsi and the staff at the UCP Cleveland affiliate. I appreciate my good friends Nelson and Kerri Fujiwara for joining me in Ohio, too.
See you at the PGA Championship where I will spend time with Stewart Cink.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OAKVILLE, Ontario -- I began the week traveling 4,375 miles from Manchester, England to Toronto where I would attend the RBC Canadian Open played at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ontario.
| Inside the numbers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Last week, I followed Carl Pettersson who was a classmate of mine at Grimsley High School in Greensboro, N.C. That's right -- we went to the same high school and graduated the same year but neither of us knew it until Wednesday afternoon. Not only were we classmates, we also lived in the same neighborhood and didn't know that, either. Carl said that one of his greatest memories from high school was winning the state championship his senior year.
I asked Carl if he thought golf should be an Olympic sport. "I think it would be nice," he said. "I was actually talking to my wife about that the other day. If it was an Olympic sport, I'd like to play in it ... and hope the pros support it." Carl, whose father introduced him to the game at the age of 5 or 6, loves golf. "To be honest with you ... I'm a bit of a golf nut," he said. "I watch it, I play it, I eat and sleep it and I'm fortunate to do this as a dream of mine." Even if Carl didn't play golf professionally, he said his career would be something in the golf industry. Carl also believes the player-caddie relationship is extremely important. "I rely on my caddie a lot, he's a good friend of mine, and we get along very well together," he said. After spending the week with Carl, I did see that he and his caddie Grant Berry not only have a great working relationship, but they are also good friends off of the course.
Carl said that some of his greatest memories involve spending time with his kids. "Anytime I have a week off and play with them is a great time,' he said. Carl and his family love to spend time at their beach house in North Carolina and take the boat out on the water. Last Friday, Carl's tee time was delayed until 4:45 p.m. due to weather. So what did he do? He took his family to a nearby safari lion drive-thru park. "It's like a zoo, but you drive your car through and they've got lions, monkeys, giraffes, zebras, so the kids loved it, and it was pretty easy on the old folks -- all we had to do is drive the car," he said, laughing. "It was actually fun, we enjoyed it, so it was good we did that and had lunch."
Carl attended N.C. State University and played golf in the Atlantic Coast Conference. "I think the ACC is one of the top if not the top conference to play golf in," he said. "I was only at N.C. State for two years, but competed against a lot of guys who are out here now." He said playing for Wolfpack coach Richard Sykes "was a phenomenal experience." I asked Carl, who still lives in Raleigh, if he gets into the Tobacco Road rivalry between N.C. State, UNC and Duke. "Well, N.C. State used to be in that rivalry, but we've kind of lost our ways," he said. "It's more Carolina and Duke. I try and go to two football games each year and a few college basketball games. I wish we were just a little bit better. In the state of North Carolina, college sports is bigger than the professional sports."
Carl told me he thinks it's important to give back to charity -- especially athletes like himself. "Obviously you're living a dream," he said. "We're fortunate to do what we love. If you can help somebody else out along the way, I think it's nice." Carl and Tim Clark, a PGA TOUR player from South Africa who was a teammate of his at N.C. State, sponsor a charity event that benefits Children's Flight of Hope in Raleigh. The charity arranges private airline flights for seriously ill children
I asked Carl what is the best part and most difficult part of playing golf professionally. "The best part about playing professional golf is you're living the dream," he said. "The most difficult part is probably the travel, being away from home all of the time. When you're not playing that well, it's not that much fun, but you got to get through that. Everybody goes through those times. I enjoy playing golf. I don't like to play bad, but even the bad day is not that bad, really."
Last week was a crazy week, Glen Abbey absorbed over 8 inches of rain, and we had several weather delays. In a bit of good fortune, Carl had a morning start on Thursday and just after he holed out his final putt on the 18th hole, the horn blew and the delay lasted five hours, 40 minutes. As a result, Carl did not begin his second round until late Friday, and we had to return early Saturday to finish. Saturday was the most tiring day last week as I walked 22 holes, almost 10 miles and 29,847 Accusplit steps.
Glen Abbey is an interesting walk. The front nine is relatively easy, but the back is more challenging with five holes in a valley. The 11th hole begins with a 50-foot drop from the tee to the fairway, then, when you get through the 15th hole, the players take a shuttle from the green to the 16th tee. Also, there is a pretty good walk between the ninth green and 10th tee. Dealing with all of the weather this week and the wet and soggy ground from all of the rain we had, made for an extra challenge, and I am proud to say no falls!
I had a great time in Canada. Congratulations to my fellow Whirlie on his tie for 11th. I would also like to thank Carl's caddie Grant and Tournament Director Bill Paul and his entire staff for their hospitality. Once again, I would like to thank Continental Airlines for providing our air travel to Canada.
See you next week in Akron, Ohio, for the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SOUTHPORT, England -- Last week I traveled 4,445 miles from Moline, Ill., to UK for the 137th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. This was my first time to Europe and it was a memorable week. It was kind of cool to see people drive on the left side of the road with the driver on the right side of the car. You might have thought we were in the movie National Lampoon's European Vacation when we made a few wrong turns and our car with a stick shift stalled a few times. It was pretty funny.
| Inside the numbers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
I followed Sean O'Hair, the winner of the 2008 PODS Championship, at Birkdale. Sean, who turned pro at the age of 17, won the 2005 John Deere Classic and earned a spot in the Open Championship the following week. "Obviously winning your first is just awesome," he said. "Your family's there so you get all emotional and all of the memories of working your tail off on the mini-tours just paid off and then you're going to the British Open. It was just kind of wow. Even the day before I left, I didn't know if I was going, I didn't know if I was going to be able to go because I didn't have my passport." When he arrived in Scotland that Wednesday, O'Hair took a nap and then went to the range. He played with Tom Lehman, David Frost and Tim Petrovic, who helped show him the ropes and "I ended up getting 15th and I had the time of my life. It was great."
As we approach the Olympics, I asked Sean on what he thought of golf becoming an Olympic sport. "That'd be neat," he told me. "It would almost compete with the Ryder Cup a little bit. It would be interesting to see how it kind of mixes in with that. I think it would be awesome."
As we all know golf is technically an individual sport, but when you talk to TOUR players a lot of them point to the team effort -- especially when talking about the importance of their caddy. Sean was no different. "This is my second week of six weeks on the road," he said. "So basically I'm going to be spending more time with my caddy then I am my wife in the next month and a half, so I think it's extremely important (to be friends)." Other then carrying the bag and figuring yardages Sean says a caddy is a "psychologist almost, especially like right now if you're struggling with your confidence. Your caddy's probably talking to you, trying to get you to start thinking a little bit better. A caddy can be anything you want."
Sean told me he is learning how to prepare for majors. He took the week prior to the Masters off and instead of going home to Pennsylvania, he went to Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., to work with his caddy at the TPC Sawgrass. "We just worked on a lot of wedges," he said. "(We) worked on the shots that I knew I was going to have because I've played that course before." Sean ended up finishing 14th, so he thinks the targeted preparation worked well.
I asked Sean what was different about the Open Championship as compared to the other three majors. "Well, obviously it's the oldest championship," he said. "The U.S. Open is tough because the U.S. Open is our national Championship and obviously that's what you're supposed to want to win. But the Masters and the British for me are as high as it gets. Obviously, the Masters with the mystique of it, but with the British, it's the history of it -- just thinking about all of the guys who have won that cup, and drank from it and just the history about it is to me what it's all about. Plus I love the golf there. My favorite thing about (if) is just the golf is different then it is here."
Sean, who is the consummate family man, made six trips to q-school before he got his TOUR card. "If you're good enough to be on the PGA TOUR you should pass through (the first stage) with ease," he said. "For me, it was always about trying to get past second stage. People don't realize how good these guys are and how good the guys who aren't on TOUR are. To make it out here is the hardest thing in the world." Sean says that he's living his dream. "From the time I was little, I wanted to do this, and to be living it is really cool." One superstition Sean has is that he doesn't play balls with the number 3 on them -- he only plays 2s and the occasional No. 1.
Royal Birkdale is not a very hilly course from tee to green inside the ropes, but as a spectator this course is a good challenge to walk. There were many uneven areas which for me was a challenge and there were some good hills to go from some of the fairways to greens. There were also many dirt and mud areas where spectators walk, which when wet made for an added challenge. Considering the rain and wind I think we were pretty lucky. Sean had the good draw. We played Thursday afternoon so we missed the dreadful weather that morning. The toughest weather conditions were on Saturday with steady winds of 25 mph and gusts up to 45. Not only was it tough for the players, but I had the extra challenge of bracing myself with the wind several times. I am proud to report that I had no falls on Saturday!
Thanks to Sean for spending time with me this week. I would also like to send thanks to Continental Airlines for providing our air travel. It was great to have my Mom and Dad along for my first trip to Europe and the Open Championship, too.
See you next week at the RBC Canadian Open!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SILVAS, Ill. -- Last week, I was at the TPC Deere Run for the John Deere Classic where I had the opportunity to spend time with Peter Lonard.
| Inside the numbers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Peter first started playing golf at the age of 13 when his dad took him to play during a visit to his grandparent's house. He admitted to some superstitions, one of which is that he only asks a caddie to carry the bag, get yardages and make sure to put his clubs in the right slots. He also said his lucky number is 13.
Peter plays full-time on the PGA TOUR, but he has also spent time playing in other countries and the Australasian Tour. He said the depth factor is the biggest difference. "Here, we're unbelievably spoiled to the point where it's almost embarrassing," Peter explained. "It's good but embarrassing. Differences between lifestyles of playing here and places like Europe or Australia is that America gives you a better opportunity to get the most out of your game."
That said, Peter has also experienced difficult times during his professional career which includes contracting Ross River Fever in 1992, a disease carried by a mosquito. "I played the first year on anti-inflammatory and '93 was when I got the fatigue side of it. It pretty much stopped my golf career," he said. "All of a sudden I didn't have stamina." Peter gained upwards of 90 pounds, sitting around the house for a year and a half without a job.
Fortunately, things improved with his health when the money started to run out. "I started with baby steps, doing smaller tour pro-ams," Peter said. "I think the hardest thing about that was actually going back and doing stuff I had worked through ten years before. I got out of that section and into the proper tours and all of sudden I was right down in the pack again. Really unfit with a pretty ordinary golf swing, so it probably took four or five years to get over it. ... Just as I started to improve I was offered the club job, so I took the club job and then it all started to fall into place. (I played well in) a couple of co-sanctioned events ... on the Australian Tour and Europe and I thought if I kept chasing my tail off, I would win again."
During his professional career, Peter has had the opportunity to represent Australia on the International Team in The Presidents Cup. "Well I think it's special No. 1 because (of) ... being able to represent the rest of the world (and) the opportunity to play in a team event. Golf doesn't teach you a lot of team mentality and I grew up in team sports and I really enjoyed the camaraderie of playing on a team."
According to Peter the best part of playing golf professionally is that "you get someone to carry your bag." He also went on to say the most difficult part is the travel. "I'd love to live in Australia and I'd love to have the house and I'd love to have the dogs and that sort of stuff, but that's actually going to take hold until I get a bit older." Peter also said that he's a creature of habit when it comes to deciding where to eat when he's on the road. "I like my local bars so I pretty much eat at the same place every week every year. I can pretty much tell you exactly where I ate every tournament."
If he only had one more round of golf to play Peter said that round of golf would take place at St. Andrews and in his foursome would be Jack Nicklaus, so Jack could tell some stories.
Unfortunately Peter had a tough time at TPC Deere Run this week, and over the weekend I followed Rich Beem. This course, this course is extremely hilly on the front nine -- I fell on the cart path on the fifth hole. The first six holes on the course are the most challenging to walk, but after that, the course did get a lot easier and more flat. Special thanks to the local media members who walked with us during the tournament; I appreciate their support and taking time to tell my story. Yes, that's right I did have one fall this week and it was a good one -- the local television crew even caught it on tape. That's right, there's proof of my fall!
Congratulations to John Deere Classic champion and my good friend Kenny Perry on his third victory of the year. Special thanks to Peter Lonard for his kindness, insights and candor last week along with Rich Beem, Kenny and Kenny's caddie Freddie Sanders. I would also like to thank Phil Boyer for being my "caddie" last week in the Quad Cities; it was a most enjoyable week.
See you next week from the British Open where I will be following Sean O'Hair.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BETHESDA, Md. -- My week began as I traveled from Detroit to Houston to pay my respects and show support to my good friend Jim Nantz. I would like to send my condolences to the entire Nantz family on the unfortunate loss of Jim's father.
| Inside the Numbers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Last week I had the honor of spending the Fourth of July week in our nation's capital at the AT&T National hosted by Tiger Woods. The tournament was played at Congressional Country Club just 25 minutes from Washington, D.C.
On Wednesday night I had a special opportunity to visit Walter Reed Medical Center and visit with some of the military personnel. I met David Woodard, who is a member of the 2nd Platoon Chaos 230th Infantry 4-10 Mountain. These are the guys who go into dangerous situations before anyone else -- definitely guys you want on your side. He was injured on April 28 by an EFP (Explosively Formed Projectile) that caused serious damage to his lower leg. Thanks to the dedication and expertise of the medical teams that have helped him, David is on his way to recovery. For all of you who feel my story is inspiring -- and I appreciate your sentiments -- this evening I was reminded that true inspiration is all around us in these brave men and women who sacrifice their lives to protect our freedoms.
I followed Rich Beem At Congressional this week. Most people think this guy seems pretty cool, but that is a dramatic understatement, Beemer is a regular guy and a very talented golfer. His father is a teaching pro who used to coach at New Mexico State. Beemer was 5 or 6 the first time he played in a tournament. "I actually had to go ask my dad before I teed it up -- I said, 'Dad am I supposed to shoot a low score or high score? I didn't remember.'"
Before he joined the TOUR, Beemer used to play money games at El Paso Country Club. "The old saying used to be: If you think you have game to play on the PGA TOUR, come play in the Wednesday and Friday game," Beemer recalled. "If you can money there, then you've got a shot at being out here. It wasn't thousands of dollars, but it was definitely more money then I had in my pocket. I remember teeing it up and having $500 or $600 on the line and my paycheck was only $450 every two weeks. So it certainly prepared me to get out here and not be afraid of any situation or anything that would come that might happen."
Last Monday in Detroit, Beemer successfully survived a five-man playoff for four spots in the British Open at Royal Birkdale. Then he came to the D.C area where he won the 1999 Kemper Open as a rookie on the PGA TOUR. "I came in, I felt like I was playing well and if you feel like you're playing well then you probably are," Beemer recalled. "It was just one of those weeks where what benefited the most was making a lot of birdies and I wasn't afraid ... of making a bad number because I knew that right around the corner I was going to make some more birdies. So just everything about that week was special and I'll never forget it."
Believe it or not, Beemer loves to shop. "I'm a mall-lovin' dude," he said. "I don't care what it is, I love to shop, I could go in and buy everything at every single shop. I know it's horrible -- people are going to laugh at this -- but I literally love to shop. Put me in a mall, I could stay there for hours." Beemer also enjoys snowboarding and wake-surfing, his newest hobby.
Charity also has a special place in Rich's life. "I think it's probably one of the top motivations why we all play out here," he said. "I've been associated with quite a few charity events and each year I go back and they say we want to make this bigger and better and stronger. It's not only what I'm able to do but it's motivating everybody else around you to fire it up to dig deeper in their pockets and that's kind of the challenge and that's what I like doing."
If he only had one round of golf left, Rich "would play with my caddie (and) my wife, (because) she's a blast to play with." Beemer says his final round of golf would be at Black Rock in Coeur D' Alene, Idaho, and "we're going to have a cart with a big cooler on it. If it's going to be my last round, we're going down in flames, baby."
Rich said his idol is Jack Nicholson. "He's awesome. He's a fantastic actor. He's slick, he's smooth. What's not to love about Jack Nicholson?"
Congressional was probably in the top-five most difficult to walk to date. Unfortunately, I did record one fall during the final round. Congressional is a very old-style course which provides a good challenge for the players as it played to 7,255 yards and a par 70. This was a great week on and off the golf course. Not only did I get to visit Walter Reed Medical Center, I met the O'Connell family whose hospitality was greatly appreciated. I also believe I gained another friend in Rich Beem who made the week memorable with many laughs and jokes along the way. I also want to thank Doug Wells for joining me this week. See you next week at the John Deere Classic where I will spend time with Peter Lonard.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GRAND BLANC, Mich. -- Last week the journey continued at Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club where the Buick Open celebrated its 50th anniversary. There was a special opening ceremony that culminated with tee shots being hit by inaugural Buick Open champ Billy Casper and defending champion Brian Bateman on Wednesday.
| By the numbers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
I spent time with PGA TOUR rookie Kevin Streelman, a 2001 Duke graduate, last week. Kevin was a three-sport athlete in high school, playing tennis, basketball and golf. Kevin actually came close to playing tennis in college but the late Duke coach Rod Myers saw him play in some AJGA events and invited him to visit the campus. "I fell in love with it and it just kind of worked out from there," Kevin said.
Earlier this year, as the third alternate, Kevin got into the Buick Invitational six minutes prior to his tee time. He went on to shoot 67-69 and found himself paired with Tiger Woods in the third round.
"It was pretty crazy," he said. "All of a sudden I looked at the leaderboard and I remember walking on No. 11 and it was like a two-shot lead over Tiger Woods. I thought this was pretty cool right here. I hung on and birdied the 18th, when I (did) I had a good feeling that I might be with him the next day. It was awesome."
Three weeks ago, when we returned to Torrey Pines for the U.S. Open, Kevin was leading after the first round. By Sunday, Kevin wasn't in contention anymore, but he created a special Father's Day memory. On the final hole, Kevin had his caddy give the bib and the bag to his father. "He goes alright, but you got to get me a 3 or 4," Kevin recalled. "I said, all right Dad, we'll do it." So he hit a good drive then 3-wood to the back of the green. He chunked his chip and left himself a downhill 30-footer for par that hit the back of the cup and dropped in.
"The place went absolutely crazy," Kevin said. "I wish I could see it all again on video because it was a blur, but I remember my dad just sprinting towards me and he just gave me a huge hug. It was definitely the best moment of the year for me, to share that with him."
Another special moment came on the Memorial Day weekend when Kevin married Courtney. "We enjoy traveling together," he said. "We enjoy going to fun restaurants and checking out new places, museums and hanging out with Courtney now is pretty cool."
It was a long journey for Kevin to reach the PGA TOUR, though. Kevin estimated he put about 400,000 miles on three cars playing the mini-tours. "To get through q-school this year was really pretty emotional for me and my family and my sponsors," he said. "It was the true vision of hard work pays off. I was never an All-American out of college or anything. ... I had to do it on my own. That's kind of fine with me and how I was raised. We're blessed now to be out here." He reached the finals this year for the first time in six tries, and he was one of only nine players to advance through all three stages of q-school.
Kevin has worked extremely hard to get where he is and he does not take what he has for granted. Kevin is extremely down to earth and just a regular guy. If you would like to learn more about Kevin please visit his website at: www.kevinstreelmangolf.com
I wondered if Kevin felt like an underdog and he told he did. Kevin says he knows the success rate for q-school grads isn't always s high as for players who compete on the Nationwide Tour, but he plans to buck those odds. "It's pretty pessimistic and that's not really how I like to live my life, especially at this profession," Kevin said. "Coming to the Midwest, now I feel kind of close to home for me, it's kind of go time for me to do hopefully a little run." And he seems to be doing just that. Kevin entered last week's Buick Open with momentum after posting his first top-10 finish at the Travelers Championship. He opened with a 73 but rallied with a 63 to make the cut. He zoomed into contention with a third-round 62 and went on to tie for 10.
"The 62 was ... a blast," Kevin said. "(I had) a ton of birdies putts going in. I told Mikey, my caddy, on No. 17 (that) it doesn't matter where I aim this putter because the thing is going to go in. The hole was like the size of this table. It's fun for anyone to get in the zone, but for us as professional athletes you almost try and learn as much from that to try and get there as frequently as possible, it's kind of fun to get into that state of mind."
I would like to thank Kevin and Mikey for spending time with me last week, as well as Courtney and Kevin's parents Mary Lou and Dennis. As always, I would like to thank the many fans who offered their support and encouragement. And congratulations to my good friend Kenny Perry on his victory at the 2008 Buick Open!
Warwick Hills is a relatively easy walk with the holes being so close to each other. However, even though it's an easy walk I still covered 28 miles in walking and 84,119 Accusplit steps this week. This is a very easy course to walk, but I think the reason why it's a good walk is because there are no short cuts or cut-overs.
See you next week in our nation's capital for the 4th of July where I will be following Rich Beem.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CROMWELL, Conn. -- Last week was a very interesting and busy one for me.
My stay in San Diego was extended until Monday in order to walk the U.S. Open playoff between Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate on Monday with 30,000 of my closest friends. On Tuesday I traveled 2,939 miles to Connecticut for the Travelers Championship. It was almost like old home week for me since I went to school in Springfield, Mass., about 40 minutes from Cromwell. I also have a lot of friends who still live in the area, so I had the opportunity to see some of them.
| By the numbers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
This was the eighth time that I have attended the Travelers Championship at the TPC River Highlands. I was following second-year PGA TOUR player Steve Marino. It was Men's Health Week at the tournament and as part of the celebration, Steve, his caddie and I all wore pedometers. I am proud to say that I won the competition for the week with a total of 69,339 steps. Steve came in second with 63,873 and his caddie, Matty, was third with 60,409.
Steve was introduced to the game by his father and grandfather, who cut down a 5-iron for him when he was just 3-years-old. "Probably my first most vivid memory of golf was I was hitting golf balls in the backyard, and I hit one through the back door window," Steve recalled. "My parents weren't too happy about that. I wasn't allowed to play golf for a little while." Steve attended Virginia and played golf in the ACC, which he believes is the strongest conference in the country. "You look at the guys that are out here on TOUR," he said. "I know Arizona State has their starting five golfers from their team on TOUR right now, but there's a ton of guys from the ACC out here (like) Lucas Glover, Jonathan Byrd, Troy Matteson, (Matt) Kuchar, (James) Driscoll, and those are just the guys from my era out here."
Steve won the 1999 Virginia State Amateur the summer after his freshman year. "It was really funny because ... I wasn't really playing much golf at all. I actually had a full-time job at a law firm working 9 to 5 everyday." So he had no expectations. "I was just excited to play and get out of the office," he said. Steve barely made the field for match play but kept getting stronger and stronger. "It was just awesome, my parents were there, and it really just kind of happened out of nowhere and at that point, I really started to think that I had some potential in this game."
As a TOUR rookie last year, Steve made 21 cuts in 31 starts, posted four top-10s, made over $1 million and finished 63rd in the FedExCup race. He's picked up where he left off this year, finishing in the top 10 three times in 17 starts. His first year out of college was spent on the Canadian Tour. "That was an awesome experience, but I don't think I was mature enough at that point of my life to be traveling through Canada and all over the place," he said. "It was too much distraction." So Steve decided to stay at home in Florida and play the mini-tours there so he could practice and focus on getting better.
His game improved, and in 2006 Steve began trying to Monday qualify for Nationwide Tour events, playing well enough to gain status for the rest of the season. He reached the final stage of q-school where he shot 62 in the fourth round to move from 100th place into the top 20. Two more solid days earned Steve a ticket to the PGA TOUR. The pressure, he said, was intense. "(When) you're playing to win a tournament, if you screw up, there's always next week," he explained. "When you're playing out there at q-school, if you screw up, there's no tomorrow pretty much. You've got to wait a whole another year to get back to that point."
Steve's first start on the PGA TOUR was at the Sony Open in Hawaii where he was paired with Michelle Wie. He was amazed by the fans and the media following their group. "It was actually really cool," he said. "I really enjoyed every second of it. She was super nice and super cool, and I think she's got a lot of game." Steve's favorite course on TOUR is Torrey Pines. "The first time I went there as a rookie I just loved the place," he said. "It's so beautiful out there. It's long and it's hard. I like the cliffs -- you don't really see anything like that anywhere else that we play."
When Steve was a kid, he really wanted to be a basketball player. "I think to this day I might enjoy playing basketball more then I enjoy playing golf," he said. "But once I stopped growing and I put on a little weight and I realized I was a lot slower then everybody else, and I couldn't jump as high, that dream kind of went out the window." So it comes as no surprise that along with his father, Michael Jordan is one of Steve's idols. "Michael Jordan was everything when I was growing up," he said. "I always watched his games. I just thought the guy was amazing. That's probably why I liked basketball so much. Then my dad brought me into the game, and he taught me the things I needed to do to become a man. He's always been there for me."
Last week in Connecticut was definitely one of the best weeks on TOUR for me this year. I want to thank Steve and the entire Marino family for their hospitality on and off the course. I know I made some new friends. I would also like to thank Neil Como for being my "caddie" this week along with his wife Cassandra.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LA JOLLA, Calif. -- I began last week by traveling 4,752 miles from the East Coast to San Diego and Torrey Pines, the site of the 108th U.S. Open, the year's second major. I had a five-hour delay in Baltimore due to weather and my luggage didn't arrive in California with me. But once I got here, everything was great.
| By the numbers | ||||||||||||||||
|
My week at Torrey Pines got off to a very interesting start on Wednesday. I got to meet Mark Woodward, the course superintendent at Torrey Pines, and attend the daily maintenance meeting. Mark and Bill Newton, the media relations director for the Golf Course Superintendents Association, took me around the course so I could see it from a maintenance point of view and learn about how the USGA sets up the course. I thought this was extremely interesting.
I walked with Stuart Appleby this week. He told me that the U.S. Open may be the hardest physical test among the four majors. "Augusta (National) is probably one of the toughest mental tests because it's such an amazing place," he said. "All of the other U.S. Open courses don't hold nearly the mystique that Augusta does, but I think it's the toughest. They're looking for par to be their score and just the demands on shot making are very, very high."
Stuart got off to a great start on TOUR this year with five top-10s. However, this was the first year in a while that Stuart had not qualified for the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship, a tournament for the previous year's winners that he won three consecutive times. "That's sort of been my nest egg and I've done well, won it and gotten off to a great start on the year," said Stuart, who did not win in 2007. "It was a little bit like, well, how do I start my year off, what do I do, I haven't done this before in a while."
Stuart hasn't always played well on the West Coast. But he was able to translate his hard work on the practice range during the offseason into those top-10s, which he calls "probably the highlight of the year."
Stuart began playing golf at the age of 14 when his parents started taking lessons. He'd pick their brains when they got home and try to copy what they told him. He was shooting 130 in the beginning, but "I got hooked, and the next two to three years there was no lie, I loved it."
He also played Australian Rules Football as a child, though, and he enjoyed being part of a team. "I would come home and watch matches every now and then," he said. "I miss the team aspect of it very much." Still, Stuart was just as comfortable playing golf. "Golf was also very much like me," he said. "I was a bit of a loner. I like doing things myself. I like the way I did things. I like the solitude of the golf course, the mental test of it, but I also loved assisting and being in a team and that sort of stuff."
That's why he likes the unique nature of the Presidents Cup so much. "It's a very pressure-packed week," he said. "You're trying your best to focus on your own game and do better at that, and the better you will do that, the better you will play." The 1998 win in his native Australia was particularly sweet. "It's been a very big drought since then, but just a great, great format, I'm really hopeful I get as many more of these as I can, they are really a lot of fun," Stuart said.
If he wasn't a professional golfer, Stuart doesn't know what he would do for a living. "I really could have done a lot of things" he said. "But they probably wouldn't be as good a paying job as what I have now." The job is amazing, he says, but frustrating at the same time. As his two young children grow older, he knows it will be more and more difficult to leave them for weeks on end.
He's also finding himself becoming more settled. "I used to drive the motor sports stuff," Stuart said. "(But) the track days are gone now with kids. Sitting by the pool during the summer hanging out with the kids, I guess (I'm) being a bit more of a family man." And not surprisingly, Stuart has learned from his own parents. "What I see in myself today and the things that I have today, the good things that are needed for golf, I think I saw all that with growing up on the farm with my father," he said. "I think they were two very critical people. Now being a father, I understand that's a role that I've got to take on, hopefully be somebody they (my kids) can look up to and emulate to some degree."
Given the chance, Stuart says he would like to meet historical figures like Thomas Edison or Leonardo da Vinci -- "(it) would be cool to sit down and look over their neck and see what they were doing, because those guys were unique in any era."
This was the second time during the 2008 season that we were at Torrey Pines. The South Course is also used in the Buick Invitational in January. This time the course played drastically different with the graduated rough the USGA uses. The course also was dried out which made it play a lot faster. Mark Woodward told me that greens were rolling at 11.5 on the Stimpmeter while for the U.S. Open the speed was 13. The South Course played to 7,569 yards and a par 72 for the Buick Invitational while it was 7,643 yards long and a par 71 for the U.S. Open. I still found the South Course to be a relatively fair walk with a few hills and the holes being relatively close together with a few short cuts.
I'd like to thank Stuart, as well as Bill Newton of the GCSA and Mark Woodward, for spending time with me last week. Thanks also to the fans, including former NFL quarterback Dave Krieg, for their words of encouragement. And one final thank you goes out to Nelson Fujiwara for joining me last week in San Diego.
See you in Hartford, Conn., for the Travelers Championship where I will spend time with Steve Marino.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MEMPHIS -- If I had to sum up my time last week at the Stanford St. Jude Championship in one word, it would have to be adventurous.
| By the numbers | ||||||||||||||||
|
I began the week on Monday with an appearance at the United Cerebral Palsy Mid-South Annual Fundraising Golf Tournament, where I had the opportunity to speak to participants about my journey. It was a great experience for me. I also had the thrill of a lifetime at the FedEx Flight Simulator. I admit, I had difficulty with the take-off, but nailed the landing.
On Thursday afternoon, I had the opportunity to take a tour of the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. I really enjoyed learning about St. Jude and all of the services and care they provide to children. On Friday night, I attended the FedEx business seminar where I was introduced to the crowd and was once again able to talk about my journey and what an amazing experience it has been.
It was another hot week on the PGA TOUR with temperatures in the mid 90s all week, with little breeze. The course was relatively flat, a welcome break after the week before in Columbus. I am proud to report I had no falls this week and drank plenty of liquids.
The PGA TOUR pro I followed at the Stanford St. Jude Championship is a "dirt bag" who, along with his caddie, likes to harken back to medieval times and eat whole chickens from Boston Market with his fingers when he's on the road. This is also the man who finished runner-up to Sergio Garcia at THE PLAYERS Championship a month ago. Meet Paul Goydos.
"The greatest memory (of THE PLAYERS) was how people reacted," he said. "I've played good golf before, but very rarely do I get the opportunity for the public to actually be a Paul Goydos fan. I have Paul Goydos fans -- they're my kids and an occasional acquaintance -- but it seems like the country got behind me a little bit, at least for a while. So the really exciting part wasn't necessarily my good play, but the reaction of the crowd."
Paul's first memory of hitting balls was at age 10 when he hit wiffle balls in the neighborhood with his dad's World War II-era clubs. Paul doesn't have superstitions, he has what he likes to call "routines".
"I carry coins that are dated with my girls' birthdays, a quarter or a penny, either 1990 or 1992 depending on what I find in my bag," he shared. He also marks his balls with their birth years and, in 2003, Paul began placing a "PG" on his balls as well in memory of his late father.
Paul's long road to reach the PGA TOUR included mini-tours and the Nationwide Tour, as well as the TOUR's grueling qualifying school. "You're playing for how you're going to make a living," Paul told me. "Q-school (to me) is the ultimate golfing opportunity. ... If you go out and play your game and play good golf for six rounds, you're going to get your TOUR card and the opportunity to play for $300 million against Tiger Woods."
Among Paul's greatest memories from q-school is when he hit the green with his second shot on the last hole of the final stage in 1992. He could've three-putted and still earned his TOUR card. "That 200-yard walk to the green, knowing I had gotten my card for the first time, was probably the best moment of my career," Paul said.
To Paul, the best part about playing on the PGA TOUR is his fellow competitors. "There's not one guy on the PGA TOUR that I wouldn't want to have as my next-door neighbor," he noted. "That says a lot about our sport, a lot about the game we play. The toughest part is the travel, being away from his family and having to talk to your kids over the phone.
Call him a "Dirtbag," and Paul will grin from ear-to-ear; guilty as charged. You see, "Dirtbags" is the nickname for the baseball team at his alma-mater, Long Beach State. At THE PLAYERS, Paul wore a Long Beach State hat throughout the entire week and generated national attention for his university.
"I actually bought that hat in the airport the week before," he admitted. "I'm sitting in the airport to fly to Jacksonville. I looked at the price, $14.99. If it had said $25, I would've put it back on the shelf. I said what the heck? Why not, let's just wear the hat and see what happens."
Well, by now, we all know what happened -- Paul almost captured THE PLAYERS title in regulation but eventually lost in a playoff to Sergio. Paul's father started working at Long Beach State in the late 1950s and his mom lives across the street from the school to this day.
"Long Beach State was my community, growing up right there by the campus," he said. "It's a bigger deal than just the fact that I graduated from there or that I like their baseball team."
One of Paul's guilty pleasures is not just what he enjoys eating on the road, but the manner in which the meat-and-potatoes enthusiast actually consumes it. "My caddie came up with this idea of the Viking meal," he explained. "We go to the Boston Market, grab a whole chicken and just eat with our fingers. We have towels and it's like we're Henry VIII -- just dig in."
Family, Paul says, is the highlight of his life. His kids mean everything to him. "They put everything in perspective," he said. "If you have to dig a ditch in the middle of summer to make sure your kids are getting what they need, that's what you do."
I would like to express my appreciation to Paul Goydos, as well as to FedEx for including me in the seminar. I would also like to thank the people at the UCP Mid South and Philip Harstead, who was our tour guide at St. Jude. Finally, thanks to Neil Como for enjoying this week with me.
See you this week in San Diego at the U.S. Open where I will be following Stuart Appleby.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DUBLIN, Ohio -- Last week, I attended Jack Nicklaus' Memorial Tournament at the Muirfield Village Golf Club. It was the second consecutive PGA TOUR event linked to a legend of the game -- last week at Colonial Country Club in Texas, it was Ben Hogan. I feel fortunate to learn more about the game through these two men.
| By the Numbers | ||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | ||||||||||||||||
|
The week got off to a special start when I met some of the fine folks associated with the UCP affiliate in Columbus. These people were very friendly and I really enjoyed having the opportunity to meet and interact with them. They were extremely interested my experience and how I developed the idea for this journey. We talked about what it was like to travel on TOUR on a weekly basis. They were also very interested to learn about my stamina and if I get tired when walking the course. I really enjoyed having the opportunity to speak with them and give them a glimpse of what it's like for me on a weekly basis.
I would also like to share with you one of the greatest highlights of my week. Kerri Fujiwara and her entire fifth grade class at Meadows Elementary School in Houston, Texas, took the time to send me multiple e-mails of support and encouragement. I met Kerri a few weeks back at Bay Hill and then I saw she and her husband Nelson again two weeks ago in Fort Worth. She told she was so inspired by my story that she was going to do a lesson on CP and my determination. So she showed my video clips from PGATOUR.com to her class and then told her students that they could e-mail me. On Wednesday and Thursday I received 53 e-mails from her students. So many of the e-mails talked about how inspirational I was and said that because of me, each of these students will not give up on their dreams. I was truly humbled. I was also told that I will be receiving a stack of letters from students who did not have access to e-mail. Thank you so much for the unbelievable outpouring of support -- I really appreciate it!
Another highlight of the week was following three-time PGA TOUR champion, Jonathan Byrd. Jonathan's earliest memory was hitting balls on the range with his brother and their father, who taught him to the game when he was 3. "My dad introduced me to a lot of things," he said. "He taught me how to treat people with respect and how to relate with people. He taught me a love for doing the right thing. My dad was just a great example in my life." A three-time All-American at Clemson, Byrd was teammates with fellow PGA TOUR player Lucas Glover. "Clemson was just a great experience, and not just for golf," he said. "I was about two hours from home, and 45 minutes from my brother who went to Furman. I enjoyed taking classes, playing competitive golf and practicing." He also joked that he probably enjoyed the college scene a little too much.
Jonathan described his 2007 season as a "good" year, highlighted by his win at the John Deere Classic and ultimately, playing THE TOUR Championship for the first time in his career. By virtue of his win in Moline, Ill., Jonathan also earned an exemption into the British Open the following week, but had to first return home first for his passport. "I wasn't real confident in my game at that time, so I didn't bring my passport," he said. "I put some good golf together that week, played great, won and got to go to the British. That two-week span was pretty fantastic."
Jonathan earned conditional status on the Nationwide Tour in his first and only attempt at q-school. He won once and finished eighth on the Nationwide Tour money list in 2001, earning a promotion to the PGA TOUR. "I think the Nationwide Tour is an awesome kick start to the PGA TOUR," Jonathan told me. "You kind of get used to traveling, playing competitive golf on the road, and playing a lot more golf than you did in college. It was great preparation, but that first year is tough."
Jonathan met his wife, Amanda, at Clemson. "We had a class together and I wasn't bold enough to go talk to her that whole semester," he said. "The next semester, I approached her and we started hanging out." That led to four years of dating, two in college and the next two long distance. Jonathan and Amanda now live in St. Simons Island, Ga.
Amanda and their young son, Jackson, travel with Jonathan full-time. An avid work-out enthusiast, Jonathan said fitness has completely changed the game of golf. "The more I spend on fitness, doing the right things for my body to stay in shape, the better I feel on the golf course," he said. "The time I spend in the gym is just as important as the time I spend on the range." Jonathan admitted that the best part of playing golf on TOUR is the condition of the courses. "We are so spoiled; each course we play is going to be in the best condition it will be in all year long." The most difficult part of playing professional golf, he said, is the travel, being away from home and not having home-cooked meals.
The past two courses I have walked could not have been more opposite experiences. At Colonial, holes were very flat, close together and my easiest walk to date. At Muirfield Village, while the holes were close together, the course was far from flat. This course could rank in my top-5 toughest course to walk.
Unfortunately, Jonathan did not make the cut, so I walked with Jason Bohn over the weekend. I would like to thank Jonathan for his kindness and generosity at the Memorial. I truly enjoyed my week at Jack's place. Congratulations to my good friend Kenny Perry on his victory, too. Kenny is the second player I have walked with this year to earn a victory; Boo Weekley in Hilton Head is the other.
See you this week in Memphis!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FORT WORTH, Texas -- For the fourth consecutive week, I was able to spend a couple of days at home before traveling to Texas to visit one of the historic courses in the game in Colonial Country Club. The course, which is linked to one of the legends of the game in Ben Hogan, hosts the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. Only the Masters has been played consecutively at the same course longer.
Colonial has tree-lined fairways where distance is not an issue; placement is more important. Jim Furyk told me Colonial Country is one of his favorites on TOUR because you have to play many different shots to be successful at this course. "You have to hit it left to right, you have to hit it right to left, you have to hit some low shots, you can bounce it into greens, you have to hit it up in the air at times," he said. "You just have to hit a variety of different golf shots here and its not really about how far you hit it; it's about placing the ball in the proper position."
When Jim was a child, he played nearly every sport, including football, basketball and baseball. Golf, though, was his passion. "I just kept at it," Jim said. "That was the one sport that I really enjoyed." His father Mike taught him the game. As you probably know, Jim has a very unique swing, but it came naturally to him. "I was very upright and even more outside early on as a kid," Jim said. "I have pictures of myself where my club is basically almost over the top my head on the back swing when I was kid." He's not a mechanical person when it comes to his golf swing; he plays more through feel. So when Jim needs to correct his swing, he usually works on one area at a time.
One of Jim's favorite events is the Ryder Cup. "There's a lot of pride on the line," he explained. "You're representing your country which is an honor. There (are) just so many people behind you, pulling for you (and) rooting for you, starting with your captain." Guys like Tom Kite and Ben Crenshaw -- people Jim looked up to when he was younger -- or Tom Lehman, whom he competed against later on in his career. "Then you have your teammates who are all there pulling for you and cheering for you," Jim said. "In a larger scale, you've got 30 million people watching at home rooting for the United States, and it's just a great feeling, it's an honor to be a part of that." Jim was a member of the U.S. Team in 1999 when it had one of the greatest comebacks in Ryder Cup history on the final day. "It was very special," he recalled. "We win the first six matches, we go from four down to two up. It's almost unheard of that you could win those first six. It was exciting. There was a lot of pressure. I didn't want to let anyone down."
Colonial is commonly known as Hogan's Alley. This tie to one of the game's legends, who won the event five times, makes coming to Colonial special. "He grew up in this area with Byron Nelson so it has a special feel," Jim said. "I like looking at some of the old memorabilia or walking through the clubhouse and seeing the pictures, seeing clubs or whatever it may be. The game was so much different then, but what's really special about this place is it really hasn't changed that much since Hogan was here; since Nicklaus was here. The course hasn't changed as dramatically as others have. Yet, it has really stood the test of time, so I think when you're here you still get that feeling of those guys being on this course."
Jim loves the game and the freedom it affords him. "Basically, I've never had a boss," he said. "I get to make my own schedule -- play when I want to play (and) I can take off when I want to take off. Not many 38-year-olds have been fortunate enough to say that." Jim is also first to admit that the most difficult part of playing golf professionally is the travel and being away from his wife and two children. "That's the most important thing in my life," Jim explained. "Both my wife and I are very close to our families and our parents, and we're fortunate enough to have them close by so our kids are growing up seeing their grandparents quite a bit, which is rare. This job definitely takes you away from your family more often then you would like and it's difficult, but I have a very understanding wife and kids. I know golf won't last forever either, so I'll return back to (being) a normal Dad not too far off in the distance."
Jim is also a die-hard Pittsburgh Steelers fan. He always tries to attend several games each year, but with the FedExCup and the way his playing schedule shakes out, he could conceivably make seven games in 2008. Jim also enjoys fishing and he's looking forward to taking up skiing again in the next few years.
In my opinion, Colonial Country Club is the easiest walk to date on TOUR. This course is very flat and the holes are extremely close together. We encountered another challenge with the 90-degree heat and humidity. But the walk at Colonial was a far cry from the test we faced last week in walking the hills at TPC Sugarloaf.
I would like to thank Jim for spending time with me last week. I would also like to say a special thanks to Craig Bowman for joining me in Fort Worth and making this week a most enjoyable experience.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DULUTH, Ga. -- For the third consecutive week, the AT&T Classic was an event we could drive to from our home in Savannah. So, I was able to spend two nights at the beginning of the week in my own bed. After that, it was off to this Atlanta suburb. Interestingly, we lived at TPC Sugarloaf for 10 months nearly six years ago. I tell this story because amazingly when we arrived at the course on Wednesday, several club employees actually remembered us. I hadn't been back since we moved, so I thought that was cool.
TPC Sugarloaf was the most difficult venue on TOUR for me since the Plantation Course at Kapalua, which hosts the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship. There were several downhill walks. Most times though, I was walking straight up hills. Walking uphill is actually easier for me, though, because I put all of my weight in front of me. My calf muscles got a good workout last week.
Another challenge last week was the weather on Thursday. It rained the entire round. By the end of the day, I looked like a drowned rat. I will say, though, that I did have one really good fall on Friday morning when I slipped on the bridge on the 14th hole. It was a classic! Despite that, I really did enjoy walking the course because, as I said earlier, we once lived there. I had the opportunity to play the course a few times, so it was interesting to remember the holes from when I played them.
Last week, I had the opportunity of walking with former world No. 1 David Duval, who won the 1999 BellSouth Classic at TPC Sugarloaf. Both his father and grandfather were professionals, and last week was somewhat of a homecoming for David as he played his college golf at Georgia Tech. "I love it here," David told me. "I have some close ties. I played in this tournament the first time about 17 years ago. The folks here have always been good to me and I try to play as much as I can."
While at Georgia Tech, David had the opportunity to play for Puggy Blackmon, who remains a guiding influence in his life. "I was lucky enough to choose to come to Georgia Tech and play under Puggy, who was as concerned in the guidance of me and his other players towards what they were looking for in life," David said. "To be around somebody who was interested in nurturing young people is a pretty good place to be."
Puggy remains his instructor and David says he is almost like an uncle to him. "He is somebody I can unload on if I needed to," David said. "He was also stubborn enough to butt heads with me when I need it, because I was certainly quite stubborn "
Among David's greatest memories is the 1999 Ryder Cup at The Country Club at Brookline where the U.S. Team made one of the greatest comebacks in golf history on the final day.
"It was incredible to be there," he said. "We got done each day of the first two days and felt as a team and as players we played fairly well, but the points were not reflective of that at all. One of my great photographs in my head (is) when I was walking up the ninth green on the Singles day and I looked, the scoreboard was facing towards the grandstands and it was just painted in red. I think I was the sixth match out, and I mean, it was just 3 up, 2 up, 4 up, 3 up, 2 up and we were just killing them, and that was a really neat time."
Another great memory for David came at the 1999 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic where he shot a 59 in the final round and won the tournament. Interestingly, David played the first four rounds in 13-under par and then proceeded to shoot 13 under on the final day alone.
Believe it or not, when David first met his wife, she had no idea that he was a professional golfer. David now has five children.
"It's exciting, it's tiring, it's rewarding (and) it's a heavy burden, too, I believe, (with) a lot of responsibility involved, but it's the neatest thing in the world," he said. "I have so much fun with it." David enjoys fly fishing and snowboarding when he gets a chance, but while the three older children are mostly self-sufficient, the other two -- one who's three and the other who is 9 months -- require a lot of time.
A typical day in the Duval household when he's not playing golf starts around 6:30 a.m. "We get the kids ready for school and make lunches and chase babies," David said. "I go outside and play and watch my little boy swinging. He might go hit 300 golf balls, or he might hit a 100 and not want to do it anymore. He may want to get out the water guns, it's just activity. I like to call him my little perpetual motion machine."
David told me family means everything to him. "For me to not have my own family life and kids and then to marry into that really; wife and kids, it's a pretty neat time," David said. "I think I've handled it pretty well, and to have a couple of my own biological children, you know it means the world and it so overshadows anything that goes on professionally, that I wouldn't trade it for anything." If he only had one round of golf left to play, David said he would play a sevensome with his family. Where they played wouldn't matter, he said, because the companions would be more important.
Unfortunately David missed the cut, so over the weekend I walked with Heath Slocum, who tied for eighth. As I close my experience at the AT&T Classic, I would like to express my appreciation and gratitude to David for his kindness and generosity for the entire week. I would also like to say thank you to the staff at the TPC Sugarloaf.
See you next week in Fort Worth at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, where I will spend some time with Jim Furyk.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Last week, I was at THE PLAYERS Championship, often referred to as the season's fifth major. It was week 19 on the FedExCup schedule and began the second half of the season. That said, my experience is seemingly flying by. I wish it could slow down.
For me, things began when we drove home to Savannah, Ga., after the final round of the Wachovia Championship, and for just the second time this year, I slept in my own bed. Then on Tuesday of THE PLAYERS Championship, I was fortunate enough to attend a function hosted by the PGA TOUR. I mingled with media members, sponsors and other dignitaries. It was a great evening and I truly appreciated the invitation.
At THE PLAYERS, I had the opportunity to hang out with Jason Bohn, who finished third the week before in Charlotte. First, I learned how Jason got his start in the game. Like any PGA TOUR professional, a defining moment yells out and changes everything. That million-dollar moment -- literally -- of Jason's career came in 1992. At the age of 19, home video caught him making a hole-in-one in an event he was talked into going to at the last minute. In order to collect the money, however, Jason had to be a professional. Enough said. He immediately turned professional, giving up his eligibility at the University of Alabama.
"I feel like I made the only decision at the time I could," Jason told me. "I knew that from a financial situation to get $50,000 a year for 20 years, I didn't really have a choice. I figured if I played my cards right and I was smart with it, I could chase my dream of playing professional golf." So each October 1 until 2011, Jason receives a check for $50,000. On the day when that check comes, he and his wife Tewana put the video in and relive the experience.
Introduced to the game by his father, Jason says his earliest memory of playing golf was making a 27 on the first hole he ever played. Jason admired his dad's patience. "If you can do one better," his dad said. "That's an improvement." He's come a long way since that time -- can you believe Jason once shot a 58 in a Canadian Tour event? Well, it's true.
Jason began 2008 playing on a Major Medical Exemption after sustaining a rib injury that put him on the sidelines for the last half of 2007. "It was a little scary," Jason admitted. "I didn't know if I'd ever get back playing. When I did get back, would I be in the right frame of mind?" Jason was up to the challenge, though. He secured his card for the remainder of the 2008 season at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. He has continued to put together the best start in his five-year PGA TOUR career which includes top-10 finishes in two of his previous three events coming into THE PLAYERS
One of Jason's major superstitions is on the warm-up. On odd-numbered days, he only warms up with odd-numbered clubs. On even days, he warms up with even-numbered clubs. Another interesting fact is that he eats two peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches on the course every day. "I do it for energy because I felt like the energy bars have a little bit too much sugar for me," Jason said.
| By the numbers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
An ideal schedule for him is between 25-30 tournaments a year. I found it very interesting how he chooses his schedule. First, Jason picks courses that suit his game. "Then I let my wife choose five tournaments she likes best," he said. "That could be based on what course she likes to walk." At the request of his wife, one tournament Jason will always play is the EDS Byron Nelson Championship. The tournament takes the players and their wives out for a date night and picks up the bill along -- with providing childcare for the families. "We're playing there every year because this is the only date night we get," Jason said.
Off the course, Jason enjoys spending time with his wife and their two children. In fact, when Jason was injured in 2007 and missed the final six months of the year, "The best part of the whole injury to me was I got to spend six months (with my family)," Jason said. "I have a two-year-old and now a two-month-old. I went every day in the summer to the park, and (we) went to the pool." He also said that he would like to take the kids camping.
As for my week walking the TPC Sawgrass, last week was the warmest week we had all year. That said, a lot more energy was used each day, and I also consumed a record number of liquids to stay hydrated. We had four consecutive days that reached the 90-degree mark. So needless to say, I was pretty tired after each round. Last week was good preparation for what I'll face this summer. I enjoyed walking the Stadium Course, though. Obviously, the most famous hole on the course is the 17th with its island green. It was really cool to see the crowds lined up on the hills there, watching to see if the players would survive the hole. The Stadium was relatively flat with just a few minor hills. So, last week also made for an enjoyable walk. I want to offer a special thanks to the fans and volunteers who approached me this week and offered encouragement and said they are rooting for me.
One thing I took in about Jason is that whether he shoots a 68 or 78 his incredibly-positive demeanor does not change. As I close my week here at THE PLAYERS Championship, I wanted to extend my deep appreciation and gratitude to Jason. I also enjoyed meeting Tewana and Jason's parents. I would also like to say a special thank you to the entire PGA TOUR staff for their hospitality this week. THE PLAYERS was a most enjoyable week.
I would also like to wish each and every mother a Happy Mother's Day, and I would especially like to tell my mom Jackie how much I appreciate her unconditional love and support. I love you! See you this week at the AT&T Classic when I will be with David Duval.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Last week, I was at the Quail Hollow Club for the Wachovia Championship. In the six year history of that tournament, it has quickly become a do-not-miss event among PGA TOUR players. In 2008, 15 of the world's top 20 were in the field.
It was not just a great week for the players, but it was an amazing week for me, as well. I began the week on Monday in Destin, Fla., to attend a United Cerebral Palsy fund-raising event called FishStix. I was quite humbled when a very nice feature on yours truly was shown.
I then went to Charlotte where I had the opportunity to spend the week with the 2007 Masters champion, Zach Johnson. As you will read, Zach is extremely down to earth, very kind and generous, especially given the demand on his time. The best trait I found in Zach is that when he makes a commitment, he honors it unconditionally.
As to Zach's fondest memories from last year, two were obvious. "On the golf side of things, Augusta stands out, no question about that," he said. But could anything trump a Green Jacket? Absolutely. On Jan. 4, 2007, Zach's wife, Kim, gave birth to their first child, Will.
Asked how it feels to be introduced as a Masters champion for the rest of your life, Zach said "It's an honor and privilege first and foremost. Being a part of that fraternity, you can't put into words. That's what golf's all about and I just feel so blessed in that respect." At this year's Champions Dinner, Zach served a surf-and-turf option which included a filet of corn-fed beef, Ahi tuna, shrimp and crab cakes. In addition, there was a corn casserole from the Midwest. "I combined Florida and Iowa," he said in reference to his and his wife's home states.
Zach's interest in golf started when his parents joined Elmcrest Country Club in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. At the suggestion of head pro Larry Gladsson, Zach got involved with the junior golf program. His spiritual grounding "adds clarity to my life and it adds clarity to my job," Zach told me. "Golf is not my number one priority. It is my job, that's the way I'm going to treat it. I feel that it (our religious beliefs) just adds perspective."
If Zach wasn't a professional golfer, he said he would remain somewhere in the field of sports. "I love the competition," he said. "It doesn't matter what it is -- playing tennis, basketball I just enjoy competing." He also shared with me that he felt what I am doing this year is "pretty cool. You're getting to see the personal side of golf." Among the off-course activities Zach enjoys is downhill skiing. In fact, he admitted he preferred skiing over golf. "Skiing is my all time favorite thing in the world," he said. Zach has been skiing since he was 7 or 8 years old and feels very safe. If he were to mess up, he said it would be because of an error on someone else's part. In addition to skiing, Zach enjoys spending time with his family and watching movies with Kim. By the way, his favorite movie is "Braveheart."
| By the numbers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
One of my favorite questions to ask each player is to share something about themselves that golf fans don't know. "When I'm at home, I'm wearing shorts and no T-shirt, just shorts," Zach admitted. "I never have a shirt on. When I'm working out, I never have a shirt on. It has nothing to do with my physique, because obviously I don't have one. It has strictly to do with body temperature. I can't stand being hot."
The media coverage I experienced last week was phenomenal. The Charlotte Observer did a very nice article on me and actually put the story and my picture on the front page of the newspaper! I have been fortunate to receive a lot of media coverage this year, but this was the first time I found myself plastered on the front page of section A. The article was published in Friday's edition. What followed that afternoon was downright amazing. As I walked the rolling hills of Quail Hollow, I had 52 fans approach me and comment on what an inspiration they've found me to be.
In addition to the newspaper feature Friday, I appeared on the radio show "Primetime with the Packman," along with Jim Nantz, which is the most-listened to radio show in the Southeast. Following the 52 people who stopped me on Friday, 35 more approached me on Saturday and 45 others on Sunday. They all said they had heard me on the radio or had read my story and believed what I'm doing is truly inspirational.
I will be honest. Each week I have people approach me and give me encouragement, but last week in Charlotte, I was truly humbled by the number. I truly appreciate all of their kind words of support. I would also like to say thank you to Charlotte's News Channel 14 for doing a very nice television piece on me.
As I close a truly remarkable week in Charlotte, there are many people I would like to thank and acknowledge. First and foremost for his kindness and generosity throughout the entire week is Zach. Also, I'd like Aaron and Richelle Baddeley for their generosity and hospitality at dinner Friday night. I would also like to offer a special thank you to Tournament Director Kym Hougham and Media Director Lee Patterson, as well as the entire Wachovia Championship staff for their hospitality and ensuring my well-being.
See you at THE PLAYERS Championship!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IRVING, Texas -- Welcome to the EDS Byron Nelson Championship, one of the special weeks on TOUR. This championship is hosted by The Salesmanship Club, one of the premier charitable organizations in the country. Through their efforts, this tournament is among the leaders in charitable donations on the PGA TOUR. At the EDS Byron Nelson you can always recognize members of the Salesmanship Club, since they all wear the red pants.
I spent the week with PGA TOUR veteran Robert Gamez, who is in his 19th year on TOUR. He first became interested in golf when he was 2 and he went with his father to the driving range. His dad cut down a 3-iron and Robert started hitting balls in the backyard. Robert got his first set of clubs at age 5 and began playing in earnest.
Robert grew up in Las Vegas and played his college golf at the University of Arizona where he received the 1989 Fred Haskins and Jack Nicklaus awards as the collegiate player of the year. "Obviously, college was a great experience," Robert said. "It helped me to get to the point where I am now. I got to play tournaments that were well run and just get the good competition against other players of my caliber. I think everybody needs to play some college golf before they turn professional, whether it's a year or two years." In 1989 when Robert won player of the year, he beat out fellow PGA TOUR member David Toms for the honor.
Robert turned professional in 1990 and won twice in his rookie season, including his first official start as a PGA TOUR member at the 1990 Northern Telecom Open. Robert is one of only four players to win their first start on the PGA TOUR. "The great thing was it was in Tucson at Star Pass, a golf course we played in college twice a week and just a course I knew like the back of my hand," Robert told me. "I had a lot of momentum coming out and I was pumped up to play. I had a six-shot lead going to the last hole, and I made a smooth double to win."
Robert's second win came at the Nestle Invitational at Bay Hill, where he was involved in one of the wildest finishes in PGA TOUR history when he holed it for eagle on the 72nd hole to beat Larry Mize and Greg Norman. "I relive it every time I play the hole," Robert said. "I knew it was good as soon as I hit it because I could barely feel the ball leave and in the air, it just looked really good and looked like it was going to be close. It landed up there, took a couple of bounces and went in. I went nuts and then had to wait for Greg to finish. When (the crowd) went crazy, I knew exactly what happened, but I could see it go in. ... It hopped in, I knew it hopped in and then the crowd erupted and I mean it was loud."
After winning twice in 1990, Robert went 15 years and six months before his next victory in 2005 at the Valero Texas Open, and the drought is the longest streak in the history of the PGA TOUR. "I never doubted I'd win again," Robert said. "(But) it was tough going that long." During the 1998 Kemper Open, he injured his neck, back and right hand in an automobile accident. Robert was out of action for a few months, but he admits now that he tried to come back too early. "If it happened now I would take a medical exemption and rest and get healed properly first," Robert said. Overcoming those obstacles made his 2005 victory even more special. "It was a great feeling and to go that long in between wins was tough, but it made it even sweeter when it happened," he said. The funny thing is, as he registered for the tournament that week, Robert saw one of the volunteers carrying in the trophy. The volunteer asked if he would like to grab the trophy and Robert's response was "No. I'll just grab it on Sunday after I win."
| By the numbers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Robert enjoys watching movies with his wife, Lynn. Two of his favorites are Caddyshack and Braveheart. In fact, a few years ago, Robert had the opportunity to play golf with Randall Wallace, who wrote the movies Pearl Harbor, The Man in the Iron Mask and Braveheart. "So that was kind of cool to be able to play with the guy that wrote my favorite movie of all time," Robert said.
Giving back to the community is also very important to Robert, who started the Robert Gamez Foundation in Las Vegas. "I've been pretty fortunate over my life to not have anything to keep me from playing golf, no illnesses as a child, no broken bones, nothing that kept me from playing the game that I love," he said. "So, it's something I've always believed in and wanted to do is help give back to charity, especially children." After moving to Orlando five years ago, he started the Robert Gamez Celebrity Invitational. I was extremely honored to be a guest of Robert and play in this year's event. The entire weekend was a blast and the tournament raised over $140,000 for children in central Florida. "It's hard to explain," Robert said. "It's just a great feeling and I'm not doing it for me, I'm doing it for the kids. That's what it's all about, it's about the charity."
So this week was special, not only to attend a tournament that honors one of the legends of the game in Byron Nelson, but also to spend a week with a person who I have the greatest level of respect for in Robert Gamez.
The TPC Four Seasons underwent some major renovations under the guidance of D.A. Weibring after the 2007 event which included lengthening the course to 7,166 yards, adding bunkers and some hazards and re-doing all of the tees and greens. "I think D.A. did a great job on this course, and I just like the way the holes fit my eye," Robert said. As for walking the course, yes there are a few hills and uneven areas in this course, but overall this course was a relatively easy walk.
I want to say a special thank you to Robert and Lynn for their kindness, generosity, and hospitality for the entire week, and I would also like to thank them for their support and encouragement all year. This was a very memorable week for me with many different opportunities, but the greatest memory I will take from this week actually happened off the course when I had the opportunity to have dinner with Robert and Lynn on Saturday night.
See you next week in Charlotte where I will be following Zach Johnson.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HILTON HEAD, S.C. -- Welcome to the Verizon Heritage, a week on the PGA TOUR that is very relaxed after the season's first major. The venue is Harbour Town Golf Links, commonly rated one of the favorite courses on TOUR by many of the players. It's a shotmaker's course where hitting long drives is not a premium.
"We don't get to play many old tree-lined, tree-in-the-way (courses)," Jerry Kelly told me. "It's amazing when you look at the pin and you look up and you say I have to hit it this way, or I have to hit it this way. That's golf, that's old school golf."
Harbour Town is also known for having the smallest greens on the PGA TOUR.
Jerry was first introduced to golf by his mother at the age of 6 months when she would take Jerry to the driving range in his bassinet.
"As soon as I could get out of that thing I was hitting balls on the range," Jerry said.
He's a Wisconsin native and attended college at the University of Hartford where he played both hockey and golf. His Hartford teammates included PGA TOUR players Tim Petrovic and Patrick Sheehan. I asked Jerry what lessons and experiences you can take from playing hockey and relate to golf.
"Probably one of the biggest things is that (hockey is) a great locker room team sport," he said. "What I can bring to the Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup is that team camaraderie instead of just the individualism. You know how to get fired up as a unit as whole rather then relying on the individual pieces to (get) fired up."
Patriotism is very important to Jerry. For Thanksgiving 2006, Jerry visited our troops in the Persian Gulf as part of the USO/Armed Forces Entertainment Tour.
"We can't do enough for the men and women who are protecting our rights," Jerry said. "All they are doing is trying to make it safer for us, make it better for us, and you know you can't fault a solider. The dedication and the qualities that I saw over there were so incredible. If I could play golf with the dedication they have in their job, I'd be a lot further along than I am now."
Off the course, Jerry loves doing things with a 9-year-old son, Cooper. Whenever he's not playing in a tournament, Jerry is there on the sidelines, helping to coach Cooper's teams. Cooper plays many sports including baseball, indoor and outdoor soccer, basketball, hockey, lacrosse, football and golf.
When I asked Jerry about his hero, he didn't hesitate.
"First thing that comes to mind is my father, because No. 1: the way he treats everybody. No. 2: he served his country, and he has just done it right as he has come up by my family, by everybody that I know he has met, and by the country."
Jerry played in the 2003 Presidents Cup, and he's hungry for more.
"That turns into such a goal after you've done it once," he explained. "It is one of the experiences that will send shivers down the back of your spine when you hear that National Anthem play, and its like; Oh man, I'm playing for that -- that makes a big difference."
Another event that is extremely important to Jerry is the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee.
| By the numbers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
"Just being able to go to that tournament (as a kid) and see the guys you want to compete against (was special for me)," he said. "Watching them hit shots and realizing that it's not how they're hitting it, it's how they're getting it in the hole. I always went there thinking I was hitting it as good as some of them, but I couldn't get it in the hole like they could. It's pretty huge for the state of Wisconsin, as you guys saw with the PGA (Championship) up there at Whistling Straits, (people) realized what kind of fans they are when they saw the PGA and that got full-round exposure, that showed what the fans are like up there."
Jerry is a fiery competitor -- especially with himself -- but this week I also experienced first-hand that Jerry is a genuine person who cares about others and when he commits to something, he will always be there no matter what. After he shot a 7-over-par 78 in the first round, I didn't think I would have the opportunity to speak with Jerry. However, when I returned to the media center about 20 minutes after Jerry was done, one of the TOUR's media officials said Jerry was looking for me.
"I told you I would be here for you all week, and I will," Jerry said.
I really appreciated this gesture more then words could ever express.
Harbour Town Golf Links is one of the shortest courses on the PGA TOUR, playing at 6,973 yards and to a par of 71. However, with the tree-lined fairways and small greens, this course requires many different types of shots and provides a stern challenge for the players. The course is a very easy walk, though, and extremely flat. The holes are very close together, and in some cases, cross each other, like between Nos. 3 and 6.
As you will see in my stats this week, I walked 81 holes, which is more then a normal, but this week I walked nine holes in the pro-am with defending champion Boo Weekley, who was paired with his mom Patsy. And congratulations to Boo on successfully defending his title at the Verizon Heritage.
The Verizon Heritage is the closest I will get to a hometown event this year, and I want to say thank you to all of the local media for their support and encouragement this week. As I close the week in Hilton Head, I would like to say a special thank you to Jerry Kelly for his kindness and generosity this week. I would also like to say thank you to my mom, my dad, my sister, and Penny Cooper for joining me this week at the Verizon Heritage. This was another great week in Hilton Head!
See you next week at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship, where I will follow Robert Gamez. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Welcome to The Masters and Augusta National Golf Club for the year's first major. This tournament has a lot of history and one of the traditions is the Par 3 Contest that takes place on Wednesday. One highlight was watching Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player in the same group. It really seemed as if the fans and players enjoyed themselves and really got involved with the afternoon, as well.
This week I walked the grounds at Augusta National Golf Club with Bubba Watson, who made his first appearance at The Masters this year. When asked what he was looking forward to most, Bubba said: "My wife caddying for me at the Par 3, and I want to play the Par 3 tournament." Bubba qualified for The Masters based on his top-8 finish at the 2007 U.S. Open. Bubba is best known for his big drives and he uses a pink shaft in his driver. "It's just for fun," he said. "I like bright colors and if I out drive you with a pink shafted driver, you can't really make fun of it." Bubba also has a great fashion sense and he has developed his own clothing line named bubbagolf which can be found at retailer Steve and Barry's. "The clothing line is a real special thing," he said. "Everything is under $15 shoes, hats, T-shirts, golf shirts, pants, shorts -- everything. I just love having my name on something and being a part of it; getting to pick and choose the colors, the materials and the linings. I just enjoy (showing) that you can look good playing golf even with more affordable clothes and not these outrageous prices." In Thursday's first round Bubba wore lime green pants and for Friday's second round he wore really bright magenta colored pants with a lime green visor that had pink writing on it.
Bubba is a great athlete, and his wife Angie is not to shabby, either. Angie played college basketball at the University of Georgia. She later played professionally for two years overseass and also one season in the WNBA. I asked Bubba who wins in pick-up basketball games, and he told me, "I would say me right now just because she hasn't played basketball in a really long time, but when we first met she would beat me all of the time." Bubba was first introduced to golf at the age of 6. His father took him to the course on the weekends and Bubba would hit a cut-down left-handed 9-iron; "I just started beating balls, and loved it ever since."
With Bubba what you see is what you get. "I'm a free spirit, all my life and everything and I'm not going to change," he said. "I'm just going to be exactly who I am. I am going to tell you the truth. that's one thing my Dad taught me is always speak the truth. I just can't tell a lie, if I did something wrong, I am going to tell you that I did it, I'm not going to hide it from anybody." Giving back to the community is also extremely important to Bubba. Each year he sponsors the Bubba Watson Invitational, a a Division II women's golf tournament, that is played at the University of West Florida. "With my wife being a professional basketball player and everything and playing girls sports growing up, I just felt like that was something I could help with," Bubba said. "It has been going on for six years, so it's just one of those things I love to do. I love to give back more than anything."
Bubba has developed a good relationship with the fans and has quickly become popular with them. "I don't know if I'm one of the most popular," he said. "But the few that do like me, I would say that I guess they could see that I'm not going to change. I am who I am, I get mad on the golf course, but I try to have fun though. They see that I enjoy the game and that's why I play it. If I play well, I want it to be because of me, and if I play bad it's because of me. I just enjoy the game and I love the atmosphere, I love the excitement, and I just enjoy traveling and getting to help different communities and different monies they raise toward charities."
| By the numbers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
One of the questions I ask each professional is: who is your biggest Idol or Hero and why, and I am going to be completely honest and tell you that Bubba caught me off guard with his response: "What if I say you, because I heard your story and watched you walk through the golf courses and to be a part of some of your stuff and do this interview with you and watch you do your goals, it's a blessing and honor to watch." This week I gained a great deal of respect and admiration for Bubba Watson and truly appreciate his kindness and generosity for the entire week, as even this week being a major, he always made sure to find me after each round and spend a few minutes talking to me.
Being here at The Masters and Augusta National Golf Club was truly a memorable experience. I realized that this event and the Augusta National Golf Club far exceed the glory and standards you expect to see at the Masters. Just being on the grounds of Augusta National was an awesome experience, but walking Amen Corner was great and with the flowers in full bloom, this made for some great views and picturesque moments even though we did not have a camera, Augusta National was in magnificent, pristine condition. As for walking the course, for weeks people were warning me to be prepared for a challenging walk at Augusta with the hills; however I really did not feel this course was as difficult to walk as people said it would be. Yes, on some holes there are some hills to navigate, but overall, even with the rain and wet ground during Saturday's Third Round, I found the course easy to walk and not too tiring. If there was a challenge in walking Augusta National, it would be navigating the pine straw, as pine straw tends to get loose and slippery to walk especially with my came. Having said this, I will admit that I concentrated on walking more this week as compared to previous weeks, especially during the third round when the rain played a significant factor with the wet grounds. Yes, I did fall this week, but it was not during Saturday's third round with the rain.
As I close this special and memorable at Augusta and the Masters, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Bubba Watson and his wife Angie for their kindness and generosity during the entire week. Obviously this is a different week on TOUR with some added pressure, but even with that Bubba still made sure to take some time each day and speak to me, and I truly appreciate that!! I would also like to say a special thank you to Kelly Thompson for joining me this week and helping make this week a memorable and truly unforgettable experience. I would also like to express my appreciation to the people who were in charge of the parking lot across from the entrance who always made sure no matter what time we arrived that we always had a spot.
Thank you to the patrons who approached me this week with some very kind words of support and encouragement, and as always please continue with your e-mails, I truly appreciate your support and encouragement.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HUMBLE, Texas -- Welcome to the Shell Houston Open and the Redstone Golf Club. This venue provided a good test for the players in advance of the season's first major. The Tournament Course at Redstone, which measures 7,456 yards and plays to a par of 72, requires precise shot placement, especially on a few of the par 4s. The most difficult hole of the week was the par-4 18th hole where the water comes into play down the left side of the hole.
This week I followed Briny Baird, who is probably best known for wearing the P.F. Chang's logo on his hat. He said the CEO of the restaurant called his agent about an unrelated matter and wound up speaking to Briny for about 10 minutes. After their initial conversation, the CEO sent Briny a gift certificate and six months later he wanted to do a deal. Briny is also known for his unorthodox putting stance that started as a drill eight or nine years ago. Briny had gone to his teacher, Mike Adams, because he wasn't putting very well. "He goes, 'stand on one foot' and I stood on my left foot and hit a putt," Briny said. "When I went to go through the putt, I fell back and what he said was 'your weight was moving between your feet while you were putting.' So, if I stood on one foot, I just keep my body centered when I went through the putt." And there, the unusual approach was born.
Briny's given name actually is Michael. When he was 3-years old, though, his mom realized the name wasn't going to stick since people were calling him Mike or Mikey. At that time, his mom was reading the book "Winds of War" and there was a character named Briny, so that is where he got his name.
Briny is a truly genuine person who really cares about others and understands what he wants to accomplish in his life. Briny loves to take his daughters out on their boat and turn them loose on a sand bar. "They just run all over and that's one of the most fun things I can do right now," he said. Briny also has a 4-month-old son who will be joining his sisters when he gets older. Fishing is another one of Briny's favorite activities. "The biggest fish I've ever caught would not be the most fun fish I've ever caught," said Briny, who explained that a 25-pound snook was a quite a challenge.
Briny started playing golf very young, and he remembers winning a trophy when he was 4. "I still have the trophy, too," he said. Briny began his college career at Georgia Tech but later transferred to Division II Valdosta State. While there, Briny won back-to-back NCAA Division II individual titles. When I asked about his 2008 goals, Briny had a very interesting answer. "I've always been scared to set goals," he said. "If you start setting goals and God forbid, you attain your goals, where do you go from there? You don't want to set unrealistic goals. If you set goals that are too high and you don't reach them, then there's some sense of failure that can set in."
Briny has formed a partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). He puts the picture of a different missing child on his bag each week. "It's been all good, good publicity for everybody," he said. I gained a lot of respect for Briny this week. Even when he didn't play as well as he would have liked, he still made sure to spend a few minutes with me. This meant the world to me and further showed that to Briny Baird, golf isn't always the most important thing in life.
There were definitely some very challenging moments walking the course this week -- not due to the length of the course, but to the weather conditions. For the third consecutive week, we had weather delays. The most difficult thing about the rain was that when the bridges got wet, they were very slick. I am proud to say, though, that I was careful and had no falls this week. That's right -- this is now three weeks in a row without a fall. Another minor challenge for me was that play was completed in twosomes during the final round. This means that play is at a quicker pace with less standing and waiting. In the final round, Briny played in the second group off and completed his final round in three hours and 15 minutes. It was a quick round with no standing around for me. Believe it or not, though, I enjoy walking twosomes more because there isn't as much waiting and play is usually faster. For me, the continuous walking is better because with continuous movement, I do not get as tired as when I have to stand and wait.
As I close my week here in Houston, I would like to thank Briny. He's a class act and true gentleman. I would also like to say a special thank you to my mom, Jackie, and my sister, Ann, for joining me this week. I had a great week in Houston!
As always, thank you very much to everyone who continues to send me e-mails of support and encouragement, I truly appreciate all of your e-mails and I read them all.
Next week at The Masters, I will be following Bubba Watson.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW ORLEANS -- Welcome to the Crescent City and the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. The venue this week is the TPC Louisiana, which provides a stern challenge for the professionals with some very long par 4s and challenging greens.
I folllowed PGA TOUR veteran Mark Calcavecchia this week. Calc, as he is known on TOUR, grew up in a small town in Nebraska and started playing golf on a nine-hole course. "My first memories are when I got my first junior set of clubs," Calc said. "I remember they were some PowerBilt level looms or something like that. I was so excited to get those, I was probably seven, and I remember starting playing nine holes, just going around and around that course."
Mark had his best season financially on the PGA TOUR in 2007, which included a victory at the PODS Championship and several other opportunities to win. Calc says his favorite club in his bag is his PING Eye 2 Copper Beryllium L Wedge. Mark told me "it's the best club out of the bunker. I've hit a lot of great shots; I've had a lot of chip-ins and things like that over the years. It has just always been one of my favorite clubs." Mark also uses the claw putting grip. "I started on occasion getting a little twitchy with my right hand, a small form of the yips," he said. "It really wasn't visible, and it wasn't everyday, but the problem was I would go along and I would putt really good one day and then I would have a four-footer the next day, and my right hand would twitch. So all the confidence I got the day before went right out the window because I never knew when I was going to twitch."
Among Mark's 13 TOUR victories is the 2001 FBR Open, which he won by eight shots -- along the way setting seven TOUR records, including total score at 28 under and number of birdies (32) in a 72-hole event. "That was my best golf," Mark told me. "That was one of those deals where I was perfect from every aspect -- my concentration, I drove it great, every iron shot was going right at the flag, and I felt like I was going to make every putt that I looked at. It was just one of those things where I was in the zone."
| By the numbers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Mark has also had the opportunity to represent the United Sates in both the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup. "It's really cool," he said. "It's pressure, too, because you know your whole country is rooting you on. And even with the majors, its probably the most-watched golf event in the world. It's a lot of pressure, but it's a great thrill wearing the red white and blue and when the flag goes up, it's a pretty emotional deal." Since we are in the middle of March Madness, I asked Calc how that competition stacks up to the excitement of the Ryder Cup. "I would love to go to the Final Four one time," he said. "It's my favorite time of year to watch college basketball, that's for sure. The Final Four, the hoopla there is similar obviously to a Super Bowl or NBA Finals or something and that might be similar to the hoopla that the Ryder Cup builds up to be."
Away from the course, Mark enjoys bowling. In fact when he was 13, Mark had an average score of 185. He and his wife Brenda are building a two-lane bowling alley in their new house. Mark is still a talented bowler. "If the lanes aren't shooting my hook, I'll just make a bunch a spares and throw between 180 -195," he said. "If I'm on a set of lanes where my strike ball is working, I can string together 230s -- 240s ."
Calc found out in 2002 that he has sleep apnea. "I went and did a sleep study because I was always tired, and I didn't know why because I thought I was getting plenty of sleep," he explained. So he has to wear a mask every night -- and he even uses it if he wants to take a serious nap.
The TPC Louisiana has some really challenging holes, including the par-4 sixth hole, which measures 476 yards, and the par-4 15th hole, which stretches 490. Not only does the yardage make some of these holes a challenge, but the greens this week have been a challenge, as well. The greens have a lot of break with undulation, and they are very firm, so it's difficult to hit close to the hole and/or make some long putts. As for walking the course, it's extremely flat and consequently, it was a very easy walk.
For the second consecutive week, we had to battle the weather, which included delays during the third round for some severe thunderstorms. It was also very humid this week, so even with the flat course, I used more energy to walk the course.
As I close my week here in New Orleans, I would like to thank Mark and Brenda, as well as the tournament staff at the Zurich Classic, for their hospitality this week. I had a most enjoyable week in New Orleans.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DORAL, Fla. -- Welcome to the Blue Monster at the Doral Resort and Spa and the World Golf Championships-CA Championships, where the story this week was not only great golf, but also dodging the bad weather. During Thursday's first round, we avoided a suspension, but played through some steady, and sometimes hard, rain. On Saturday, we had no such luck, as play was halted and the course took in over 3 inches of water.
This week I followed fellow Georgia resident Heath Slocum. Heath was first introduced to golf while he was still a toddler by his dad who was a club pro.
"I was always following him around at the golf course hitting golf balls," Heath said. He played on the same high school golf team as fellow PGA TOUR player and long-time friend Boo Weekley. "It's really nice to have in this lifestyle a really good friend out here that you've known for so long, that you can always call and rely on," Heath said.
In 2007, Heath and Boo had the opportunity to team up in the World Cup in China.
"Representing the United States was absolutely amazing and representing the United States with Boo Weekley as my partner was unbelievable," he told me. "I was so honored that he asked me to play and I can't imagine going over there, especially with my first experience with that with anybody else; and we had a good time."
Heath was a three-time All-American at the University of South Alabama. He was a huge LSU fan, but once he went on a recruiting trip to South Alabama, he knew that was the place for him.
"They had unbelievable practice facilities," Heath explained. "They played against all the best Division I teams so we went there and I wouldn't trade it now for anything."
Heath also played two years of college golf with his friend and caddy D.J. Nelson. In November of 1997, Heath contracted ulcerative colitis.
"I ran myself pretty ragged, but when I got sick for the next year and a half it really changed my life," he told me. "It took away what I love, and it definitely gave me a whole new perspective on life and golf especially. It made me a much better golfer.
"I was never a hothead, but I kind of held onto bad rounds and bad shots a little longer then I needed to. After (getting sick) I kind of looked at each round like: I love what I'm doing, I'm very lucky to be out doing what I love and I go out each and everyday with a clean slate.
| By the numbers | ||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | ||||||||||||||||
|
"I go out and treat every day like you know what, I may not have this tomorrow and each shot now, I get a little frustrated like everybody else, but I drop it and go on. The colitis has definitely helped frame my life and my golf; it has brought a whole new perspective.
In 2001, Heath won three times on the Nationwide Tour and earned an instant promotion to the PGA TOUR. Heath was only the second player to ever earn the promotion.
"It was such a zone, if you will, for a good two-month stretch," Heath recalled. "It was the most amazing golf I've played in my life." He learned how to compete on the Nationwide Tour. "There's really good golfers out there, and you can't be afraid to not go low," Heath told me. "The tournaments that I've won, I had to shoot 22-23 under, so it really taught me there's no back down."
Like many other players with whom I have spent time, Heath says his favorite course on TOUR is Harbour Town. "You have to hit every club in the bag, and I just love that golf course," he explained. "Old style, trees, no rough, small greens you have to use your imagination, I love it."
Away from the course, Heath enjoys hunting and fishing, but more importantly, he likes spending time with his wife and 3-month-old daughter Stella. "Just getting to see the smile on her face and hanging out and playing with her, it's been better then any kind of fishing I've ever done," he said.
As I mentioned, we encountered some challenging weather conditions this week. During Saturday's weather delay Heath had something to eat and went back to the room to visit Stella. "I looked at the radar and I knew we were going to be a while, so I just went and played with her," he said. "It was pretty easy. Some of the ones where (the family is) not around are a little more difficult.
You just sit there and watch a little TV. The (NCAA) tournament was on so we watched a little of that. It wasn't too bad yesterday because we knew it was going to be a while so you can kind of take your golf shoes off and relax a little bit."
The Blue Monster Course at Doral measures 7,266 yards and plays to a par of 72. There are birdie opportunities on this course with the four par 5s, but this course still offers a stern challenge -- particularly the par-4 18th with water down the right side of the hole.
The par 3s on this course are also a good test, including the 13th hole which plays 245 yards. The pros are more then satisfied to walk away with par all four days on this hole. This course is extremely flat and very compact; the holes are close together and in many cases cross each other. Included in the statistics for this week are three weather delays and for the first time this year, a Monday finish.
As I close my week in Miami, I would like to express my deep appreciation to Heath Slocum and his wife Vickie for their kindness and generosity this week. I would also like to thank Heath's caddie D.J. and instructor Mark Blackburn. And I appreciate Bethany White joining me this week in Miami. I had a great time!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Welcome to the Bay Hill Club and Lodge and the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented By MasterCard. This tournament is one of the best on the PGA TOUR and I really enjoyed my visit.
This week I had followed Kenny Perry, the 2005 Arnold Palmer Invitational champion, Kenny and his wife Sandy live in Franklin, Ky., which is located 40 miles from Nashville and 20 miles from Bowling Green, where Kenny's alma mater, Western Kentucky University, is located.
Kenny distinctly remembers playing golf when he was 6 years old. His father would fill an old bag cover with range balls, then sit on a towel, smoking a cigar, and watch Kenny practice.
"He's 83 and still going strong," Kenny told me. "He's actually the ambassador of my golf course. I bought him a golf cart for Christmas, so he drives around and greets everybody and he has a big time.
"I've always got smells, the smell of (cigars), I instantly go back to my childhood. He would sit there and tee a ball up and I would smack it and then he would tee another one up and I would hit it. Once they were all gone I would grab that head cover and take off running down the fairway and I would pick them all up and come back to dad and say lets do that again. I distinctly remember that until this day."
Kenny has been playing on the PGA TOUR for 23 years, but qualifying for the TOUR was a challenge. He fell a stroke shy in 1984. then missed a year later when his son was born during the fourth round. He wanted to try q-school again in 1986, but he had to ask an elder in his church for the entry fee.
"I knew he didn't have the money, but he taught me a life lesson," Kenny told me "He said, I'm going to give you the money and here's what were going to do, if you don't make the TOUR, get through the qualifying school you don't owe me a dime.
"If you make it, we're going to give a percentage back to Lipscomb University."
| By the numbers | ||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | ||||||||||||||||
|
Kenny made it through with ease and to this day, five percent of his earnings are put into a trust fund at the school.
"Our goal was that in Simpson County, Kentucky, if the kids wanted a Christian education, we didn't want money to be an issue," Kenny said. "It's about a $30,000-a-year school, so we've probably had about 20 kids from Simpson County receive this scholarship to be able to go to school there. ... It has been a neat blessing."
Not only does Kenny have the trust fund at Lipscomb University, he also built a public golf course called Country Club in his hometown. When he was growing up, Kenny's father was a member of the only country club in town.
He calls himself a clubhouse rat, but his friends weren't as lucky. The nearest public facility was about 30 miles away "so I felt like our town needed a public course," Kenny said. He's shot 60 five times at Country Creek, but says he always seems to miss the putt for 59. When Kenny is home, you will usually find him at the course, shaking hands and thanking people for coming out to play.
He remembers one man who asked him, "How's Kenny playing this week?' I said, 'He's playing pretty good, and you know I didn't crack a smile. I just took his money and he says, 'thank you' and off he went."
Among Kenny's 12 wins on the PGA TOUR, he has been fortunate enough to win three tournaments -- the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Memorial Tournament and the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial -- that have a history with some of the game's legends.
"It is very special to me to win," Kenny told me. "You know Jack is one of the greatest, Arnie is one of the greatest, Ben Hogan is one of the greatest. To have these men's names attached to these tournaments and be the winner is pretty special."
At the same, Kenny was disappointed not to win the EDS Byron Nelson Invitational while its namesake was alive.
"Byron and I were big buddies," Kenny said. "He was a great friend. He always sent me little letters on little letterhead. He would write me and just say, great tournament last week, I see you're doing great. He would call me on the phone and he says are you going to play in my golf tournament? Shoot, I couldn't turn that man down."
Kenny, who has made 39 aces during his career, said his pre-shot routine has always been "turn off the brain and turn on the game, baby. The more I thought, the worse I got. It had to be instinctive for me to be successful."
Kenny and his wife Sandy were eighth grade sweethearts and have been married for 25 years. They are laid-back people who are extremely friendly. When he's not playing, he enjoys playing golf with his family or skiing in Utah.
Kenny also enjoys working on old cars, "I've got a couple '55 Chevys, a '69 Camaro," he said. "I'm an old Chevy diehard fan, I love to tear them apart and put them back together."
The Bay Hill Club and Lodge plays to a par 70 and measures 7,137 yards with only two par 5s. The key to playing well at Bay Hill is to capitalize on your birdie opportunities because there aren't many out there. With its relatively flat terrain, Bay Hill has been the easiest course for me to walk on the Florida Swing. There are also a few holes where you can watch both the approach shot and action on the green from the same spot, then walk across the cart path and you will be at the next fairway to see the tee shot. The best example of this would be between the fourth and fifth holes.
As I close my week, I would like to say thanks to Kenny and Sandy Perry for their kindness, generosity and hospitality. I would also like to thank my dad, Bill King, Todd Mills and Uncle Jerry for joining me at Bay Hill.
Thank you again for all of your e-mails and support, I really appreciate it!
See you next week from Doral where I will be following Heath Slocum at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TAMPA, Fla. -- Welcome to the PODS Championship at the Innisbrook Resort's Copperhead Course. This venue is one of the more challenging courses on the PGA TOUR and at the same time, one of the favorite courses among TOUR players.
This week I had the pleasure of spending time with J.J. Henry, the 1998 Connecticut Male Athlete of the Year.
"It was quite an honor obviously," he told me. "It's not the biggest state in the country, but there's a lot of great people and great athletes and it was an honor to be named that for sure." J.J. is a native of Fairfield and ironically, his first victory on the PGA TOUR came at the 2006 Buick Championship (now Travelers Championship) that was played at the TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn. "It was storybook, really," he said. "As a kid I would go with my dad and watch (the tournament). You stand on the range and think, wow, how cool would it be to someday actually be out there doing that? Then to walk up the last hole on Sunday with a three-shot lead to win my first one, I couldn't have scripted it any better. It was really that cool."
J.J. played golf at Texas Christian University in Ft. Worth. At the WAC Championship in his senior year, J.J. recorded his first hole-in-one which occurred on the 17th hole of the final round and then proceeded to birdie the 18th hole to clinch both the individual and team titles for TCU.
"To finish hole-in-one, birdie to win was pretty cool, especially at that point in my career," he said. "That was probably the neatest thing that happened up to that point." Not to mention, J.J. played with Andy Miller in the final round, and Andy's father, Johnny, was in the gallery.
J.J. also had the opportunity to represent the United States at the 2006 Ryder Cup at The K Club in Dublin, Ireland. Golf is normally an individual sport, but J.J. really enjoyed the team atmosphere and camaraderie -- despite the American loss. "It was something that obviously I will never forget anytime soon," he told me. "The atmosphere was electric. Every hole felt like 4th and 1 from the goal line at the Rose Bowl or the 12th round of a heavyweight title fight or whatever you want to compare it to. Every shot, whether it was the crowd or the feeling again, it was just a great experience and I was pretty proud of the way I kind of hung in there. As disappointing as the outcome was, it was definitely a great way to spend a tremendous week for sure."
| By the numbers | ||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | ||||||||||||||||
|
The 2007 season was a little disappointing for J.J. after his success the previous year. His greatest memory that year actually was something he accomplished off the golf course -- starting the Henry House Foundation for the well-being of children and kids healthcare. The foundation raised close to $400,000 in its first event.
The money has helped in a variety of projects -- including putting plasma TVs and computers in hospital playrooms for children. "I'm kind of living the dream and I wouldn't trade what I do for the world," J.J. told me. "But there's one thing to be able to stand on the last hole and make a 10-foot putt to win a tournament and it's another thing to be able to give back to your community. Being a young father, kids are pretty special to me. I've been fortunate enough to play in a lot of different pro-ams and go to a lot of different cities and see how they give back and it's something I always wanted to do. ... To be able to help put a smile on a child's face is something really neat -- no question about it."
J.J. and his wife Leah have a 3-year-old son and another child on the way. He cherishes the time he gets to spend with his family and friends. "Just because I can hit the little golf ball maybe or get it in the hole quicker then most people, I'm just like anybody else who enjoys being a dad, enjoys being a husband, and enjoys being a friend," J.J. said.
After spending time with J.J., I realized he has a great perspective on life. He had the opportunity to spend some time with the legendary Byron Nelson before he passed away. "I've always looked up to Byron Nelson," J.J. told me. "(I am) very grateful to be around him a little bit before he passed away. Again, not only for what he did on the golf course, but how he gave back to the community, he was a great person, a great friend, and a great ambassador of golf."
The Copperhead Course plays to 7,340 yards and a par of 71. This is normally a stern challenge for the players, but the weather conditions made it even more difficult.
It was amazing to see how much of an impact the wind would have on the playing conditions and scores. There were numerous times on Friday and Saturday where players would hit what looked like great shots to the green, but once the ball was in the air, it seemed like it hit a wall and would end up 10-20 yards short of the green.
The wind was very hard to judge because it was swirling and never at a constant speed. To show how the wind affected scoring -- the lead was 8 under on Saturday morning and 5 under when play was suspended that night. I feel like the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook is one of the easiest courses to walk on TOUR to date. This course is very flat, the holes are very close together and there are even some short cuts on a few holes where you can watch action from one fairway and then walk 20 yards to the right and be at the fairway of the next hole.
Having said this, though, the toughest hole for me to walk this week was the par-5 No. 11. You have to walk down the entire right side and there were lots of tree roots to avoid.
As I close my week at the PODS Championship, I want to express my deep appreciation to J.J. I really enjoyed following him, and I appreciate Brandt Snedeker letting me join his group over the weekend after J.J. missed the cut. I would also like to thank Anthony Hernandez who joined me this week at the PODS Championship.
Thank you again for all of your e-mails and support, I really appreciate it!
See you next week at Bay Hill, where I will follow Kenny Perry.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A week with last year's champ
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Welcome to The Honda Classic which is played on the Champion Course at PGA National Resort and Spa. This week I had the honor of following defending champion Mark Wilson. When I asked him about his greatest memory of 2007, Mark didn't hesitate.
"It's definitely got to be The Honda Classic, and the playoff and all that," he said, laughing. "That got me into a lot of new events and I guess a new place in golf so it was definitely the Honda."
I wondered if his schedule was different this week as defending champion compared to a regular week on TOUR.
"It has been certainly a little bit busier this week than normal, but not too bad," he told me. "I did a radio show Sunday morning when I was home. When I got here, there hasn't been a whole lot other than Wednesday; (which) is the day I (had) to talk to the media a little bit.
"I came down in December and did a full day of talking to various reporters and that was probably the meat of the preparation. This week, they have been real nice to me, giving me a heads up on what I need to do and when the time comes to tee it up on Thursday, I will be well rested."
Mark is originally from Menomonee Falls, Wisc., and currently lives in Chicago. He attended the University of North Carolina on a golf scholarship. Family is very important to Mark and his wife Amy, and this is why they still live in the Chicago area.
Mark's dad, Les, started his son playing golf.
"I think probably I can remember playing in the Father-Son at our golf club where I grew up when I was like four and five years old," Mark said.
A year ago in September, Mark and Amy welcomed their first child into the world, a son named Lane.
"I don't have nearly as much free time as I used to," Mark told me. "It's exhausting, but it's so worth it. He's six months old now, he's got a personality. You see it growing every day -- lots of smiles, giggling and (you can) see him getting frustrated when he can't do something. Similar to his dad, I think -- that's what my wife says anyway. I guess you're never ready for parenthood.
"You just kind of have to dive in and see how it goes. It's been a tremendous ride already and its just getting started."
Understanding how important family is to Mark and how much he and his wife enjoy Lane, it wasn't surprising when Mark talked about how much he enjoys being at home.
"We don't get to be home that much so I just cherish my time (there)," he said. "Some of my favorite days have been now that I have my son where we just camp out at home. We don't leave all day long and we just feed him, we play, and that's probably my favorite stuff."
Mark also loves comedy. He grew up watching "Seinfeld," and he has several other favorites. If he could just see one comedian one more time, though, it would be Jim Gaffigan.
"He's maybe not the most well-known guy, but he is hysterical," Mark said. "He could talk for hours about food and Hot Pockets and stuff like that."
Mark says it's hard for him to get up in front of a group of people and just try to be interesting, so he's amazed at what stand-up comedians can do.
"These guys, their job is to make people laugh and for the audience to be sitting there expecting to laugh just seems like immense pressure," Mark said. "The only part of their job I know is the travel aspect -- being in different cities all the time. In general stand-up comedians really impress me."
The Champion Course at PGA National is a very stern challenge for the professionals. The course plays to 7,158 yards and is a par 70. This course has some very challenging greens with pronounced slopes and breaks even on short putts.
The 15th, 16th and 17th are known as "The Bear Trap," and these three holes, which seem to flirt with the water at every turn, are a true test of every phase of your golf game.
"You've got to be spot on with your distance control and your accuracy," Dudley Hart said. "They are severe golf holes; strange things can happen there."
The largest obstacle this week, though, was the wind. The wind was never at a consistent level for the entire round. For some holes it would be totally still and then there were some holes where the wind was a real factor. The Champion Course was a relatively easy walk, though, because it is so flat. Each of the holes seem to be close together so you know exactly where to go.
As I close my week here at The Honda Classic, I would like to express my deep appreciation to Amy and Mark Wilson for their kindness and generosity this week, I really appreciate it. I would also like to thank Scott, Karen, and Ken, and the entire staff at the Palm Beach Gardens Marriott for their hospitality this week. Special thanks to Neil Como for joining me this week at The Honda Classic.
See you next week in Tampa where I will be following J.J. Henry. In the meantime, to learn more about who I am, please watch the two-part feature on Golf Central on GOLF CHANNEL this Saturday and Sunday. Thank you again for all of your e-mails and support.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MARANA, Ariz. -- Welcome to the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. Your opponent this week is not the course in a stroke-play format, but rather your playing competitor on a hole-by-hole basis. In match play, each hole seems to be a separate tournament. In match play you could have a triple bogey on a hole and you may still win -- or if you lose, you only lose one hole, not three strokes to par.
This week I had the opportunity to follow Aaron Baddeley. This was a special week, because I knew Aaron prior to the beginning of the tournament. He was born in New Hampshire and his parents moved to Australia when he was 2 years old so Aaron holds dual citizenship. Aaron was introduced to golf by his two grandmothers. "I guess I just loved the fact that I could go out and practice myself," Aaron told me. "(And) the more I put into it the more I got out of it." When Aaron was 8, he played golf for the first time and shot 58 over nine holes using his grandmother's clubs. He has never shot higher than that for nine holes.
Aaron and his wife, Richelle, are two people who know exactly what they want from life and what is important to them. Aaron has strong religious beliefs. "Absolutely, being a Christian definitely plays a big factor in my golf and my life," he said. "It's not all about playing great; it's about outside of golf. I mean golf's great but there's more to life than golf." Aaron has two main goals for the 2008 season -- to win two times on the PGA TOUR and move into the top 10 in the world. One area that Aaron really concentrates on is fitness, which he says has changed the game of golf. "I think Gary Player probably started back in the day and then Greg Norman sort of took it from there," he explained. "Obviously Tiger has taken it to the next level. Everyone is working out, but it's more about (the fact that) if you work out and take care of yourself you have longevity in the game and that's what you need."
Off the course, he's heavily involved with the Aaron Baddeley International Junior Championship, which he started in 2001. "There are 14 countries that play in it," he told me. "The winner of the boys (division) gets a start in the Australian Open, and the winner of the girls gets a start at the Ladies Masters and one other tournament." Also, some people don't know that Aaron's father was at one time the chief mechanic for the Mario Andretti race team. Aaron told me he never really got into cars, though. "My dad was sort of out of the industry by the time I was old enough to understand what was going on," he explained. "I enjoy watching racing, I am interested in F-1 and Indy, but I never really thought about having a career in it. I remember my Dad telling a story. He used to race before he was a chief mechanic and he had a big accident right in front of Mom. I think since then he didn't race."
| By the numbers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
This is the only week on TOUR where they play match play. I asked Aaron if his preparation or thought process would be any different. "I wouldn't say it changes your preparation," he told me. "It might just change your mental game or the way you go and play the golf course because it's straight up one on one as opposed to playing against everyone else. You could make an eight on one hole and still win the hole."
Aaron advanced to the third round due to a match concession by David Toms, who has a back injury. This was first time I had ever seen something like this happen. In the third round, Aaron's opponent was the No. 1 player in the world, Tiger Woods. This was a great match. Momentum plays a huge factor in match play, and it was extremely evident in this one. Aaron was 2 down after two holes, but stuck to his game and kept fighting and by the eighth hole the match was all square. After No. 14, Aaron was 1 up but Tiger kept fighting and the match was back to even with two holes to play. In match play, you play your opponent and not the course and in the match with Aaron and Tiger that was definitely the case, when one player would hit a good shot; the next player would have an immediate response.
It was also very interesting to watch the fans watch this match. Crowds were always four to five deep on every fairway and fans would sprint down cart paths or crosswalks just to get a better viewing position for the next shot. Overall, Friday at the Accenture Match Play Championship was a great experience.
Since Aaron did not advance past round three, I chose to walk with Stewart Cink for his quarterfinal and semifinal matches -- which involved walking 32 holes on Saturday. That was the longest day for me. On Sunday I walked with the match for third place between Henrik Stenson and Justin Leonard.
The Gallery Golf Club at Dove Mountain Course is a straightforward and long walk. Once you start on the first tee, you do not return to the clubhouse until the 18th green. There is only one shortcut on this course, but you don't take it, because the short cut is between the fourth hole and 14th hole, and you don't want to miss any holes -- especially in match play. This course isn't a particularly fan-friendly venue. You really can't choose to sit at one hole because once you start walking there are no quick ways to get to any hole. Also, there are very few general seating areas. The terrain makes it hard to see tee shots and the action on the greens because of the hills and uneven areas. This course is long and seems more difficult because you will continue to go up and down hills all day long. This course definitely gives your muscles a good workout.
As I close my week here at the Accenture Match Play Championship I would like to express my appreciation to Aaron and Richelle, and Aaron's caddy, Pete Bender, for their kindness and generosity. I would also like to say thank you to Lucas, Lacee, Mike, Tommy, Jessica, Simon, and Jens for their hospitality this week. I would also like to send out one final thank you to Dana Rieger for joining me this week, I had a great week.
As always, thank you to everyone for your e-mails of support and encouragement, I truly appreciate it.
I look forward to seeing you next week from the Honda Classic where I will be following defending champion Mark Wilson.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D.J.'s Blog: A weekend with the Glovers at Riviera CC
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. -- Welcome to the Northern Trust Open at historic Riviera Country Club. This venue is consistently recognized as one of the players' favorite courses on the PGA TOUR.
This week, I had the opportunity to follow Lucas Glover. Lucas and his wife Jennifer are both natives of Greenville, S.C., where they currently reside. Lucas played his college golf at nearby Clemson University where he was a two-time All-American. Lucas said he got interested in playing golf by going out and hitting balls with his grandfather. His earliest memory of playing golf was age 3, "but the only way I remember is the pictures," he said. "My grandfather is my hero. He started me playing and he taught me until I was 12. He has been with me every step of the way." Not only did Glover's grandfather teach him how to play golf, he also played in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Like her husband, Jennifer is also a very down-to-earth friendly person. She has a great sense of humor, and I enjoyed talking with her while walking the course this week. Jennifer and Lucas were high school sweethearts, and they celebrated their 11th anniversary together earlier this week on Valentine's Day. They were married in December 2005. Jennifer and Lucas do not have any children, but they recently got a puppy named Iris who travels with them. Jennifer is on the road with Lucas just about every week.
"She's got a few weeks that aren't her favorites, more towards the summer when its 100 degrees everywhere, but she goes probably 90 percent of the time, and that's a blessing," Lucas told me. "We don't have any kids, and it's nice because we've done it the other way, and it was a lot harder." I also learned that spending quality time with Jennifer is very important to Lucas. "I spend more time out here than I do in the hotel room or out to dinner with her, so when I'm home, I spend a lot of time with her," he said. Lucas also likes fishing and said "sometimes it's fun to sit down with my headphones on and read a book."
| By the numbers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Lucas had the opportunity to represent the United States at the Presidents Cup, which he said "without a doubt" was his greatest memory of 2007. "It was great to win, but the team camaraderie and getting to hang out with some of the guys I don't get to hang out with every day was obviously a lot of fun, he said. "It was a huge honor. A couple of years ago, I was close to the Ryder Cup and didn't make it and rightly so -- I wasn't playing well. But, I played well in '06 and played pretty good last year, and I wanted it pretty bad. So it was an honor when Mr. Nicklaus called me and asked me to be a part of it. Again, I will never forget it."
Riviera Country Club has one of the greatest short holes in golf in the par-4 10th. Lucas is a big fan of the hole. "If you decide to go for the green, it's not a guaranteed birdie," he explained. "If you lay-up, it's not an easy birdie or guaranteed par. It's the best short hole I've ever played because of the way the green sits in there. It's so narrow and so penal if you don't hit the right shot." Each round this week, Lucas hit his driver on this hole, and, although he did not drive the green, he did make birdie on this hole in each round.
Riviera Country Club is a course that basically sits down in a valley with houses up on hills that look like cliffs surrounding the course. The course is a very flat and easy course to walk with each of the holes close to each other. The most difficult walk at Riviera is the walk up No. 18 to the clubhouse or down into the valley from the first tee. This walk has a very steep hill. Other than this one example, the course is very easy and straightforward to walk. I only recorded one fall this week.
Lucas and Jennifer Glover are two down-to-earth people who are extremely kind and generous, and as I close my week at Riviera, I would like to say a special thank you to them for making my week so memorable. I would also like to say thank you to Kai Felton for her hospitality on Wednesday night.
As always, thank you to everyone for your e-mails of support and encouragement, I truly appreciate it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D.J.'s blog: Pebble Beach with Dimarco
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. --This week was another special week on the PGA TOUR. Welcome to the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. This tournament uses a three-course rotation, with the cut happening after 54 holes. The venues played here are: Pebble Beach Golf Links, Poppy Hills and Spyglass Hill Golf Club.
This was a very special week for me, and it began on Wednesday when I had the honor to attend the CBS Sports/PGA TOUR 2008 Season Kickoff reception. I enjoyed speaking to members of the media who were interested in my year-long journey on the PGA TOUR, and I would like to express my deep appreciation to Jim Nantz of CBS Sports for his very kind words when he introduced me at this function.
This week, I had the opportunity to spend some time with Chris DiMarco. He is a very passionate golfer who truly wears his emotions on his sleeve. Chris really enjoys playing in team competitions and relishes the opportunity to represent the United States in either the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup. "It's hard to describe," he told me. "We don't have an Olympic sport, and I would probably have to say it's a lot like that. Any time you can wear that American flag on your outfit somewhere and represent the United States of America, it's pretty special. So, honored, obviously it's a huge pride to play for your country. Passion, emotion, everything that goes with it to have that American Flag on your sleeve is pretty awesome."
Chris also thrives on the team bonding experience. "Camaraderie in golf is hard to come by," he explained. "You don't have it. Everybody is trying to beat each other's brains out each week. So, to have that one week where you have a teammate and you're rooting for them and they're rooting for you is pretty special. All the wives are out there, and the caddies and the caddies girlfriends, it's just such an unbelievable amount of camaraderie out there. In this sport where it's so individualistic, it's pretty special to have that." Understanding his passion for team competitions, I asked Chris if he had ever thought about becoming a captain. "Obviously, I think I need to win a couple of majors," he said, laughing. "But obviously, I would love to. I would love to be part of it, no matter what. I just love that atmosphere. That is certainly my passion as a player is to be on those teams and to be a part of it would be amazing."
Chris is also very passionate about his family. "I try to spend as much time with them as I can," he told me. I was also very interested to hear Chris' response when I asked what the one thing golf fans don't know about him is. "I don't know that there's much they don't know," he said. "I wear my passions on my sleeve and my emotions on my sleeve. They (the fans) know that I'm a very passionate, emotional player. Obviously, I talk quite a bit about my family and they know my family is my No. 1 and I would have to say loyalty. I'm very loyal with whatever I do -- whether it's my club company, whether it's my family, whether it's my friends at home. I've got a very good base at home that we hang around with good friends, very loyal. I don't like change much, I like having the same things." I think his response to this question really shows the type of person Chris DiMarco is -- a true class act.
Chris is also known to use the "claw" putting grip, so I asked him why he started using this grip. "Basically it's real simple -- because I wasn't a good putter," he said, laughing again. "I was a streaky putter. When I putted well, I putted well. When I didn't, I was not good. I think the main thing about putting ... is you just have to give yourself a chance to make it and I wasn't doing that, I wasn't giving myself chances at making putts. I was either really good or really, really bad. Unfortunately, the bad was starting to outweigh the good. What the claw does for me is it takes my right hand out which is the hand for most people that is the problem hand. My right hand doesn't hit the ball any more; I try to putt with my left side. I'm at least consistently giving myself a chance to make every putt and that's what you look for."
| By the numbers | ||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | ||||||||||||||||||
|
At the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, each professional is paired with an amateur partner and this week Chris' partner was another former Gator, NFL star and "Dancing with the Stars" champion Emmitt Smith. Also for the first three rounds the playing competitors remain the same, so Emmitt and Chris with Corey Pavin and actor Craig T. Nelson all three days. I really enjoyed having the opportunity to meet the celebrities, as well.
Chris did not make the 54-hole cut, so in the final round I walked with Tim Herron and D.A. Points. As with the first three days, I enjoyed my Sunday walk around Pebble Beach Golf Links. During the final round I had the opportunity to meet Tim Herron's sister Alissa, Kathy, Carrie and D.A. Points wife Lori. All of these people were extremely friendly and we had a most enjoyable Sunday journey around the Monterey Peninsula. On final note, D.A. and his amateur partner Pete Watzka finished runner-up in the Pro-Am Division behind winners Fredrik Jacobson and his amateur partner Bill Walters.
As for the three course rotation this week, the toughest course was Spyglass Hill Golf Club, which actually wasn't that bad with the exception of a few holes that had some steep inclines. The easiest course to walk was Pebble Beach, which is very flat. I was really excited to come to this event and Pebble Beach, and the weather we had this week made for an even more enjoyable week. Just being at Pebble Beach this week was a memorable experience, but we had the opportunity to see some of the most spectacular views in the world. Of the courses used in this tournament, I believe Pebble Beach had the best views. My two favorite holes with the best views were the par-3 seventh hole on the front and the par-5 18th hole on the back.
As I close my week at Pebble Beach I would like to express my deep appreciation to Chris DiMarco for his kindness and generosity for the entire week. I would also like to express my appreciation to Tim Herron and D.A. Points for allowing me to follow their group during the final round. I truly appreciate it.
This week I was featured in the San Francisco Chronicle and Monterey Herald, and I truly appreciate all of the fans and volunteers who approached me and offered words of support and encouragement. For those of you who were looking for my GOLF CHANNEL feature, it has been rescheduled and will now be shown April 5 and 6.
As always, thank you so much for your e-mails, I appreciate the support and encouragement. Please keep them coming!
See next week at Riviera where I will follow Lucas Glover.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D.J's blog: In the desert with Quinney
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Welcome to the FBR Open at the TPC Scottsdale in Scottsdale, Ariz. The FBR Open is a very unique tournament on the PGA TOUR schedule each year. This event always has the largest attendance of any tournament, and this year was no exception. The tournament set single-day attendance records on three separate occasions this week and also set a record for total attendance for the entire week with 538,356 fans.
The FBR Open is also known to have one of the most famous holes on the PGA TOUR and that hole is the par-3 16th hole. I have been to many golf tournaments, but I have never in my life experienced a hole like the 16th at the FBR Open. This hole has a truly unique amphitheatre-arena type setting with corporate hospitality skyboxes and general spectator seating lining both sides of the hole from tee to green. An estimated 20,000 fans can watch the action on this par 3 at one time. Having the opportunity to experience the 16th hole at the FBR Open is something I will never forget, and this was the most memorable experience of the week. The tournament program says the FBR Open is the greatest show on grass, and, after attending this tournament, I will say the FBR Open is very unique and it is a spectacular site to see over 170,000 fans in one day at a golf tournament.
I had the opportunity to spend the week with Jeff Quinney, who resides in Scottsdale and played college golf at Arizona State University in nearby Tempe. Arizona State has the reputation of having one of the best college golf programs in the NCAA. "It was unbelievable (to play there)," Jeff told me. "I wanted to stay in a Pac 10 school. I grew up a Duck fan, but the weather and the facilities weren't quite up to par, so I wanted to come down here, and we had a blast. We had a great team and a very successful team. Basically, our whole starting five is out on TOUR this year through q-school and the Nationwide (Tour), and (I'm) having a blast having them out here. I would do the same thing over again, obviously (I'm) a big Sun Devils fan still because I live in the area, and we had a great program and definitely I think (it's) the best program in the country."
Understanding that Jeff is a local resident, I asked if he felt any extra pressure this week playing at home. "A little bit," he said. "But I don't think it really effects my play, I'm busy giving people tickets and trying to chat, and sometimes you're trying to practice and everyone wants to say hi, and it's kind of hard. But, last year, I performed really well. I won my home tournament in Oregon in a Nationwide (Tour) event, so I have had a lot of success when I'm in my hometown or am comfortable in my own bed."
| By the numbers | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
Before turning professional, Jeff had a very successful amateur career -- including winning the 2000 U.S. Amateur. "It was awesome," he said. "It was just kind of where I put myself on the map. I had a great summer, and I was a pretty good college golfer, but I think I just kind of proved to me that maybe I can do something special in this game, and to win the U.S. Am is basically a major championship in some people's minds. I got to play in the Masters. I got to play all the majors that year, I got to play with Tiger. It was just something that I will never forget."
I asked Jeff to tell me one thing people don't know about him. "I'm more than just a golfer," he said. "I feel like I'm a good athlete; I can play tennis, I can play basketball, and I can do a lot of other things besides golf, I just enjoy all sports." In fact, Jeff was named MVP of his high school basketball team. In fact, Jeff's family has a very impressive athletic background -- his three brothers all played Division I college athletics. "We're always very competitive whether it's playing pool or ping pong," Jeff told me. "We usually try and play some golf about one time a year. My brother Mark, he used to play professional tennis, he's now the golf nut (and) he's probably a 2 handicap. Anything we do, we're always very competitive, but we always cheer each other on."
As for the TPC Scottsdale, I feel this course is a very fair walk. This course does carry some distance, but for the most part, the course is straightforward, with greens and tees being relatively close together
To learn more about me, please tune in to Golf Central on the GOLF CHANNEL on Saturday, Feb. 9 and Sunday, Feb. 10 and watch a two-part feature on me. Thank you again for all of your e-mails and support.
As I close my week at the FBR Open, I would like to express my appreciation to Jeff Quinney for his kindness and generosity throughout the entire week. I really appreciate it! I would also like to say thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Quinney for their kindness this week, as well.
See you next week from Pebble Beach where I will follow: Chris DiMarco
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D.J.'s blog: Catching up with Bob Tway
LA JOLLA, Calif. --Welcome to the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines Golf Club. For the second consecutive week, we have a tournament that uses a multi-course rotation. During the first two rounds, players play on both the North and South courses. Typically, the South Course is the more challenging of the two courses, and it will host the U.S. Open in June.
This week I was fortunate enough to spend a few days with PGA TOUR veteran Bob Tway. His rookie season on TOUR was 1985, so I found it very interesting to discuss the differences in equipment during his 23 years on TOUR. When I asked Bob how equipment changed from his rookie season in 1985 to 2005, he said. "When I was playing -- I am going to date myself here and may sound old -- but, we had wooden drivers and wooden 3-woods and pretty much the golf ball was totally different. We really didn't have much graphite shafts, so the combination of all that, the ball didn't go very far. Dan Pohl led the driving distance back then at 280 yards and I was averaging about 263. Now, guys are over 300 yards so it just changed drastically, and now they keep building more and more longer golf courses, so I've seen a big change in the 20 something years I've been out here."
When asked how he thought he could play in 2008 using his equipment from 1985 Bob said: "Well, I don't know that I would play that much different, to tell you the truth. To be quite honest, the equipment change obviously helps a little bit, but when I learned to play it was pretty much hit the middle of the face with the driver, work the ball both ways. We didn't have a 60-degree wedge back then and that's probably the number one difference. We only had 56 degree wedges so from that standpoint, it would be a little more difficult, but other then that, I would love to go back to the old equipment."
As with the other players I have had the opportunity to spend time with, I found that family is extremely important to Bob. "My main activity is probably watching my kids participate," he told me. "Any time I have a chance I go watch my son play. I don't get to watch my daughter dance as much as I probably should, but I enjoy doing that. Just watching them (my kids) is probably more important and more fun then anything else."
He also said, "I get more thrill out of watching my kids do stuff then me do stuff. I mean if I couldn't play golf anymore and only watch them (my kids) do stuff, that would be fine."
Bob's son Kevin is an accomplished amateur golfer who currently attends Oklahoma State University. I asked Bob whether he is more nervous when he is playing or when he is watching Kevin compete. He said, "No question, watching him. When he was playing the U.S. Junior and won the U.S. Junior, I had never been that nervous about anything in my life. I have never hit a golf shot anywhere close to as nervous as I was watching that last match. I wouldn't have been able to hit a shot, I couldn't have functioned.
| By the numbers | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
"I remember Coach (Mike) Holder was walking around with me and he goes, 'What is wrong?' and I said, 'Coach I can't breathe.' I'm over in the woods trying to catch my breath. I mean, it was unbelievable, I've never felt anything like that in my life. Its funny, watching him in high school and stuff was not that big a deal, but that tournament, I knew what an important thing that was -- not just to say that you won it, but just, you know, you can never take that away. Winning a USGA event is just unbelievable."
I also learned that Bob is very passionate about the game of golf and loves to play and practice. I asked Bob about his 23-year PGA TOUR career and why he has been so consistent through the years. "I think the main reason is just the passion I have for the game," he said. "I enjoy working at it, and I think about it a lot. When I play poorly I get frustrated, but you go home, have a good dinner and a good night's sleep and come back and do it again."
Bob also said, "I think the fact that I just like to work at it is how I've been able to keep a consistent level of play for a long time."
I also enjoyed having the opportunity to meet Barry Williams, who is Bob Tway's caddy. Barry, ironically, at one time lived in Greensboro, N.C., where I also lived for 13 years.
Since Bob missed the 36-hole cut this week at the Buick Invitational, I followed Aaron Baddeley and Boo Weekley during round three and I followed Boo during the final round.
I found that both the North and South courses were decent walks, but not too difficult. These courses have a few hills here and there, but overall, I thought the two courses were relatively flat. Having said that, I still recorded three falls for the week. Two of my three falls this week were caused by my foot catching a tree root.
To learn more about me, please tune in to the GOLF CHANNEL on Saturday, Feb. 2 and Sunday, Feb. 3 to watch a two-part feature on me. Thank you again for all of your e-mails and support.
As I end my week here in San Diego, I would like to express my appreciation to Bob Tway for his kindness and generosity for the entire week. I would also like to send a special thank you to Brandt Snedeker and Mandy for their hospitality at dinner on Wednesday night. One final thank you for the week goes out to Boo Weekley for his generosity and hospitality at dinner during the week in Palm Desert.
I'll see everyone next week at the FBR Open in Phoenix where I will be following Jeff Quinney.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D.J.'s blog: Shadowing Micheel in the desert
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. -- Welcome to the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic hosted by George Lopez. This 90-hole event is a very unique and special week on the PGA TOUR where professionals play with amateurs and celebrities for the first four days. This tournament uses a four course rotation; Silver Rock Resort, La Quinta Country Club, PGA West Arnold Palmer Private Course and The Classic Club, which is the host course.
This week, I had the opportunity to spend time with Shaun Micheel. Shaun is the type of person who will do anything for anybody, even if he does not know you. The perfect example of what I mean is this -- when Shaun was playing in a tournament on the T.C. Jordan Tour in New Bern, N.C., he helped save two people from a sinking car. Shaun provided me with a great amount of detail about this situation, and one thing he said that struck me the most was: "It was one of those moments in your life where you make a split-second decision, and you hope it's the right thing to do. It was. It was the only thing to do." To me, this shows that no matter what the situation is, or how challenging the situation could be, Shaun will always lend a helping hand and be there for others.
Shaun is also very involved with charity, and he hosts his own tournament to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation each year. "Leave the world a better place than you found it," he said. I believe this quote really exemplifies the type of person Shaun Micheel is -- a person who is looking out for the better of others. Shaun is also a person who really enjoys spending time with his family. Shaun has a 4-year-old son, and a daughter who will turn 1 in a few weeks. "In the summertime, they come out (on TOUR) just about every week, and it's a joy to have them out there," he said. "Not many things I would skip practice for, but my family's one of them." As you can see, family is very important to Shaun Micheel.
Besides spending time with his family, Shaun enjoys playing the guitar. "I've got six guitars, which is five more than my wife would rather me have. I enjoy it, I really do." Shaun is also good friends with KISS lead guitarist Tommy Thayer (whom I had the opportunity to meet as Tommy followed Shaun during the second round of the tournament). Shaun also has his pilot's license. Asked what his career would be if he were not a professional golfer, he says, "I'd be a pilot. So that's definitely what I'd be, and I enjoy it." Shaun's dad was one of the first pilots for FedEx.
I also found it interesting that Shaun has a great memory when it comes to things that happen on the golf course. When talking about the 72nd hole at the 2003 PGA Championship, Shaun said; "I just remember my caddie, who never talked to the ball, incidentally, and who always knew that was kind of a no-no with me -- he's the one on the video you can hear, "Be right!" Everybody thinks it was me saying that. It was not; it was Bob, and I just remember thinking in that split second, 'I cannot believe he's talking to my ball!' It goes through your mind. I mean people ask me, "What was going through your mind?", and what was going through my mind is that: 'Why is he talking to my golf ball?' As if it's going to answer. But you know how we are in golf. We're not superstitious." The PGA of America sent Shaun a DVD of the 2003 PGA Championship, and Shaun said: "I watch it often. It goes with me everywhere I go, and when I need a pick-me-up, I watch it."
| By the numbers | ||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week and season | ||||||||||||||||||
|
Shaun played in the Celebrity division at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. Over the course of four days, Shaun played with comedian Tom Dreesen, baseball legend Yogi Berra, Olympian Toby Dawson, football star Sterling Sharpe and legendary sportscaster Keith Jackson. I found it interesting to see the crowd level that each one of these celebrities attracted.
As for walking the golf courses, I believe the easiest course to walk was La Quinta, and the most difficult course to walk was The Classic Club, which was the host course. The Classic Club course is a long course, but I think the most difficult part of the course was the distance between greens and tees on some holes. Silver Rock Resort had five holes closed to the fans, making it the least "fan friendly" course on the tournament rotation.
I would like to thank Andrea, David, Richard and Ed for their assistance this week. These people were the walking marshals with Shaun Micheel all week. One interesting piece of information I learned this week was that a golf ball travels 5.25 inches in one revolution.
As I close the week at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic hosted by George Lopez, I would like to express my deep appreciation to Shaun Micheel for his kindness and generosity throughout the entire week. I truly appreciate it. I would also like to say thank you to all of the fans who approached me this week to say that I am an inspiration. Special thanks to Tony and Marlene Cucci for their hospitality this week.
I have been asked many times if I will be publishing a book at the end of my journey, and the answer is yes! The book will include all of the information gained during my journey. Thank you to all of those who have sent e-mails, I appreciate your support. Please continue to send your comments and questions.
See you next week at the Buick Invitational in San Diego, where I will be following Bob Tway.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D.J.'s blog: Following Snedeker in Oahu
HONOLULU -- What a difference a week makes.
I can understand why PGA TOUR players and caddies say that Waialae Country Club is one of the easiest courses on TOUR to walk. This course is extremely flat and the holes are very close together. For example, from the 13th fairway you can watch the approach to the green and watch the players putt out and then walk a short distance to the right and you will be at the 14th fairway where you can watch tee shots and the approach on the 14th hole. However, even with the flat terrain here at Waialae, I still recorded two falls for the week.
I had the privilege of following Brandt Snedeker this week, and this was awesome. I was truly impressed with the person that Snedeker is. He's an easy-going person and will do anything that you ask him to do.
With Brandt, what you see is what you get.
"One thing I would like golf fans to know about me is that I'm exactly what you see on the golf course is the exact same kind of person I am," he said. "I never want to give people a false impression about myself and say that I'm out giving a fake smile That's not who I really am, I love living life, I love having fun, I've got the best job in the world and I want to make sure people see that when I play golf."
After spending a few days with Brandt, I really got a chance to see that he is the same person on and off the golf course. I was particularly impressed with him on Friday after what could be characterized as a disappointing second round, he made sure to sign every autograph and say hello to all of the fans.
Brandt recently got engaged and this week, I had the opportunity to walk around the course with his fiancé Mandy, and she was able to give me some insight on what it's like to be related to or be a significant other to a PGA TOUR player.
When I asked Mandy about what she likes best about traveling on the PGA TOUR and with Brandt, Mandy simply stated: "Being able to see Brandt on a daily basis instead of once every three weeks."
| By the Numbers | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week -- and season | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
I also found it very interesting that Brandt seems to be a superstitious person both on and off the golf course.
"Yeah, I always mark my ball with a quarter head sides up and of course the quarter has to be from the '60's," he said. "Besides that, I always wear blue on Sunday, I don't know why I just kind of like wearing blue. Blue is my color I guess."
I found out that Brandt has superstitions when he wins, as well.
"It's so weird, when you start playing good, you think it's what you had (to eat)," he said. "At San Diego last year when I played good, I didn't have dinner the night before I went out played, so I always made sure I ate a late lunch and didn't eat dinner all week. I remember on the Nationwide we had Dairy Queen every night one week that I won, and one week it was we went out and had a glass of wine every night. You think it's the most random stuff, but you don't want to switch it up."
I thoroughly enjoyed the time that I was able to spend with Brandt this week. I truly appreciate how generous and accommodating he was during the entire week.
Brandt finished the first two rounds at even par, made the cut, but unfortunately with the new cut rule on the PGA TOUR for 2008, he did not make the cut for the final two rounds. Since Brandt did not qualify to play over the weekend, I chose to follow Fred Funk during the final two rounds.
The memorable moment of the week was during the second round on the ninth hole when Snedeker hit his tee shot far right into the water and he went in after it. After the round, I asked Snedeker to describe his adventure;
"I hit it right into some sludge I guess is the best way to put it," he said. "It was about calf deep and was able to get a club on it and get it back into play and stunk the rest of the day from whatever that mud was, I think there was some sewage in there (laughter) and everything else and it's been smelling bad, but I was able to save a shot."
As I close this week at the Sony Open in Hawaii, I would like to express my appreciation to all of the fans who approached me this week and said some very kind words. I would also like to express my appreciation to Robert Havrilak, who is a fan who approached me on Sunday and said he saw me on The Golf Channel on Saturday night and I inspired him to come out to the golf tournament on Sunday and walk the golf course.
I would also like to say thank you to Preston Lentz and his wife Mary Ann for their generosity this week. Finally, I want express my deep appreciation and say thank you to Brandt Snedeker and his fiancé Mandy for their generosity and kindness throughout the entire week. These two people are class acts and I truly appreciate it. Thank you to everyone who has sent me e-mails this week, I truly appreciate your encouragement and support.
Please continue to send me your questions and comments. See you next week at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.
D.J. Gregory is 29 years old and was born with cerebral palsy. Due to his disability, he walks with the aid of a cane. During the 2008 PGA TOUR Regular Season, He will be traveling for 38 weeks and attending 37 events on the schedule. Each week,he will choose one professional to follow and I will chronicle my experiences while walking the course with him during each round of competition. Along the way, I will also have the opportunity to speak with fans and volunteers.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D.J.'s blog: Hangin' with Boo in Maui
KAPALUA, Hawaii -- The 2008 season began at 10:25 a.m. with an opening ceremony that included a traditional Hawaiian blessing led by Kapalua Resort cultural advisor Clifford Nae'ole. I really thought it was very interesting to see this portion of the Hawaiian culture. Following the blessing, the Star Spangled Banner was played on a ukulele by Sony recording artist Jake Shimabukuro.
I had never heard our national anthem played on a ukulele and I really thought this was cool. After the opening ceremony was over, the honorary starter, Joe Torre, the recently named Los Angeles Dodgers manager, introduced Stephen Ames, who hit the first shot of 2008.
I was very fortunate this week to follow Boo Weekley, who is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. Boo has a great sense of humor. He'll give you many great one-liners but even better is the amazing outlook Boo has on life in general. When I asked him if playing for the United States at the Ryder Cup was in his thoughts for the 2008 season, Boo said, "Well, I would like to play, but you know if I don't it, ain't going to hurt my feelings. I just want to play the game of golf -- play it as long as I can -- and get out where I can still enjoy my life, enjoy my son and be able to show him things that my Daddy got to show me.
| By The Numbers | ||||||||||||
| D.J.'s week | ||||||||||||
|
"You know, that's what it's about for me, is family," he said. "It's kind of hard because I'm a family guy. I like to be home with my family. I like to be fishing and hunting, and they're right there with me when I'm doing it, so you know I miss that and the opportunity to be able to do that."
Boo had a big contingent of family members with him this week in Maui. His mom, Patsy Weekley, provided one of the week's priceless moments when she slipped and fell in the mud on the eighth hole during Saturday's third round.
During my week with Boo, I also realized that he is also a very down-to-earth person. What you see is what you get with him. I asked Boo how he decided where to eat when he's on the road. His response was, "we'll go to Burger King, McDonald's, Chick-Fil-A and maybe every now and then, I'll splurge a little bit and get some fancy food at the Outback or Carrabba's or stuff like that. If it was up to me, we would rent a house every week and we would have cereal for breakfast (and) ham sandwiches, bananas, sardines -- whatever we want to eat. I mean, I ain't got to have all that. I know what it takes to survive."
The Plantation Course is a challenging walk for me because I find it more difficult to walk down the hills rather then up them. When walking downhill, all of my weight is in front of me to balance myself, and sometimes this causes me to actually walk faster then I can move my cane. Understanding this, I am proud to say that I walked this course for four days and had no falls. This course is hilly and spread out. In fact, there are three instances on the front nine where the players take a shuttle from green to tee, including a motor vehicle shuttle between the fifth green and sixth tee. The shuttle took five minutes for the one-mile adventure up and down some very steep hills. I appreciate the tournament volunteers allowing me to get a ride.
The volunteers were extremely friendly and helpful -- particularly our courtesy driver the first day who missed the turn into the hotel as we were deep in conversation. Each day after that, when we saw Tom, the driver, missing the turn became the running joke.
As I close this first blog entry, I would like to express my gratitude to Gary Planos and his entire staff and volunteers for all of their assistance and support this week. I would also like to express my deep appreciation to Boo Weekley and his entire family -- The Boo Crew -- for their generosity and graciousness.
Please contact me with questions or comments.
- Daily Wrap-Up: AT&T National, Round 2
- AT&T National: Second-round notebook
- What they said: Tiger Woods, Round 2
- The Live Report: AT&T National, Round 2
| Player | Events | Points |
 Kenny Perry
|
16 | 1,874 |
| Zach Johnson
|
17 | 1,662 |
| Phil Mickelson
|
12 | 1,616 |
| Player | Today | Thru | Total |
| Tiger Woods |
-4 | F | -10 |
 Rod Pampling |
-6 | F | -9 |
| Anthony Kim |
E | F | -8 |
Shop your favorite brand name golf equipment and accessories at SHOP.PGATOUR.COM
PLAY NOW
PGATOUR.com is part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network