Heintz wisely sticks with Plan A, makes a splash at Reno-Tahoe

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Heintz has battled 'awful' play this year, but performed well enough in Reno to have been in the hunt for his first TOUR victory.

Nobody ever doubted Bob Heintz's intelligence. Not when he remains the only Ivy Leaguer to make a full-time living on the PGA TOUR.

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But few players have proven to be as prescient as Heintz was midway through last week's Reno-Tahoe Open. He was talking about how the 2010 season has been "terrible," that he's "thinking about quitting."

"I've been awful," he said after the second round. "I used to be one of the best putters on this TOUR, and this year I'm literally anxious about 3-footers right now."

Talk about seeing into the future.

It's late Sunday, and the 40-year-old Heintz is facing a tricky 3-footer at the 72nd hole he needs to make to get into a playoff with playing partner Matt Bettencourt. For Heintz, whose best PGA TOUR finish in 154 events is a trio of fifth-place showings, it's one of those defining moments in his career.

He has already chipped in three times during the round, but alas, the putt lips out, forcing Heintz -- who has an economics degree from Yale -- to settle for a runner-up showing that still provides him with the biggest pay day of his career ($324,000).

"It really was clutch, except until the very last putt," Heintz said. "And I have to admit, that was about a three-quarter-inch to a one-inch pull. I wanted it inside the hole. They were being nice on TV saying it was left edge. I wanted it inside the hole and I did start it left edge, and I missed.

"So it was pretty cool, though, that putting stroke that I talked about the other day held out for a very long time, and it really wasn't a terrible putt. It just wasn't good enough. So I can handle it. I'm a big boy."

Even the winner admitted he had mixed emotions about the finish. "You never pull against anybody out here," Bettencourt said. "My heart goes out to Bob. He's fought so hard. He hit a good putt. It just didn't go in, and fortunately this was my time."

Heintz was fortunate to even show up in Reno last week. Because he's had such an awful year -- he has made just two-of-10 cuts on the Nationwide Tour to earn $3,780 -- Heintz headed to Cincinnati to try and qualify for the Nationwide event. He got pulled off the course at 11 a.m. when it was determined he was already in the field.

Then he received some better news. He got another call from a PGA TOUR official telling him he actually was in the Reno-Tahoe Open because most of the sport's bigger names were competing in the British Open.

"She said, 'Well, you committed to Reno and we've gone all the way to the extended money list from last year, the 150 to 200 guys,' which they never do," Heintz said. "It's like the third time in 12 years or something (that's happened)."

So Heintz did what most good athletes do -- he took advantage of the break. He shot rounds of 69-68 to move into contention, then remained there with a third-round 72. Despite hitting only eight greens in the final round, he stayed near the lead, thanks to the three chip-ins.

"I really wasn't as tidy with my irons as I was yesterday, but I kind of played like the Bob of old where my survival instincts kicked in," said Heintz, who needed just 23 putts Sunday. "And my short game was just shy of brilliant all day."

The $324,000 represented about one-sixth of what Heintz has earned during his decade as a member on the PGA TOUR. It's more than he's made in all but two seasons on the PGA TOUR. It couldn't have come at a better time -- not only is he trying to build his career, but also a house for his wife, Nancy, and their four children who live in Clearwater, Fla.

"It takes a lot of pressure off me," he said. "We're building a house right now, and I think things like marriages and building houses are golfer killers. You see guys falling off the face of the earth for two or three things when they're professional golfers: changing equipment, building a house, a major life change can really do it. It's a really good check for me. I know I missed an opportunity to win ... but it takes a massive amount of pressure off."

And, at least for a while, he doesn't have to discuss his fall-back plan of using his economics degree from Yale if his golf scores continue not to add up. During a three-month stretch in the late-1990s, Heintz actually gave up golf to become a financial analyst. But he knew he was more comfortable writing numbers on a scorecard than a business ledger.

"I try not to think about it too much," Heintz said of going back to the business world. "I used to be a rap fan, and Will Smith used to have a song that says, No, Plan B; it distracts from Plan A."

Heintz isn't ready to give up on his dream of winning a PGA TOUR event and finishing his career with less grinding. He came within a 3-foot putt of getting into his first playoff.

Who knows what the future holds for Heintz now?

Craig Dolch is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.