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Pat Perez, mellow? He's trying and it's working

Sat, 12 Jan 2013 02:12:00 GMT

HONOLULU - Pat Perez is now a happy golfer. No, not because he fired a second-round 63 Friday in the Sony Open in Hawaii, though that's a pretty good reason.

He's happy because he wants to be. It is his choice. He is in the process of becoming a changed man, which isn't easy when you play golf for a living.

Golf will make you crazy.

Golf will make you weep.

Mostly, golf will make you angry.

Of course, there's a range of anger simmering beneath the seemingly composed faÃ§ade of every player, from low boil to cosmic meltdown.

Perez is from the Tommy Bolt and Tom Weiskopf school of Vesuvian extirpation. Or at least he used to be. He has bought into the power of positive thinking, and he's positive that his golf will be better because of it.

With the help of Chandler, Ariz., psychologist Chris Dorris, who bills himself on his website as a "mental toughness trainer and personal transformation coach," Perez is seeking to conjure his inner Yanni. Two rounds into 2013, the 12-year PGA Tour veteran is a picture of equanimity as he stands at 9-under 131, five behind rookie Russell Henley.

Of course, it helps that he's hitting it well, the result of six weeks of intense work on his game.

"I'm just trying to look at things in a positive way. Not a fake positive, but just not getting down, not getting negative," said Perez, who is coming off an uneventful season that included just one top-10 finish. "I'll tell you, it's hard. For me it's real hard because I've done it my whole life. To try to catch myself going down the other way is hard, but I've done at least for two days."

Dorris, who has worked with Champions Tour player Michael Allen, is trying to train Perez to take that positive attitude from the practice range to the first tee to the final green. Apparently, however, there is no magic formula. It's simply choosing to listen to the angel on your shoulder and not the demon on the other one.

"You change your thoughts immediately," Perez, 36, of Scottsdale, Ariz., said. "You find yourself thinking negatively and you just immediately change your thinking. 'Let's get this up and down, lets make this 40-footer, let's hit a good driver here.' You force yourself into an immediate change of thought. That's always been hard for me."

Perez, whose lone tour win came at the 2009 Bob Hope Classic, decided to go the behavioral self-improvement route after a bit of off-season introspection. "I thought it was all kind of hoax. But I always knew I needed to do something eventually, but I didn't want to admit it," he said.

"I figured that's just me, that's the way I am," Perez added. "But I started going over it two months ago and I asked myself, 'What don't you do well? Why do the same guys do so well?' You go over their rounds and the way they look at things and their positivity. Like Dustin Johnson. Nothing fazes that guy. Now I have a totally different mindset. I wish I'd have done it a long time ago."

Perez admits that his patience hasn't yet been truly tested this week. He expected to play well, and he has. Already he has equaled his low round from last season. But adversity is a staple in golf. Perez feels confident he can stare it down.

"There will be a moment when something is going to go astray, and it will be a real challenge for me to stay in that positive frame of mind," Perez said. "I'm actually looking forward to that opportunity when it comes."

Right, leave the eruptions to the volcanoes.

(Getty Images photo)

Players brace for a challenge at the U.S. Senior Open

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 20:10:00 GMT

While there have been exceptions -- Fred Funk's record winning score of 20-under 268 at Crooked Stick GC in 2009 pops to mind -- the U.S. Senior Open is perennially where golf's 50-and-over crowd faces one of its biggest challenges of the year. "Hit the ball where you're aiming it, make a couple of putts and get out of dodge without making too many mistakes," said U.S. Senior Open defending champion Olin Browne, who triumphed at Inverness Club last summer.

Browne's recipe for success holds for the 33rd U.S. Open Senior Open being contested this week at Indianwood G&CC in Lake Orion, Mich., not too far north of Detroit. The Wilfrid Reid/William Connellan design, which opened in 1925, will measure 6,862 yards and play to par 70. There are only two par 5s, lots of elevated greens, fairways rewarding precise tee shots and plenty of rough awaiting those who miss.

"The fairways are narrow and there is a lot of rough out there," was how Michael Allen, a two-time winner on the Champions Tour this season, appraised Indianwood. "I've never seen so much rough for any event I played on the Champions Tour. I think it's going to be a real challenge."

Related: The most grueling U.S. Opens

Tom Watson, who at 62 is still chasing his first U.S. Senior Open title, didn't mince words about what will be essential this week. "If you don't drive the ball well, you have no chance," Watson said. "Absolutely no chance. None. Zero. The rough is so deep, so penal, and the fairways are pretty narrow."

Indianwood's USGA history goes back a couple of decades, when it was the site of the U.S. Women's Open in 1989 and 1994. Those championships were captured by two of the best players of their generation, Betsy King and Patty Sheehan, which makes it seem likely that the winner this week could be a familiar force on the Champions Tour as opposed to upstart winners such as Roger Chapman, who won the Senior PGA Championship earlier this year, and Joe Daley, who won the Senior Players.

In between those two events, senior stalwart Tom Lehman prevailed at the Regions Tradition, and Lehman, who threatened so often to win the U.S. Open, certainly should be a player to watch at Indianwood because of his complete game. "It's a typical U.S. Open set-up here, in [that] you can't really get away with too many loose shots," Lehman said. "You're going to get punished for some wayward play out there. So you get here and you get on the course and realize, 'Ah, ha, yes this is a U.S. Open.' And there's no gimmicks. You gotta play solid golf, put it in the fairway, put it on the green and putt well."

Most of Indianwood's greens are on the small side, the mammoth and heaving 18th being -- literally -- a huge exception.

"I'm not sure how you would describe that green," said Lehman, who then made an attempt at explaining the severely sloped putting surface, which USGA official Jeff Hall said is 51 yards deep. "There's something [buried] in there," Lehman said. "Volkswagen Bugs, maybe a few General Motors cars and Buicks. Something is in there. I don't know."

By the time competitors get to the finishing hole, they will have already tested their patience in familiar ways.

"We do want the Senior Open to be very reminiscent of the U.S. Opens of the past these gentlemen have participated in," Hall said. "That said, it's not intended to be the U.S. Open. It can't be. It's a different group of players. But we do want it to be the toughest test in golf that these players encounter each year."

Having been through the real thing last month at Olympic Club, Allen and Browne are recently battled tested, not that their peers don't remember the feeling.

"In these kinds of tournaments, you know you're going to be frustrated a few times," Allen said. "You're going to hit some shots that don't turn out [that] well. You've got to have a lot of patience out here. You've got to go through it and kind of stay in the ball game."

-- Bill Fields
Follow @BillFields1

(Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images)

For Michael Allen, Olympic Club means much more

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 22:55:00 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO -- For Michael Allen, the 112th U.S. Open is both home game and old timers' day.

Although he now lives in Scottsdale, Allen grew up in the Bay Area and has been a member of the Olympic Club since he was 14, having played an estimated 2,000 rounds on the Lake course. At 53, the late bloomer and Champions Tour stalwart is the oldest player in the field.

In a championship with several feel-good stories -- from 14-year-old Andy Zhang to unheralded Ohio club pro Dennis Miller to disabled Oregon golf coach Casey Martin -- Allen became another when he successfully made it through a June 4 sectional qualifier.

This is Allen's sixth U.S. Open, but he didn't make the field in either the 1987 or 1998 Opens at Olympic, despite being first alternate in the latter.

"I just think this is going to be the most fun week I've ever had playing golf," Allen said Tuesday.

Michael Allen makes remarkable turnaround at Senior PGA

Fri, 25 May 2012 18:35:00 GMT

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. -- Same guy, same course, different day.

Michael Allen shot a 77 Thursday in the first round of the 73rd Senior PGA Championship. He was 13 strokes better than that Friday, carding a course-record, seven-under 64 to vault into contention on a much calmer day at Harbor Shores.

Allen, 102nd after his six-over opening round, was T-5 at one-under 141 when he got to the clubhouse, three strokes behind leader Roger Chapman, who was early in his second round.

It was the lowest round shot in the Senior PGA since Allen Doyle closed with a 64 to win the event in 1999 at PGA National GC. His turnaround equaled the 13-shot swings by Brad Bryant (80-67) and Bill Loeffler (82-69) from the second to third rounds during the 2010 Senior PGA at Colorado GC.

Allen -- the hottest player on the Champions Tour this season with two victories and four other top-four finishes -- made seven birdies (only one on a par 5), saved par after hitting his approach long on No. 7 and didn't have a bogey.

Final Say: New Perspective, Swing Have Helped Fuel Allen's Senior Rebirth

Bill Fields — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Michael Allen's transformation began with his outloook.

Fields: Jay Don Blake's resurgent second act

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 15:28:00 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO -- It was an afternoon of fake mustaches and real drama Sunday at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

The get-ups were courtesy of Jay Don Blake's family and friends in the gallery, who put some levity into the situation at TPC Harding Park by imitating his longtime look. With the good-luck charms doing their job -- Blake entered the final round with a two-stroke lead and kept a working margin most of the day en route to his second win of 2011 -- it was up to the season-long Schwab points race to inject some suspense into the proceedings.

Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

The permutations about such competitions can be tedious supplements to the main show at golf tournaments, but as the last day of the Champions Tour season came to a close, most everyone (sort of) knew the possible scenarios.

Since Tom Lehman had a so-so week at Harding Park (T-18), Mark Calcavecchia had a good chance to bridge the 382-point gap and overtake Lehman for the $1 million annuity. While Lehman waited in the clubhouse, Calcavecchia needed to finish in no worse than a two-way tie for second place to beat Lehman, who had topped the points almost all year.

Langer looks to be getting over thumb injury

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 00:47:00 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO -- Staying as trim as he ever was, working hard to keep his game in shape, Bernhard Langer seemed like he could slow the march of time that inevitably intersects with an athlete's career.

Until this season, that is.

Langer has had a difficult time regaining his form since a March surgery to repair torn ligaments in his left thumb. "The surgeon made it sound pretty simple -- we can take care of that, you'll be back on tour in eight weeks," Langer said. "It was healed after eight weeks, but then I developed arthritis in those two joints. It's been an uphill battle ever since."

Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

That's why Langer's 68 Friday at TPC Harding Park in the second round of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship was so satisfying. It boosted Langer to T-4 going into the weekend, only one stroke behind leaders David Frost, Michael Allen and Fred Couples.

Couples survives tough conditions with girlfriend's help

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 00:58:00 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO -- A glorious Wednesday turned into a gloomy Thursday at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, with spitting rain and chilly temperatures most of the afternoon at TPC Harding Park.

"Thirty degrees and 30 yards," said Michael Allen, asked to describe the difference a day made. "Other than, not too much."

The conditions didn't bother Allen, a native of the Bay Area, too much. He shot a two-under 69 to trail Jay Haas and Fred Couples by a shot after the first round. Compared to last year, when Harding Park's fairways didn't have much grass and mudballs caused lift, clean and place rules, the course is in great shape.

Photo: Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

For Allen, the gray day brought back memories of his youth, including a 1970s city amateur match at Harding Park. "I think we had 13 or 14 temporary greens," Allen recalled, "just a mud bowl, and it rained the whole way. The course is so much nicer now -- nothing like that. But it kind of brought back memories of [being] cold and wet, getting your rainsuit on and playing."

Fields: Fall Guy

Bill Fields — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 05:00:00 GMT

With another win in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, John Cook again finds his best form at season's end

Champions Tour players eye PGA Tour

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 02:42:00 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO - The 2010 Champions Tour season wrapped up Sunday at TPC Harding Park as John Cook won the Charles Schwab Cup Championship by two strokes over Michael Allen and Bernhard Langer captured the Schwab points title, but a handful of 50-and-over golfers will be playing next week on the PGA Tour when its season concludes with the Children's Miracle Network Classic.

Allen, Tommy Armour III, Fred Funk, Tom Lehman and Tom Pernice Jr. will tee it up in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. A couple of them will have legitimate shots at joining fellow fiftysomethings Kenny Perry (93rd) and Corey Pavin (113th) in the top 125 on the 2010 PGA Tour money list.

Among the quintet of seniors playing at Disney, Allen, who finished second in the Viking Classic this fall, has the best shot at finishing in the top 125. He is currently ranked 124th with $726,631. A very good week could also propel Pernice, who is No. 137, into fully-exempt status for 2011. Lehman, Funk and Armour are all ranked out of the top 175.

Once their 50th birthdays came, golfers with the opportunity to play full-time on the senior circuit usually took it, eschewing the grind of the regular tour. That's not always the case these days, particularly for late bloomers such as Allen, Funk and Pernice, who have done well when they were in their 40s and kept it up after hitting the milestone.

"I'm hoping to go to Disney and have a good week there," said Pernice, 51, who was 14th on the 2011 Champions Tour money list. "If I play well enough there, I can stay in the top 125 and that'll allow me to play where I want to. As long as I feel I can compete on the highest level, that's where I would like to be. I like the challenge, and I like to work hard. I want to play against Phil and Tiger and Villegas and those guys. I'm going to try to do it as long as I can."

For Pernice -- whose best 2010 result on the PGA Tour was a T-7 at the HP Byron Nelson Championship -- the difference between his performance on the two tours is how he has finished his PGA Tour appearances. Going into the final event Pernice is ranked 16th on the PGA Tour with a 70.00 scoring average in the first two rounds but is No. 159 in final-round scoring with a 72.15 average.

"I don't feel 51, that's for sure," Pernice said. "When I'm out on the regular tour, I try to hang with some of the young guys."

If Pernice makes it to the weekend and bucks his final-round trend, he might be in position to do that whenever he wants in 2011. "If my game is good enough," he said, "I still want to play with the best players in the world."

-- Bill Fields