Slowly but surely, Marino showing tools to win on TOUR

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In 2008, Steve Marino was hanging out at a Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., restaurant when he was introduced to Ernie Els by Robert Floyd. Els casually asked Marino what he did for a living.

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"I'm a professional golfer," Marino said.

"Really?" Els replied. "What tour?"

"The PGA TOUR," Marino replied, then went in for the zinger.

"My name is Steve Marino, and next week I'm going to be passing you on the money list," Marino said to a laughing Els.

As it turned out, Marino finished behind Els on the 2008 money list -- Marino was 34th and Els 20th. But Marino doesn't need many introductions to golf fans today.

One could easily make the argument he's one of the 10 best players who has yet to win a PGA TOUR event. Marino came close again Sunday when he moved within a shot of leader Mark Wilson early in the fourth round of the Sony Open in Hawaii.

Marino struggled in the middle of his round, however, with bogeys at the eighth and 10th hole and failing to birdie the short par-5 ninth when he had a 7-iron into the hole for his second shot. But Marino played flawless afterward, finishing with three birdies on his last four holes to finish tied for second, two shots behind Wilson.

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It was his third runner-up finish on the PGA TOUR (the others came at the 2008 Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera-Maya Cancun and the 2009 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial). Marino remained upbeat afterward. He knows he won't have to wait much longer to bring home a trophy.

"I'm really not worried about it," he said. "I had a really good chance today. I just didn't make the putts and (I) hit a couple bad shots at some bad times. But I'm just going to keep plugging along and maybe one day it'll fall my way.

It's fitting that Marino started strongly here in his fifth season on the PGA TOUR. It was at Waialae Country Club where he made a promising first start as a PGA TOUR member when, paired with Michelle Wie, he finished a solid T34.

"I handled it pretty well, and I think that was big for me kind of getting put in a high-profile group like that and being able to perform pretty well," he said. "That was a big confidence booster for me right off the bat."

Marino

Marino's other big moment in golf came when he was tied with Tom Watson for the 36-hole lead at the 2009 British Open. Marino faded to 38th, though.

Sunday's $484,000 paycheck pushed Marino's career earnings past $7 million and likely signals he's over the driving problems that limited him to a career-low three top-10s last season. Marino ranked 124th in driving average last year (62 percent), saying it was the first time he struggled with his swing since joining the PGA TOUR.

Many believe it's just a matter of time before Marino starts winning consistently on the PGA TOUR. The 30-year-old certainly knows how to go low -- he holds five course records, including a 59 he shot at Desert Mountain while winning the 2006 Gateway Tour Championship.

But going low is different than having the lowest score of the week. Still, Marino, who played with Wilson during Sunday's 36-hole finish, said Wilson deserved to win because he played the best golf. Marino was pleased to get his season off to a solid start.

"I feel real good about it," he said. "You never really know how you're playing when you're playing at home until you get out here and play against the best."

Now the trick is to keep getting in contention. As he showed Sunday, when he gets on the leaderboard, he usually stays there. That's no surprise to his instructor, Matt Messer, who works at Bear Lakes Country Club in West Palm Beach.

Says Messer, "Steve is not the type of guy who's ever going to be intimidated."

Just ask Els.

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