Hallberg finds confidence, success on Champions Tour

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Don't mention that ugly, dreaded "C" word to Gary Hallberg.

Cut. Hallberg shudders at the sound of it.

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Gary Hallberg tips his hat to the crowd after a tie for second at the 3M Championship.

Hallberg in 2008

Nationwide Tour

Date Event Finish 4/06/08 Livermore Valley Wine Country Championship at Wente Vineyards T40 4/20/08 Athens Regional Foundation Classic T56 4/27/08 Henrico County Open CUT 5/04/08 South Georgia Classic CUT 5/18/08 BMW Charity Pro-Am CUT 6/01/08 Bank of America Open CUT Champions Tour 6/22/08 Bank of America Championship T16 6/29/08 Commerce Bank Championship T55 7/06/08 Dick's Sporting Goods Open T10 7/20/08 3M Championship T2 7/27/08 The Senior Open Championship T11

"Looking back over my career, I think I had handcuffs on knowing that if you don't make the cut, you don't get paid," Hallberg said, and then offered this hypothetical situation.

"You're out there and you're in 12th place with five holes to go. You make one bogey and all of the sudden you're in 37th place. Now you've got a hard hole and you miss the green. If you don't get up and down, you miss the cut. And I'd played great, almost top 10, then hit two bad shots that were not even bad shots.

"You miss the cut. You go home."

Hallberg thinks the Champions Tour's no-cut policy explains a lot about his recent play. Since turning 50 on May 31, he has had a runner-up finish plus three top-16s in just five events.

And after the first round of the U.S. Senior Open, Hallberg again finds himself near the top thanks to a 1-under 69 on the East Course at The Broadmoor.

Wait a second, though. Does he know that the Senior Open has a cut this week?

"No, I don't want to hear that," Hallberg said. "That's one of those bad words."

With the exception of those two bogeys in his first five holes, there was nothing bad to say about his round on Friday. He took advantage of the par 3s, making birdie on the 16th and eighth, along with another on the first, a 429-yard par 4.

Hallberg, a three-time winner on the PGA TOUR, has always possessed a beautiful swing. The Wake Forest graduate was the first player in NCAA history the earn first-team All-America honors four straight years. The only players to do it since are Phil Mickelson, David Duval and Bryce Molder.

He was the first player to earn his TOUR card without going to qualifying school in 1980 and was named Rookie of the Year. His confidence and putting went south in the mid-1990s, though, and he tried to fix both by changing his swing.

"When my confidence wasn't there, I started thinking maybe I needed to swing a little different," Hallberg said. "...I read an article Jack Nicklaus had that said, 'I wasn't putting well and my confidence went away so I spent the next year working on my swing.' And he laughed, it was kind of a humorous piece.

"I looked at it and went 'Oh! That's what I've done my whole career.' That's what most guys have done."

Enter golf instructor Dennis Murray. Hallberg missed all seven cuts on the PGA TOUR in 2007 and only made two of 10 on the Nationwide Tour. But Murray helped him with everything from his alignment, ball position, shaft angle and timing to his mental approach to the game.

"He knows what I'm trying to do and, when I don't do it, he knows," Hallberg said. "And that's what he's great at and he's great with the mental part, too, because he keeps me in the present tense."

With Murray's assistance, Hallberg has learned to focus on the moment. His mind doesn't wander ahead to the next hole, what he's eating for dinner or how bad his last shot was.

That philosophy also helped him keep a positive attitude about joining the Champions Tour. Even though he'd heard from others that it was harder than it seemed, Hallberg relished the opportunity to rejoin his old pals.

"These are the guys I've played against when I played my best golf and I can do it again," Hallberg said. "...I've got a long ways to go but I feel like I belong. It's nice to have another opportunity at a career. We all have our high points in our careers, in our lives and I kind of get to re-do that again."

On a normal day, Hallberg said he receives a few phone calls, but after his recent stretch, his voicemail fills up every two hours. Friends like Tom Kite and Mark Wiebe seek him out in the locker room to congratulate him. The fans are cheering him on as well, especially this week since Hallberg lives nearby in Castle Rock, Colo.

"Everybody is really happy to see one of their fellow players do well. I think the other Tours maybe (are like that) but not like out here," Hallberg said.

Since 2000, he split time between the PGA TOUR and Nationwide Tour -- winning the '02 Northeast Pennsylvania Classic. In some twisted way, missing four straight cuts on the Nationwide Tour immediately before his Champions Tour debut actually helped him.

"When you are playing with these kids, you have to hit the ball far," Hallberg explained. "I hit it a pretty decent distance but it was hard. It's really hard to play on those 7,500-yard courses but I think it really helped. It was bad on my confidence, though, but it did help me to learn how to fail a little better.

"You are constantly failing at this game. I was able to miss cuts and keep my head up."

So maybe missing the cut isn't such a bag thing after all. Just don't tell Hallberg that this week.