Nothing gets my blood pumping like playing on the PGA Tour, and I have been anticipating playing in the 2011 Valero Texas Open since the last putt was holed at the 2010 STPGA Championships where I won a spot in this year's tournament. My last PGA Tour event was the 2007 PGA Championship at Southern Hills, where I missed the cut by one stroke. Thus, I had something to prove this year.
Monday—I left Miramont Country Club in the morning, hoping to get the TPC San Antonio Oaks Course in time to get acclimated with the surroundings. It’s different when you no longer are a member of the Tour. I had to first register for the tournament, get my players' parking pass, and go the media center to get credentials for myself and my family as well as a few tickets for friends that would make up the majority of my gallery.
Next step was to find my locker, locate my caddie, register at the hotel, figure out where to store my clubs. Finally, I was ready to step inside the ropes for my first bit of practice at the Oaks Course. It was now five o’clock and the business part of the week was out of the way. I could now concentrate on golf for the next several days.
I have always loved the walk from the locker room to the putting green and stepping inside the ropes for the first time to hit a few putts and chips. It is a very special feeling. I spent the next several hours around the putting green and short game area trying to hone my skills on the slick, undulating surfaces that would test my nerves every hole for the rest of the week. It was like old times again!
Practicing among the best players in the world is a very special feeling. It was now getting dark and my 45-year-old back was aching. I was ready for some dinner and rest.
Tuesday—This was a great day. I got up early and played nine holes with Richard Johnson from Sweden. The course was beautiful and difficult. I was very impressed with how the course was over-seeded from tee to green this year. This made the rough thicker, but the fairways and greens were perfect.
Following lunch, I drove to the airport to pick up my brother, Mike, who was not only coming to watch me play, but to watch four other PGA Tour players he works with who were playing in the tournament. Mike is a Doctor of Psychiatry who lives in San Diego and has been working with athletes for years.
We made it back to the club by early afternoon and played the back nine with David Duval and Nick O’Hern from Australia. What a great experience to play with the former world number one (Duval) and “The Tiger Killer” (O'Hern). Nick is the only player in the world to ever beat Tiger twice in a match play event, which he did at the World Match Play Championships.
Nick did not do anything that I can’t do, but what was impressive was that he made no errors. He was a machine. Duval, on the other hand, was spectacular. It was evident why he was the world number one and why he will win again soon. He has incredible power and great touch to match. He could not have been more cordial to me. I have always made it a point to play with the best possible players I can find in practice. My brother had set this practice round up for me a few weeks earlier and playing with David was awesome. I wanted to get the early jitters out of my system before the tournament began and this practice round pairing definitely helped. What a day.
Wednesday—The tournament course is off limits to all but the stars of the PGA Tour on Wednesdays for the Pro-Am. I was fortunate enough to be invited to play in an alternative pro-am on the Canyons course. This was great because I needed the extra round and it is also an opportunity to make a few dollars to help with my expenses for the week. This day may have been the highlight of my week, as I was paired with a few of America’s heroes who were wounded in battle and were invited to play in the Pro-Am.
We had a great time and I was so humbled to be in the company of these fine gentleman who are serving our country. What a treat for this golf pro. Following the pro-am, I found out that my pairing for Thursday and Friday were with two young tour rookies, Ben Martin and Will Strickler. My first tee time would be 9:20 a.m. Thursday and then I would have the last tee time at 2:20 p.m. Friday. I couldn't wait to get going!
Thursday—I’m very excited today. I’m looking forward to the challenge of performing on the "big stage." This will be the first time in many years that my wife, Kim, and daughter, Lily, have seen me play in a big event. My warm up at the range went well. I’ve been nervous about the tee shot on No. 1 the entire week. It is an extremely difficult shot with no bail out.
Unfortunately, I missed the fairway and made bogey, but not the end of the world. After a good up and down for par on No. 2, I converted a birdie on number three and was back to playing golf as I know it...without all the nerves. All was well, until a poor swing on No. 7 resulted in a double-bogey.
I’m not sure what happened, but this unsettled me and I fell apart for the next four holes before finding my way again. The damage was done and what looked promising early ended up poorly. I shot my first 80 in many years. I was embarrassed. I tried my best, but played poorly on a day when the course was vulnerable to good scoring. My little girl gave me a hug and reminded me that I did beat a few people including Kevin Na after he shot 80 by making a record 16 on No. 9. I spent the rest of the day with my family, David Duval and Fredrick Jacobsen having a blast at the water park. This was just what I needed after a rough day.
Friday—When I woke up, the wind was howling. Steady winds blew from the north at 25 mph with gusts reaching nearly 40 mph. I must play well today or this course with these conditions could be really punishing. Tee times were delayed until 2:30 p.m. because—due to the difficult conditions—the pace of play was slowed dramatically. I was nervous, but determined to play the way I am capable of, regardless of the conditions.
I got off to a reasonable start with pars on Nos. 10, 11 and 12 before making a bogey on No. 13. I hit a good shot on the treacherous par-three 13th, but the wind took it over the green. I rebounded well on No. 14 and chipped in for an eagle-3 on the par-5. This was followed with another birdie and I was now 2-under-par and playing well.
I did make a bogey on No. 17 but hit no bad shots. Sometimes the wind can cause havoc even with well-struck shots. I turned at 1-under-par and, believe it or not, if I could piece together a great back nine I had a chance to make the cut.
Another birdie on the par-five 2nd kept the momentum going. I was back to 2-under for the day. I continued to play very well the rest of the nine but could not knock down any of my good opportunities on the greens and ended up shooting 71, which was one of only 13 sub-par scores shot on the day.
Even though I missed the cut I was proud of the way I performed. I beat most of the best players in the world on this day. I played great and competed hard. A great week was completed and I packed up and headed home with my family. Hopefully, next year I’ll get another shot at those young kids and play well for four days.
I’d like to thank Valero and the PGA Tour for allowing a Texas Club professional a chance to represent all the working guys in our state and a chance to compete on the grandest stage, the PGA Tour.
Keep on swinging.