Friends, family delight in Klauk's PLAYERS debut

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Jeff Klauk shot par or better in every round in his PLAYERS debut.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- When Jeff Klauk was 10, he and younger brother John would introduce each other on the first hole and pretend they were in the final round of THE PLAYERS Championship.

On Sunday, Klauk lived out his dream, hearing the introduction and roars from the crowd. And this time, they were real.

Eighteen holes later, Klauk completed his final-round 71 to finish at 3 under -- tying him for 14th -- at THE PLAYERS. Thus ends a climactic week not just for Klauk, but for friends and family who turned out in large numbers to support the promising 31-year-old PGA TOUR pro in his first PLAYERS. It came on the course he practically grew up on, where his father, Fred Klauk, served as course superintendent for 25 years and mentored his son and his golf game.

On the first tee at 11:55 a.m., a group of roughly 150 fans watched Jeff Klauk's initial tee shot. After sinking an 18-foot birdie after a perfect drive and approach, the roar was Tiger-like and prompted interest from bystanders on neighboring holes to join the gallery. By the fourth hole, the number of fans watching Klauk had tripled.

"It's been very rewarding," said Fred Klauk. "The number of rounds, maybe not under tournament conditions, have helped and his ball-striking has been superb. He knows where to hit the ball on the course, and if his execution is there, he'll have good results."

As Jeff Klauk walked the greens that he once mowed as a child, there was comfort in everything he did during the week -- from the traditional daily "good luck" kiss he'd give his mother on the driving range to sleeping in his own bed at night and listening to the dog bark at home.

"He's been giving me that kiss ever since I watched him at tournaments when he was 10 years old," said mother Peggy Klauk. "It was awesome -- one of the best Mother's Day presents I could ever ask for. This was his dream."

Jeff's wife Shanna wasn't sure how he would handle playing here this week.

"I thought it might be hard because this is not completely normal to be at your own house during a golf tournament," she said. "It's normal, but it's abnormal. Your life is so different when you're at home than when you're on the road at a golf tournament and used to a hotel routine and a schedule. The phone rings a lot more at home, and the dog keeps barking."

Shanna and Peggy tried to minimize the distractions, handling the multiple ticket requests from family and friends.

"It started out at 10 tickets," Shanna said. "Then Jeff asked for 10 more and I got 35 more requests. So, there were 53 total for the weekend and all of them were used. That doesn't even count all the people that were planning on coming anyway."

Younger brother Jason Klauk, who got married in Jacksonville six weeks ago and now lives with his wife in Washington D.C., told the story of Jeff flying in to attend the wedding on a private plane from Orlando while in contention at Bay Hill. Although Jason flew commercial down to Jacksonville this week, there was no keeping him from watching his brother play this weekend.

"It's been a special week for our entire family," said Jason, 24. "I've seen friends of his and mine that I haven't seen in 10 years. It's been an awesome weekend."

Vicky and Rick Hiebsch of Wichita, Kan., have been the host family for Klauk and his wife for several years in the Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open, won by Klauk in 2003. The Hiebsch family flew in to see Klauk in his PLAYERS debut.

"Every time we watch him, he plays well," Vicky Hiebsch said. "I told his coach, maybe we should be on a retainer."

Klauk, meanwhile, tried to make it a normal week. After securing a spot for the weekend by surviving Friday's cut, his coach Cody Barden and caddie Tim Quinn both noticed how relaxed Klauk was.

"It's been a great week of development for Jeff," said Barden, who has worked with Klauk since 2005 and is a former teaching professional at TPC at Sawgrass and now lives in Atlanta. "He's learned how to manage all the distractions, accommodate the multiple requests from media and still stick to golf. I noticed a big difference from him after making the cut on Friday. He has really settled down."

Quinn said that Klauk didn't talk to him much on Sunday during the round, and that's usually a good thing.

"This weekend, he really stayed relaxed. He plays his best when we say maybe 10 words a round. When he doesn't say much to me, I know we're doing a good job."

As for any final preparations for Sunday's round, Klauk did what he always does on Saturday night: "I watched NASCAR. I'm a 'gear-head.' I admit it."

He also told wife Shanna that the crowd was a plus. "He's never had that many people watching him at once," she said, "and he loves hearing 'Let's go J.K.' "

Said Jeff: "Too bad I couldn't talk to some of those fans and the friends I haven't seen in a while, but I tried to treat it like I was out there playing with my friends and it really felt like that."