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Peter Uihlein's road less traveled paying off

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:26:00 GMT

From the May 20 edition of Golf World Monday:

Peter Uihlein took the road less traveled, but it was longer than the one, say, Jordan Spieth took to the PGA Tour. Spieth went to the University of Texas before turning pro halfway through his sophomore year and in less than a semester locked down full exempt status for the 2014 season. He didn't have to travel much beyond Pebble Beach or Hilton Head to get full playing privileges in his home country.

Uihlein, 23, went to Oklahoma State, won the 2010 U.S. Amateur, and instead of going the sponsor-exemption route, got his passport and took off on a European Tour work-study program to places like India, Kenya and Kazakhstan. This was the same path Adam Scott took from the suggestion box of the same people who advised Uihlein.

Butch Harmon, who has been teaching Uihlein, and Peter's dad, Wally Uihlein, CEO of the Acushnet Company, who signed Scott to a Titleist deal when he turned pro in 2000, presented the idea. The famed European agent who signed Uihlein, Andrew (Chubby) Chandler, mapped out a schedule.

Uihlein, who won the Madeira Islands Open yesterday, was all in. Just as Scott believed it paid off before his Masters victory, so too did Uihlein before his first pro win. "It's hard not to listen to guys like that who have been around the block," Uihlein said before going out to celebrate with Brooks Koepka, with whom he shares an apartment in Florida. "I think it made sense even before I won today. Look at all the guys who started over here. It's just different being an American and doing it."

There were stumbling blocks early on, none worse than a trip to Morocco in March 2012 for the Trophee Hassan II that ended after an opening-round 83. Uihlein took nine weeks off during which he spent three weeks at Harmon's home in Las Vegas with Butch and wife Christy. "I really believe a young guy who comes out has it too easy on the U.S. Tour," Harmon said. "To go and play on the European Tour where the weather is bad, the courses different and the travel difficult, you become a better, well-rounded player in the long run."

The win gets Uihlein into this week's BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth and with a European Tour card secured, it has him looking at sponsor exemptions in the U.S. this summer. It also gives him bragging rights on Koepka, the Florida State graduate who won a European Challenge Tour event on May 5. They share an apartment in Palm Beach Gardens with Matt Broome, who is playing the Minor League Tour.

From his American base, Uihlein works out at PGA National with the same trainer as Stacy Lewis (Dave Donatucci) and works on his game at Floridian with Claude Harmon III and Old Palm GC, where Chandler has an office.

"This was quite a big win," Chandler said from his home in England. "He's been brave enough to do things differently when he could have had a lot of starts in the States, but he stuck to his plan. The idea was to learn the game before tackling the PGA Tour."

The road may have been less traveled, but it's leading Peter Uihlein back where he belongs.

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Playing Through The Tears

Tim Rosaforte — Tue, 14 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Grieving over the death of a close friend, Ryan Palmer stands tall at the Players.

Jeff Maggert's new Players memory

Mon, 13 May 2013 14:12:00 GMT

By Tim Rosaforte

From the May 13 edition of Golf World Monday:

Jeff Maggert has nine-year-old twins at home in Houston and a 70-year-old mother who followed him around the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course over the weekend hoping to see an unlikely victory in the Players. The footnote was that Vicki Benzel, his mom, underwent breast cancer surgery last June. "She's a trouper still," Maggert said.

Jeff Maggert on the 18th tee during the final round of The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. Photo: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

At 49, Maggert is a trouper as well. He was attempting to nudge Fred Funk aside as oldest winner in Players history. The last of his three PGA Tour wins was in 2006. He is staring the Champions Tour dead in the eye, but is not ready to go there yet.

"I'd like to extend it maybe a year or two," he said when we spoke Sunday night. "But I'd like to get out there with the old boys."

Besides the breast-cancer-awareness Pink Out on Mother's Day at the Players, there was an undercurrent to the Maggert story that was the inspiration for his revival. Coming off the course after the opening round in 2008, he received a dreadful message. His brother had been killed in a single-engine plane in Gilpin County, Colo.

Barry Maggert, who owned an engineering business in Carbondale, Colo., was flying to Boulder to attend the graduation of his son Lee from the University of Colorado. Barry, 47, was an experienced pilot who was an avid golfer and also coached Little League baseball.

Jeff Maggert withdrew from that Players to be with his family, but the memory will last a lifetime and becomes more vivid every time he travels to the tour's home course. One of the notes he received after the 2008 tournament was from playing partner Sergio Garcia, who went on to win the tournament.

"For sure it was kind of a rough time for all of us in the family," said Jeff. "Just coming back it always brings it back to mind. It would be great to pull it off this week to put a good memory in my brain about this tournament instead of thinking about that."

As much as a Mother's Day, this was a Brother's Day for Maggert, whose biggest moment in 23 years as a tour pro was his victory in the 1999 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, where one of his victims was Tiger Woods.

"The details are still kind of sketchy," Maggert said of the crash. "Flying was Barry's hobby. He just loved it. He knew he was taking some risk, but he was a good pilot, very thorough. I can't get angry about the outcome of that, but we miss him."

Maggert nearly pulled it off. He was tied for the lead with Woods, Sergio Garcia and David Lingmerth standing on the 17th tee, but rinsed his tee shot and made double bogey before closing with a birdie to add a T-2 to two third-place finishes in 20 Players appearances.

Vicki was there when her son came off the course, and in a way so was Barry. These made for better memories.

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Derek Ernst's less-traveled road to PGA Tour success

Mon, 06 May 2013 13:01:00 GMT

By Tim Rosaforte

From the May 6 edition of Golf World Monday:

Derek Ernst didn't come from nowhere -- it just appeared that way because of whom he beat and how he won the Wells Fargo Championship. The unheralded 22-year-old rookie from Northern California emerged from a pack of faltering world-class golfers that included Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy and childhood idol Nick Watney before winning a playoff against David Lynn, runner-up in last year's PGA Championship.

Ernst got in as the fourth alternate at Wells Fargo and ranked No. 1,207 in the world when he arrived in Charlotte. He exited Quail Hollow with a spot in this week's Players and next year's Masters -- but that's not the most impressive part of his career. Not to Dwaine Knight, his college coach at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

To Knight, it was Ernst going through four stages of last year's Q school with a college degree. "It's interesting they don't get that shot any more," said Knight, referring to the emphasis put on the Web.com Tour and what that means to 2012 graduates like Ernst.

There is also a decorated amateur record that includes a runner-up to Corbin Mills in 37 holes of the 2011 U.S. Public Links and a victory over Billy Horschel in the opening round of the 2007 U.S. Amateur at The Olympic Club in San Francisco as a 17-year-old. But Ernst flew under the radar because his parents didn't have the resources to play an AJGA schedule.

"We're just humble, middle-class people," said his father, Mark, a risk manager for Financial Pacific Insurance. "He didn't jump on a plane [to play the AJGA] because we didn't have the $30-$40 grand, but I always felt you have to learn to win at whatever level you're on. I know they're all working guys [in the Northern California GA], but they're all 2-handicaps."

As a boy, Ernst played NCGA events like the Napa City Amateur and the Salinas Valley Amateur. It wasn't until college that he played events like the Sunnehanna and the Pacific Coast Amateur, learning from an instructor at a driving range near his home in Clovis called "Hank's Swank Par-3 Golf Course and Driving Range." His caddie at Quail Hollow, Aaron Terry, was his instructor.

Terry's deal was to charge Ernst minimum wage. He also worked with former Web.com Tour player Tommy Masters, who was Watney's coach before Watney moved over to Butch Harmon. But the person who helped him break through the mental barrier of missed cuts just came into his life last month.

That would be former LPGA player Susie Meyers at Ventana Canyon in Tucson. Meyers has been curator of Michael Thompson's career and was given props for Thompson's win at this year's Honda Classic. Ernst was on the alternate list that week, but when he didn't make the field drove to TPC Sawgrass for practice rounds, even though he was long way from qualifying for the Players.

So this is definitely not a kid from nowhere. He knew where he was going all along.

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'I'm Positive About It All'

Tim Rosaforte — Mon, 06 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Epilepsy interrupted Jeff Klauk's golf career, but offers him a new perspective on life

Billy Horschel's family celebrates his journey to first PGA Tour win

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:57:00 GMT

By Tim Rosaforte

From the April 29 edition of Golf World Monday:

Summit View GC in rural Grant-Valkaria, Fla., (pop. 3,850) is totally overgrown today, but the memories are still vivid for Billy Horschel Sr. This 2,611-yard, par-58 is where his son grew up playing golf, back when Senior was a foreman for a local construction company, and before that part of a crew that put up dry wall and framing.

At his brother-in-law's home yesterday, Horschel watched his son win his first PGA Tour event with wife, Kathy, and four other family members. What did they do to celebrate Billy Horschel's victory in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans? "We all jumped into the swimming pool because we knew Billy couldn't with all those gators [in the ponds at the TPC Louisiana]. We jumped in clothes and all, shoes and everything. Then we broke out the champagne."

Golf's breakout star of 2013 couldn't have come from a more blue-collar background. With a win, a T-2, a T-3 and a T-9 in his last four starts, Horschel, 26, has moved to third behind Tiger Woods and Brandt Snedeker in the FedEx Cup standings and has qualified for the Players and next year's Masters. He is also the PGA Tour's most consistent player, having made 23 straight cuts. That's quite a leap considering he started the 2012 season without fully exempt status on the PGA Tour.

"I'm proud of where I came from," Horschel said from his car on the way to a night of celebrating in the Big Easy. "There are people back home who helped me out from the time I was a little kid to get me where I am now. Some people are still there, some have passed away, but they all know who they are."

Billy Horschel Sr., now 61, is at the top of the list. The story goes that before Horschel was allowed to play Summit View, his father made him hit a golf ball over their house. When Billy played baseball, his father was the coach. When I asked where Billy Jr. got his competitive toughness, there was never any hesitation from his dad.

"Probably from me," he said after his son shot 64 and birdied the 72nd hole to win by one. "I was always tough on him, but the Horschel family was always competitive. Between myself and Buddy Alexander, we molded him into what he is today."

Alexander, the University of Florida coach, told me he passed on a recruit who was a better player, "because something in Billy stood out with me." Part of that was the toughness, part of it the golf IQ. As a freshman he was an All-American. As a sophomore in 2007, he played on the same Walker Cup team as Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson, Kyle Stanley and Webb Simpson. When he beat Rory McIlroy in singles at Royal County Down, Horschel didn't consider it an upset. "If you ask Billy, he'd say he was the equal of Rickie Fowler in college," Alexander said.

Over the past month, Horschel doesn't have many equals in pro golf. Riding in the car with him last night, Florida Gator big brother Chris DiMarco grabbed Horschel's cellphone and concurred.

"This is like my kid, and I'm not going to lie to you--he's so good, it's ridiculous," DiMarco said. "There's not a better golf swing on tour. There's not a better player on the planet right now."

Back home in Grant-Valkaria, they were still drying off.

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(Photo by Getty Images)

Ted Bishop Not Going Down Without A Fight

Tim Rosaforte — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 04:00:00 GMT

The PGA of America's Ted Bishop remains outspoken about his anchoring stance.

Golf World Monday: Why New Orleans is a good fit for Guan

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 14:11:00 GMT

By Tim Rosaforte

From the April 22 edition of Golf World Monday:

The flag of China waves alongside the Stars and Stripes at Lakewood GC in New Orleans--and for good reason. This former home to the tour stop now known as the Zurich Classic has become a home away from home for Tianlang Guan.

The golfer's connection with the Big Easy started with a family friend who hosted the Guans when the youngster tried to locally qualify for the U.S. Open at Lakewood. The 14-year-old has been in New Orleans since spending a week in the Masters spotlight. On Saturday he led a junior golf clinic while prepping for the Zurich, to which he was given a sponsor exemption.

In fact, he has become such a fixture around Lakewood that he now has a nickname. "We call him 'Langly,' '' says Jimmy Headrick, director of the club's junior golf program. "That's what Mom and Dad call him, so we call him that too."

From director of golf Brad Weaver welcoming him to Headrick's junior program, Langly has been made to feel welcome for all the right reasons. The club's fast greens also don't hurt.

"We're just one small spoke in the wheel," Headrick said. "What started out as friendship grew for all the right reasons. I think they saw we were real, that we were all about Langly being a young man who grows into the best he can be, not how we were benefiting from his presence."

Headrick is not Guan's swing coach; nor has he become a life coach. He won the PGA's Junior Golf Leader Award in 2008, three years after Hurricane Katrina wiped out his jobs as director of golf at Eastover CC and coach of the University of New Orleans' women's golf team. Already in his 50s, Headrick reinvented himself as part of the New Orleans golf revival, first helping the city get its First Tee Program back off the ground and now running a thriving junior program at Lakewood.

His diversified program features over 300 kids of Asian, Indian and African-American descent. He points out that 35 percent are girls, so in essence, this is a feeder program into Augusta National's new Drive, Pitch & Putt competition, along with the next generation of golfers.

On Saturday, Langly was the only golfer from China on the practice ground at Lakewood. As part of his role as golf ambassador, he gave a 90-minute junior golf clinic to his contemporaries. He was asked about being in the Butler Cabin, playing with Tiger Woods and his first-tee nerves.

"The key is when a child takes ownership of his or her love of the game," Headrick said. "When it becomes their golf game, the motivations come from themselves. They see that in this young man, and it inspires them. Langly has taught us more than we can ever teach him."

Yes, he spent three weeks at Augusta prior to the Masters and was the only amateur to make the cut. And yes, he's going to be playing his first non-major U.S. tour event on a 7,425-yard TPC Louisiana. But when you get right down to it ...

"He is still a junior golfer," Headrick said. "No matter what everybody says, he's just a kid."

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Creature Of Habits

Tim Rosaforte — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Routines, both old and new, explain how Angel Cabrera contended again at Augusta.

Adam Scott's win is twice redeeming

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 18:12:00 GMT

By Tim Rosaforte

From the April 15 edition of Golf World Monday:

Greg Norman was home on Jupiter Island in Florida last night, living and dying and ultimately crying joyous tears as his apprentice attempted to win the Masters and break a 77-year-old spell.

"Blank me," Norman typed at 7:05 p.m. "The golfing gods can't be this mean to Australia."

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This message came through just as Angel Cabrera stuck his approach shot on the 72nd hole of the Masters to two feet, soon matching Adam Scott's closing birdie. It looked like the same sad old story for the Land Down Under. If Norman didn't beat himself at Augusta, somebody else beat him.

"Now I know how everyone felt when he was there," was the next message at 7:17 as Scott and Angel Cabrera went down the 10th hole for the first playoff hole. When I texted back: "Hold on, you're still alive," Norman responded instantaneously. "I am, and I am believing so hard. All my energy and belief is with him."

Scott stayed home from school and watched Norman lose a six-shot lead to Nick Faldo in 1996. He visited Norman's compound shortly after that and stayed in Greg's beach house. In the midst of a slump, he was Norman's Presidents Cup pick in 2009. When he experimented with the long putter in early 2011, it was on Norman's putting green. When he bogeyed the last four holes of last year's British Open, one of the first people to reach out was Norman.

So when Scott birdied the 10th hole for the jacket at 7:46 p.m., a text came through almost instantaneously. "Finally SO happy for him...I have a few tears in my eyes...now I have a lot of tears in my eyes!!!"

Norman made it a point not to reach out to Scott and countrymen Jason Day and Marc Leishman as they stacked up on the Augusta National leader boards. He didn't want to put added pressure on them.

The jinx was on Scott's mind, but so was the T-2 he recorded at Augusta in 2011, and the productive run in major championships he has produced since then, including the sad runner-up at Royal Lytham that was reminiscent of Norman's heartbreaks.

In the Butler Cabin, Scott acknowledged that by singling out Norman as his idol. "There was one guy who inspired a nation of golfers, and that's Greg Norman," Scott said. "He's been incredible to me and a generation of golfers in Australia. Part of this goes out to him."

Earlier in the week I sat down with Scott for a Q&A that was part of a function hosted by Mercedes-Benz. Scott acknowledged that losing the British Open nine months ago was softened by losing to one of his close mates, Ernie Els.

He talked in reverential tones about Norman. In one of the closing questions, I asked, "Who is going to win the Masters this week?"

After a pause, Scott showed the bravado he showed in the playoff against Cabrera, the type of self-confidence he supposedly lacked.

"I would be kidding myself if I was sitting here telling myself I couldn't win this week," he said. "Absolutely, I could win this week."

Turns out, the Golf Gods weren't so mean to Australia after all.

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