Barcelo returns to Reno, this time as a professional
By Laury Livsey, PGA TOUR Staff
RENO, Nev. -- When Rich Barcelo first set eyes on Montreux Golf and Country Club, a new Jack Nicklaus-designed course on the southern end of Reno, Nev., he was in his final year at the University of Nevada. It was 1998. Barcelo had heard about the course while it was being constructed, and he even ventured to what he calls "the middle of nowhere" to get a look at the place.
Barcelo and his Wolf Pack teammates didn't exactly set up shop at the course after it opened, though. "We got to play the course on Monday afternoons, but even then our times were restricted," he laughed. "It was really exclusive then."
At that time, Barcelo, who went on to graduate with a degree in speech communications, was getting ready to turn professional. His career was ahead of him. The PGA TOUR, wins and millions in earnings, he figured, awaited. Things haven't exactly turned out as he had planned. For most of his career, Barcelo has toiled on the Nationwide Tour. This week, though, Barcelo is on the PGA TOUR. Given a spot in this week's Legends Reno-Tahoe Open field as a sponsor's exemption, Barcelo is no longer the college kid all wide-eyed playing the new Nicklaus course in town.
The veteran of 150 Nationwide Tour events since 1999 and 57 PGA TOUR starts between 2005 and 2007 does enter the tournament this week as a winner?something he couldn't claim until two weeks ago when he won the Nationwide Tour's Cox Classic.
"I feel like I'm playing the best golf of my life," Barcelo said. "I'm as confident as I've ever been. After 10 years, the questions start to creep in. I've always believed I could win. But not being able to do it previously has been disappointing."
What meant the most to Barcelo about his victory was going head-to-head with Michael Sim, the third-round Cox Classic co-leader. Sim is a two-time Nationwide Tour winner in 2009 and the by-a-wide-margin money leader on the Tour.
"Beating the No. 1 player on the Tour was a huge boost to my confidence," Barcelo explained. "Now I'm looking to build on that."
Barcelo does so this week with his eyes still set on being part of "The 25," the designation for players inside the top 25 on the Nationwide Tour money list. At the end of the year, those top-25 players earn 2010 PGA TOUR playing privileges. Barcelo enters this week ranked eighth, with $198,649 in earnings.
"I feel comfortable enough with the position I'm in right now for the next week or two. But there are enough tournaments left to be able to improve on that position," Barcelo said. "I just couldn't pass up the opportunity, so I'm extremely happy to be [in Reno]. I'm in a position where I should be on the PGA TOUR for next year."
Chris Riley knows a bit about playing two Tours in the same season. Last year he played 17 PGA TOUR events and five Nationwide Tour tournaments, 17 and four the year before that, splitting time between the two when necessary. There's no right or wrong way for a player to do it, with some refusing to cross over and others moving back and forth with ease.
"Golf is golf. Rich won at Cox, so he's playing well and he should do fine this week," said Riley. "There are some Nationwide Tour events that are like this. An opposite (PGA TOUR) event is on par with a bigger Nationwide Tour event like the Cox Classic or Boise (Albertsons Boise Open). Unless you're playing in a tournament with Tiger Woods in it, it won't feel that different. He knows that."
As Barcelo ventures back to the PGA TOUR for this one week, he finds more familiar than just the city where he went to college and the golf course he occasionally played. It's a Wolf Pack reunion of sorts this week, with two other University of Nevada players in the field. Kirk Triplett is a former Legends Reno-Tahoe Open champion (2003) and Michael Allen is one of two players over the age of 50 playing, Olin Browne being the other.
Besides their common college pedigree, Barcelo and Allen share another common tie. Before Barcelo's win last month, his previous best Nationwide Tour performance was a tie for second at the 2003 Monterey Peninsula Classic, four strokes behind winner Scott Gutschewski. Also four strokes behind was Allen, who ended a winless drought of his own earlier this year when he won the Senior PGA Championship on the Champions Tour.
"[Allen] is a good friend of mine, and Kirk is a great guy. Even Charlie Wi was here for a couple of years," Barcelo said of Wi, who began college at the University of Nevada before transferring to Cal-Berkeley. "So it's nice that there is starting to be some contingency of Wolf Pack players on the PGA TOUR."
Especially since Barcelo is one of them this week and plans on being a TOUR regular for years to come.
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