Poor play is the key to his good play

HUMBLE, Texas -- What is the deal with Omar Uresti? Unlike most players who speak of feeling a good week coming on, Uresti appears to play his best coming off playing his worst.

Consider that a four-under-par 68 Friday moved him to T-4 at the Shell Houston Open after a string that saw him miss the cut in five of his previous seven events, with a T-63 and T-45 tossed in. Of course, this just continues a pattern of behavior that saw him finish T-7 in Milwaukee last year after missing his three previous cuts, bettering the T-11 he had the year before in Milwaukee after missing the previous three cuts.

The 2006 season saw more of the same. Uresti's T-3 at the EDS Byron Nelson came on the heels of four MC's and a T-59. He then missed three more cuts and had a T-51 before finishing T-4 at Turning Stone.

Uresti's explanation for his come-out-of-nowhere style? "I'm mostly a feel player," said Uresti, who sported a University of Texas-logoed stand bag instead of a tour staff bag at Redstone. "When I lose the feel I can go long stretches without playing well. But when it comes back, everything just falls into place very quickly."

-- E. Michael Johnson