Toms back at Pebble Beach with Match Play on his mind

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David Toms is two spots away from a berth in the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship.

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) -- David Toms returned to the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am for the first time in seven years, partly because of a change in the schedule that put Pebble Beach a week after his annual ski trip to Colorado with his family.

The other reason?

Toms is at No. 66 in the world, and this is his last chance to qualify for the 64-man field in this month's World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, where he is a past champion and has a nine-year streak of never losing in the first round.

He started the year at No. 116 and already has moved up 50 spots on the strength of his tie for second at the Sony Open in Hawaii and a tie for fourth in the FBR Open.

"I've been able to play well knowing that I needed to," Toms said on Tuesday. "So that's been very encouraging. I know if I go out and play well, that will take care of itself."

It could be entirely up to him this week.

Of the dozen players on the bubble, the only ones playing this week are Pat Perez (No. 60), Dudley Hart (No. 63), Toms and D.J. Trahan (No. 70). Among those not playing anywhere in the world is Ryo Ishikawa, the 17-year-old from Japan who is at No. 64.

Only when the final field is set at Pebble Beach and the Maybank Malaysian Open will it be clear what Toms needs to do.

Some players have not played the week of a qualifying deadline because it could help their ranking. Toms said he was told by the TOUR that his divisor would be reduced by one if he skipped Pebble, allowing for him to possibly move up. But that would depend on how other players performed ahead and behind him.

"I think there would be an outside chance if I didn't play this tournament that I could make the top 64," he said. "I don't really know the scenarios. But I know if I play this tournament and I play well, I'll get in."

If Tiger Woods decides not to return at the Accenture Match Play Championship, the top 65 will qualify for the $8.5 million event. If he does play, and Toms gets the last spot at No. 64, that would be quite a first-round match.

"I just need to get in the field," Toms said.

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HONEST HAYES: J.P. Hayes was celebrated in the world of golf for his honesty late last year when he essentially disqualified himself in the second stage of q-school upon discovering he might have used a golf ball that was a prototype and not on the approved list.

He already had lost his card, and by notifying officials of the mix-up, assured himself of losing his job.

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J.P. Hayes said calling the penalty on himself was not something another golfer wouldn't do.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote a story that soon reached millions. Hayes found himself getting interview requests on national radio and television shows, along with every major print outlet.

"I always thought that the next phone call was going to be the last, but it never stopped ringing for three days," said Hayes, who estimated he took 300 phone calls. "I would say the response was overwhelming -- a little bit embarrassing to be honest with you."

Hayes was simply doing what he felt most players would have done.

There were some benefits. He immediately received sponsor exemptions from the John Deere Classic, U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee and the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, where he is making his 2009 start. Hayes also said he received exemptions to the HP Byron Nelson Championship and the Crowne Plaza Invittational at Colonial.

But his greater act of honesty might have come during the media frenzy.

He said several businesses offered him money to speak to various groups on what he went through, money that would come in handy for a guy who lost his TOUR card last year.

"I was very careful to say 'no' to a lot of things where I might have profited from this," he said. "I don't think it was right. I don't think I'm a spokesperson on ethics. People saw it for more than it was -- more than for what I saw it."

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NOW ON THE TEE: PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem will be making his debut as a player this week in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, playing in the foursome with Davis Love III, Hunter Mahan and AT&T chairman Randall Stephenson.

David Toms can see one benefit from the commissioner stepping inside the ropes.

"It might be the only chance we have for this tournament to be moved to October," Toms said with a laugh, referring to weather issues that have occasionally plagued Pebble.