Laid-back Prugh making his presence known on TOUR

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Alex Prugh has started his rookie year with three top-10 finishes in the first four starts.

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- Alex Prugh is making his first trip to the Monterey Peninsula this week, and like other tourists, he has been overwhelmed by the breathtaking seaside views, sprawling cliff-side mansions and quaint charm of tiny towns like Carmel.

"I would definitely love to retire here some day," he said.

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Prugh has plenty of work to do first, though. And the 25-year-old's still brief PGA TOUR career is off to a great start with top-10 finishes in his last three starts.

As a result, Prugh, who was a two-time All-American at the University of Washington, has upstaged some of the higher profile rookies like Rickie Fowler and q-school medalist Troy Merritt. Truth be told, though, he's most comfortable flying under the radar.

"I'm not going to lie, I'm not a flashy guy," Prugh said. "I've played with Ricky before. Just to show how flashy he is, he has six pairs of shoes and color coordinates them with his outfit, which to each his own.

"Ricky has gotten a lot of publicity and attention. That's fine with me. I would rather let my golf talk for me. In the long run, that's what I'm out here for. I'm out here to compete, and hopefully make a bunch of birdies, and show the crowds a good time. But a lot of them do tend toward Ricky."

It won't be long before Prugh builds a fan base of his own. In his last 13 rounds, he has only shot above par once -- and that was a 73. He has two ties for fifth and shared 10th last week, winning a combined total of $543,978 and standing 13th on the FedExCup list.

"Especially for me, being subject to reshuffles and categories and whatnot, not always getting into events, I think the better you can play early, the better it helps you out in the long run towards the middle and end of the year," Prugh said. "But at the same time, I totally expected to play this well. That's why I love the game and I love to compete."

Like most of the 19 other PGA TOUR rookies -- Rory McIlroy and Jeev Milka Singh would be the notable exceptions -- Prugh has been at something of a disadvantage, though. He'll be playing his eighth, ninth and 10th new courses this week.

"Unless you consider Tiger Woods on Xbox from about 2005 to 2007, this is the first time I've seen all the courses," Prugh said. "The only other course I've seen before is Torrey Pines South. I played Junior World there in 2002. But still, that's eight years ago."

Take the Bob Hope Classic, for example. Prugh flew home to Las Vegas after the Sony Open in Hawaii because he didn't expect to get to play in Palm Springs. When he found out he was in the field, Prugh drove down to California on Monday afternoon and spent Tuesday trying to familiarize himself with four courses.

"Fortunately they gave us golf carts, so I at least rode around," said Prugh, who went on to hold the 54-lead at the Bob Hope Classic. "That's about it. Silver Rock I played but ironically that was the round I played the worst."

Prugh and his caddy, Zach Bixler, who also played for the Huskies, have a system, though. They have similar laid-back personalities, so it's more based on getting a feel for the course than calculating exacting yardages and mulling over strategy.

"We have his two eyes out there and my two eyes; you go around a golf course once, you're essentially getting two looks at it, whether you're playing it or not," Prugh said.

"And we always figure, when it comes down to it, if you have 151 yards, whether you've played the course or not, more than likely it's an 8 iron. It's pretty standard. Balls go a little different distances here and there, but you know, standard, all right, we got 254 to that bunker, probably should ease off this 3 wood a little bit.

" ... It's just a matter of picking lines and honestly, a common theme, most courses, greens flow back to front. Pretty obvious, don't go long. We figured that one out a long time ago. There's not a whole lot of times where long is good. "

Golf is practically in Prugh's genes. His father, Stephen, played with Peter Jacobsen at the University of Oregon and has been the head pro at Manito Country Club in Spokane, Wash., for 30 years. His brother Corey played at Washington, too, and is an assistant pro at his father's club.

"I talked to him a ton," Prugh said. "He helps me out a lot and actually his dream is to be out here, too, so he goes to q-school every year."

Prugh's sister Hillary is a lawyer, but she played at Montana State. His mother, Susan, doesn't play but she knows the game -- she is a USGA rules official.

"I think she owned a set of golf clubs once, but my dad sold them about a year later and she didn't know for another ten years," Prugh said with a smile.

Prugh says his welcome-to-the-TOUR moment was a practice round he played -- almost -- with Ernie Els at the Sony Open in Hawaii. The group in front of them had quite an entourage, though, and the big South African tired of waiting to tee off.

"It was just one of those things, but he was super nice, there, too," Prugh said.

At least Els knows who Prugh is now, though -- and the way he's been playing, fans are taking notice, too.