HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -- Norway's sports heroes are athletes who specialize in skiing, skating or other winter sports. But 26-year-old Henrik Bjornstad, Norway's newest sports hero, is the antithesis. What he considers cold weather, the country's other top athletes consider balmy.

As the first Norwegian golfer to hold a PGA TOUR card, Bjornstad has drawn attention to a growing game that is hampered by weather conditions. Norwegian golfers can only play about six months of the year. The rest of the year, they dream about playing golf and work out in indoors practice facilities.

With the spring season approaching, Norway's golf fans are focusing on the feats of Bjornstad, who has finished in a tie for 10th in only his second PGA TOUR event, the Buick Invitational in San Diego. He tied for 12th at the FBR Open in Phoenix the following week and in his last two starts prior to the Verizon Heritage finished 16th at the Honda Classic and 34th in the Bay Hill Invitational.

He took three weeks off, spending half of it visiting Norway, before returning to competition in the Verizon Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links where he missed the cut, shooting 75-72-147.

"A lot of people are up late at night, watching TV or on the Internet. It's nice to have people backing me up," Bjornstad said before missing his third cut of the season.

Bjornstad enjoys his role as a pioneer in his country at golf's highest level.

"I'm the first to play on the PGA TOUR. There are one or two playing mini-tours. There are no players on the European Tour, but two or three on the European Challenge Tour. Hopefully, we can get a few more out here in a couple of years."

Bjornstad said golf is a growing at a fast rate in Norway with new golfers every year, some of them who have taken their game to the U.S. college level, including the highly competitive Southeastern Conference.

Bjornstad was introduced to golf at age 11. A friend of his father's brought some golf clubs to the Bjornstad home and the youngster asked to try them out.

"I liked it very much. I loved it," he said. Bjornstad soon became enthralled with the game and in 1996 won the Norwegian Amateur. Bjornstad's older brother, Marius, also is a scratch golf and has played for the Norwegian national team.

Norway's climate is the biggest obstacle to growth of the game. The country is recovering from a very cold winter and most courses won't be open until mid- to late May and close by late September, he said.

"It's a very short golf season. People play indoors during the winter time. There are a lot of indoor practice facilities," Bjornstad said. "We have just over 100,000 golfers, which is goof for a small country with 4 1/2 million people."

Henrik Bjornstad ranks 12th in Driving Distance on the PGA TOUR. (Cohen/WireImage)

Before taking a shot at the PGA TOUR, Bjornstad had done reasonably well playing the European Tour and the Challenge Tour. His best season was 2002 when he finished 61st on the Order of Merit and recorded his best individual finish as a professional, second to two-time U.S. Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal in the Omega Hong Kong Open. During that tournament, he set the course record with a 10-under-par 61 which he felt could have been even lower. He was unable to convert birdie chances from three feet on the 13th hole and 10 feet on the 14th hole. Bjornstad shot 67 in the final round, only to be eclipsed by Olazabal's 64.

But Bjornstad's game eventually began to fall off. He went through a stretch where he broke 75 only once in four tournaments and withdrew from three others. Furstrated, he quit and didn't play golf from mid-2004 until Feb. 2005. Instead, he worked as a carpenter for a small firm owned by a friend. After taking time off, though, Bjornstad went back to the practice range and found he still loved golf and began to work even harder. Instead of going back to the European Tour, Bjornstad entered PGA TOUR qualifying school. He made it through the first two stages and then finished 13th in the final stage, earning his playing privileges for 2006.

"I had no ranking whatsoever any place," he said. "It was a big chance to take. When I took the year off, I lost my ranking. But I did quite well."

And he's very pleased with his results this year.

"I think I have played my game, the way I know how to play," said Bjornstad, who makes his U.S. base in Orlando. "My results are maybe a little more than I expected. Everything has been good so far.

"I feel good now. I'm ready to get back to work."