Torrey Pines marks end of initiation for TOUR rookies
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
SAN DIEGO -- Matt Weibring will hit the first drive of his PGA TOUR career on the No. 1 tee of the South Course at Torrey Pines at 9:30 on Thursday morning.
When Aaron Watkins tees off 40 minutes later in the first round of the Buick Invitational, the last of this year's 28 PGA TOUR rookies will have begun the career they first dreamed about as a kid playing with sawed-off clubs.
Already golf fans are learning about these newbies. For the uninitiated, though, here's the Cliffs Notes version.
• Webb Simpson, who was working on the final credits toward his religion degree at Wake Forest this time last year, posted top-10 finishes in his first two starts.
• Australian James Nitties shared the first-round lead at last week's FBR Open with Lucas Glover and went on to tie for fourth.
• Scott Piercy trailed Kenny Perry by one entering the final round at TPC Scottsdale only to see his hopes of victory evaporate with a string of four bogeys in a six-hole stretch on the back nine. He eventually tied for sixth.
That's a collective four top-10s in the three tournaments that rookies have been able to play in this year. OK -- so it's not quite like 2006 when J.B. Holmes won in his fourth start but it's still an impressive start.
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And Piercy, who ranks 16th in the FedExCup standings, and Simpson, No. 17, are among six players at Torrey Pines who could take over the top spot in the race for the $10 million bonus with a win.
This year's rookie class includes 12 who earned their tickets to the TOUR through q-school -- like Simpson and Nitties -- while the other 16 are Nationwide Tour graduates, as was Piercy. Ten had never even played in a TOUR event before this year.
In some cases, though, the term rookie admittedly is something of a misnomer.
Nitties, for example, had played in 19 Nationwide Tour events -- a huge proving ground -- during his career, as well as on the Australasian Tour. He was featured in GOLF CHANNEL's "Big Break" series, too.
Piercy has played in 20 PGA TOUR events and cashed checks in eight. He also won twice on the Nationwide Tour last year to finish sixth on the money list. Oh, and don't forget the $2 million he won on his fifth wedding anniversary at the 2007 Ultimate Game.
"I guess Webb's probably the biggest surprise," said Brandt Snedeker, the 2007 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year. "But he was a great college player and there are five or six other guys I think have a chance to win a tournament this year. "
| 5 | Players who have played in all five TOUR events this year |
| 6 | San Diego natives to win the Buick Invitational |
| 17 | Rookies who have earned FedExCup points this year |
Snedeker finished third at the Buick Invitational in only his third start as a rookie. But he didn't win until the final event of the PGA TOUR Regular Season when he fired a 63 on Sunday at the Wyndham Championship.
In between, Snedeker learned the kind of lessons that Piercy, Nitties and Simpson have gotten a crash course in over the last three weeks. Their peers hope to sign up for extra credit in the months to come.
Patience, Snedeker says, is the key.
"I still think it takes us a little while to get used to playing out here," Snedeker explained. "It's one thing to play out here and finish top 10 and it's another thing to play out here and think you're going to win.
"It takes a little bit of time and effort and get up there a few times. ... That's probably the thing I learned the most my rookie year -- I had a couple of chances to win early in the year and didn't do it and then late in the year I was kind of on the outside looking in and I played great and got in there and won one."
Snedeker said he didn't really start feeling like he belonged on TOUR until midway through his rookie season. Not coincidentally, he was in the midst of a $2.8 million season and had essentially locked up his playing privileges for the next year.
"That's kind of the natural growing process," Snedeker said. "Once you've kept your card that's when you start you feeling like, hey, I belong out here, I know I can beat these guys. I think that's probably the biggest thing out here."
BUICK INVITATIONAL NOTES
• Phil Mickelson missed the cut in his season opener for the first time in his career last week. One of the reasons? Lefty missed 20-of-28 fairways at TPC Scottsdale.
Mickelson is hoping things will be better at Torrey Pines, where he has won three times. He's using a new Callaway FT-9 driver this week designed to allow him to hit slight cuts but eliminate the big slice.
"That is what Butch and I have been working on, and now the combination of the swing changes plus a little bit of help from the equipment, and I'm able to keep it in control," said Mickelson, who added he has a little more distance, too.
Mickelson wasn't able to use the driver last week at the FBR Open because it hadn't been approved. What he wanted had some subtle differences from the original FT-9 so Callaway had to build one to those specs and send it to the USGA.
"They actually expedited it to get it on the approved list this week," Mickelson said. "I'm excited to get it back in play. That certainly wasn't why I didn't play well last week. I used the driver I used all last year that I felt I was driving well with, but I'm excited to get it in play."
• Brandt Snedeker acknowledges his game is a "little rusty." The Buick Invitational is just his second PGA TOUR start of the year, and he's in the process of an equipment change -- moving from a TaylorMade driver and irons to new Bridgestone equipment.
"It feels pretty good," Snedeker said. "I'm trying to get used to that and get the right combo fixed up. ... Unfortunately I worked (so much) on my long game my short game is rusty now. So I've got to start working on my short game again and get it back to feeling good."
Snedeker is eager for a fresh start in 2009 after a lackluster finish to last year. He didn't crack the top-10 after a tie for ninth at last year's U.S. Open -- ironically, at Torrey Pines.
"I am trying to learn from my first two years out here and really put a good foot forward here," Snedeker said. "(I want to) try to make that Presidents Cup team, try to win again and get to the TOUR Championship."
In that order? Definitely, he said.
"The Presidents Cup is definitely first and foremost on my mind," Snedeker said. "I figure if I make the Presidents Cup team, I'll probably have to win. If I do that everything else will be covered."
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"I definitely took golf for granted before and would beat myself up a lot. Now it's like I know what my alternatives are, and hitting a bad shot, as long as it doesn't hit anybody, I'm okay with it." -- PGA TOUR rookie Bill Lunde on the perspective he gained during several years working behind a desk.
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