Golf Writer Andy Reistetter continues his exclusive “Play-Write” series recently playing the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass and writing about this week’s PLAYERS Championship. This is the ninth article in his “Play-Write” series.

Driving down PGA TOUR Boulevard the turn onto Championship Way may be elusive if you are not paying attention to the matter at hand.

After all, it is a neighborhood and the corner anchoring the East-West buildings of the PGA TOUR headquarters look residential if you can see them amidst the garden-like landscaping of the Sawgrass Players Club community.

This is the American home of golf.

Right there on that corner of Championship Way and PGA TOUR Boulevard stands the aluminized portrait of the game’s all-time greatest golfer, “Champion Emeritus” Jack Nicklaus.

Nicklaus won the very first PLAYERS Championship, which was then known as the Tournament Players Championship, in 1974. With even-year frequency, he triumphed in 1976 and 1978. The Golden Bear is the only three-time champion in the tournament’s 37-year history.

The drive that winds down Championship Way and then rises to reveal the majestic Mediterranean-Style Clubhouse is like no other in golf.

From TOUR headquarters to TOUR playground this ride sets the stage for an exciting visit to the most iconic golf course and golf hole in the world—the famed par-three 17th with the island green.

Along Championship Way, one is introduced to the tall pine trees, sprawling oak trees with a splash of palm trees that grace the property. TPC Sawgrass—home of THE PLAYERS—is what former PGA TOUR Commissioner Deane Beman envisioned and built with the design assistance of the great golf course architect Pete Dye.

After passing the headquarter buildings some water comes into view but one has to wait until putting the peg in the ground on the first tee before it comes into play.

The first green is there off to the right but it is hidden by one of Dye’s signature spectator viewing mounds.

As the road curves along its path there are a total of 31 champion portraits beginning with “the great one” and ending with 2010 Champion Tim Clark.

Like Nicklaus, two-time champions Fred Couples, Steve Elkington, Hal Sutton and Davis Love III only have one lamppost rendition with the multiple years of victory noted below their portrait.

As PLAYERS tradition calls for, defending champion Clark’s portrait was erected late last week immediately before the commencement of this year’s event.

Another tradition at THE PLAYERS is volunteering and charitable giving.

The PLAYERS volunteer organization led by Red Coat Chairmen date back officially to the 1965 Jacksonville Open. The roots are deeper than that and go back to the 1945 when Sam Snead won the first one here on Florida’s First Coast.

Current Executive Direct Matt Rapp and Tournament Chairman Jim Fuller have made their own signature improvements in this the fifth year of the PLAYERS with a May date.

While the golfers will have “fun in the sun,” the patrons will have it “made in the shade” with the additional of several upscale gathering and relaxing venues to enjoy between golf shots.

The UBS Stadium Village has been enhanced and improved with the one-third replica of the par-three 17th hole still a hole anyone can play when they come out to the PLAYERS Championship.

Two volunteers I have worked alongside the past few years on the course prep team, Jimmy Davis and Ted Dill, passed on over this past winter to the promised eternal golf course in the sky.

Their friendship and generosity, along with other volunteers that have passed on, will never be forgotten at THE PLAYERS or within the Northeast Florida communities.

A record $4.8 million from the 2010 PLAYERS benefited nearly 100 First Coast charities.

The Stadium Course is in excellent condition. The growing season this spring was optimal. Hot and sunny weather is predicted through tournament time. Look for “firm, fast and fair as can be on a Dye course” conditions for this post-Mother’s Day competition.

The big year of change before Mickelson’s victory in 2007 came with a new clubhouse and major golf course renovations including the extensive rebuilding of every fairway and green.

TPC Sawgrass General Manager Bill Hughes, Head Golf Professional Matt Borocz and Golf Course Superintendent Thomas Vlach and their staffs are prepared to make this year’s experience the most magical ever for players, spectators and the millions watching the acclaimed NBC Sports broadcast on television.

What golfers have won and not won the PLAYERS?

The first PLAYERS was staged 10 years after Arnold Palmer won his last of seven majors at the 1964 Masters. Though well past his prime, Palmer played in a dozen PLAYERS with his best finish a T40 coming in 1977.

It would have been nice if Gary Player had a portrait on one of those posts as well. He played in 10 championships and posted top-10 finishes in 1976 and 1980.

Tom Watson competed in his prime at the PLAYERS on 26 occasions though never won. With nine top-10s his closest pursuit of the title was a distant second to the hot Lanny Wadkins in 1979.

The man who analyzes the action at the PLAYERS for NBC Sports had his chances as well. Playing in 14 PLAYERS, Johnny Miller won his second major after the creation of the PLAYERS and 15 other PGA TOUR events but nary a PLAYERS Championship.

Most of the best golfers have won the best tournament in the world, including Lanny Wadkins (1979), Lee Trevino (1980), Raymond Floyd (1981), Tom Kite (1989), Nick Price (1993), Greg Norman (1994), Tiger Woods (2001) and Phil Mickelson (2007).

Those are six current World Golf Hall of Famers and two future inductees.

The creator Beman and architect Dye are also in the Hall of Fame in large part for their noncompetitive PLAYERS triumphs.

Hale Irwin, Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Ben Crenshaw, Nick Price, Vijay Singh, Larry Nelson, Hubert Green, Jose Maria Olazabal, Payne Stewart, Ernie Els and Curtis Strange all had chances in their prime but did not win.

Isn’t that strange?

As the players emerge from the TPC Sawgrass locker room heading to golf’s finest stadium they pass a sign that reads, “Through this tunnel pass the greatest golfers of the world competing for the right to be called the PLAYERS champion.”

Not everybody is destined to win THE PLAYERS Championship or is good enough to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Perhaps this is the year that Ernie Els does both?

“PLAYERS’ Passion” catch the excitement on NBC Sports or make that left turn onto Championship Way and come out to the Stadium Course to see something spectacular.

Andy Reistetter is a freelance golf writer as well as a Research and Broadcast Assistant for the major golf broadcast companies. He spends time on all four major American golf tours- the PGA TOUR, Champions, Nationwide and LPGA Tours.

Reistetter resides within two miles of the PGA TOUR headquarters and home of The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach.

A lifetime golfer, Andy enjoys volunteering at the World Golf Hall of Fame and THE PLAYERS while pursuing his passion for the game of golf and everything associated with it. He can be reached through his website Andy’s Golf & Travel Diary or by e-mailing him at AndyReistetter@gmail.com

Host John Hyat (with microphone), coach Brad McMakin (with trophy) and the 2011 Arkansas Razorbacks team champions.

Coming into the 20th rendition of the John Hayt Collegiate Invitational, No. 13 Arkansas was the lowest ranked Top-20 team in the field behind Florida (3), Auburn (9), and LSU (10).

After what is known as the “first collegiate major of the year” at the famed Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., the Razorbacks team, along with Head Coach Brad McMakin and Assistant Coach Barrett Lais, took home the trophy.

Coming from 7 strokes back of Auburn, the five-man team (counting the best 4 scores each round) won on the strength of a closing 66 by Ethan Tracy, a junior from Hilliard, Ohio, and a 67 by Will Pearson, a freshman from Memphis, Tennessee.

Tracy and Pearson went from shooting the two highest scores the day before to basically lapping the field in much more difficult conditions in the closing round on Tuesday. Whatever Coach McMakin said to them on Monday night was the right thing to say and produced dramatic results.

Arkansas’ team score was boosted by Sebastian Cappelen, a freshman from Odense, Denmark who shot 69-70-73 (212) to finish joint second in the individual competition with Auburn’s redshirt sophomore Blayne Barber from nearby Lake City, Florida.

Jamie Marshall, a senior from Castle Rock, Colorado contributed to the Arkansas team victory with a 70 in Round 1. Austin Cook, the true Razorback on the team and a sophomore from Jonesboro shot a pivotal 73 in Round 2 to stay within reach of the higher ranked Auburn team.

Auburn, led by Barber (212) and sophomore Michael Hebert (213) from Orlando, finished 2nd two strokes behind Arkansas. LSU, led by Andrew Loupe (216), a senior from Baton Rouge was 3rd another two strokes back of Auburn.

Florida, the top-ranked team in the field of 15 universities, finished T6. There was consolation for the Gators with Phillip Choi winning the individual championship as Matt Every did in 2005, Camilo Villegas in 2002 and Steve Scott in 1999. However in each of those three years Florida walked away with the team title as well.

Choi’s 7-under 209 total, with 68-71-70 consistency, was as remarkable as Tracy and Pearson’s closing rounds on the difficult par-72 6,895 yard East-West Sawgrass CC that hosted THE PLAYERS Championship from 1977 to 1981.

Some say the premier event on the PGA TOUR was moved across the street to Pete Dye’s diabolical Stadium Course because Sawgrass CC, with the stiff ocean breezes, was too difficult for the professional golfers.

The collegiate golfers love coming to Sawgrass CC to enjoy the hospitality of Club President Jim Scielzo and General Manager Barry McDonald.

University of North Florida (UNF) Head Coach Scott Schroeder heads up the tournament with expert help from the operations team at Sawgrass- Director of Golf Greg Lecker, Head Golf Professional Billy Pomeroy and Golf Course Superintendent Matt Durkee.

As the golfers enter the clubhouse they see portraits of PLAYERS’ champions Mark Hayes (1977), Jack Nicklaus (1978), Lanny Wadkins (1979), Lee Trevino (1980) and Raymond Floyd (1981).

Talk of inspiration for the youth of the game of golf: There you have four Hall of Famers.

Hayes and Nicklaus won THE PLAYERS at Sawgrass CC with plus-1 totals.

To play Sawgrass CC in a major competition must be a challenging experience, though one that is a good measure of a golfer’s ability.

A quick look at current PGA TOUR players in addition to Villegas and Every that have fared well in the Hayt Invitational include Michael Thompson (Alabama), Dustin Johnson (Coastal Carolina), Kevin Chappell (UCLA), Casey Wittenburg (Oklahoma State), D.J. Trahan (Clemson), Brandt Snedeker (Vanderbilt), Bubba Dickersen (Florida), Luke Donald (Northwestern), Carl Pettersson (NC State), and Chris Couch (Florida).

The 2011 tournament will be remembered for the weather that made playing the Ed Seay designed course different each of the three days of competition.

In Round 1 on Sunday, it was warm and calm. Monday brought a south wind and Tuesday a north wind with cooler temperatures to test the players.

Seay, who passed in 2007, teamed up with Arnold Palmer to design more than 250 golf courses worldwide.

“Pugie,” as he was known to his friends, masterfully designed the East and West nines to parallel the ocean with the typical east wind playing as a cross wind. The first nine goes counterclockwise and the second nine going clockwise out and back to the clubhouse area.

Changing winds and changing hole directions plus Seay’s well-bunkered greens and water on 14 of 18 holes challenges the game’s best shot-makers.

The collegiate amateurs did get a taste of the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass courtesy of General Manager Bill Hughes. On Monday evening each team participated in a fun three-hole challenge over the finishing 16, 17 and 18th holes formally known as “The Gauntlet.”

Informally, the well-hazarded holes are known as “The Water Closet,” encouraging golfers to “flush” their iron shots or get “closeted” out by the water right and long of 16, surrounding the 17th and down the entire left side of 18. If they don’t flush ’em they get flushed down the leader board.

The University of Central Florida Knights won the 3-hole competition with a record 6-under par (for the 4 best out of 5 scores) led by Englishman Greg Eason going eagle-birdie on the 16th and 17th. Let’s see that on a Sunday during The PLAYERS… can you say the name Craig Perks?

John Hayt, the tournament host, namesake and sponsor with his wife Gerri presided at the awards ceremony. Hayt is a well-known Jacksonville businessman and UNF golf enthusiast.

Local golfers, as well as collegiate golfers, benefit from his generosity playing the unique and innovative Golfplex at UNF that bears his name.

Jacksonville-based companies Swisher International and Web.com were platinum sponsors.

There was only one suggestion to improve for next year—Arkansas needs to remember to bring their team flag!

Andy Reistetter is a freelance golf writer covering all four major American golf tours- the PGA TOUR, Champions, Nationwide and LPGA Tours.

Reistetter resides in Pont Vedra Beach, Florida near the PGA TOUR headquarters and home of The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass.

A lifetime golfer, Andy enjoys volunteering at the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Florida and pursuing his passion for the game of golf and everything associated with it.

Please comment directly on this article or email him at AndyReistetter@gmail.com

Martin Kaymer congratulates Luke Donald on his WGC – Accenture Match Play victory. Photo Credit: European Tour

With snow on the ground in the morning, a hail storm in the afternoon, by nightfall in the Arizona desert four European golfers have stormed to the top of the world of golf.

In the 13th edition of the World Golf Championship Accenture Match Play, Martin Kaymer displaced Lee Westwood and became the 14th golfer to be World No. 1.

On Sunday when Luke Donald defeated Kaymer for the Match Play championship, he leapfrogged from World No. 9 to No. 3 behind only Kaymer and Westwood.

2010 U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell rounds out the European Top 4—the first time since March 1992 when Ian Woosnam (No. 1), Nick Faldo (2), Jose-Marie Olazabal (3) and Seve Ballesteros (4) led the world rankings.

With Tiger Woods No. 5 and Phil Mickelson No.6, then Paul Casey (7) and Rory McIlroy (8), the Euros hold six of the top eight spots.

The world order in golf has changed significantly since Phil Mickelson won the Masters nearly one year ago.

McDowell won at Pebble Beach, South African Louis Oosthuizen won the Open at St. Andrews and Kaymer beat Bubba Watson in the playoff at Whistling Straits in the PGA Championship.

Then McDowell won the Ryder Cup for the Europeans in Celtic Manor in Wales to end the year 2010 completing the monumental shift in golfing prowess.

Now it looks as though America’s aged golfing stars are being passed by with only the young Matt Kuchar at World No. 10 coming into his prime.

We might very well see Westwood win his first major this year, and Donald or Casey too.

Okay, maybe the sky is not falling in for the Americans. Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson and Hunter Mahan have developed quite nicely in the last year as well.

But the change has been as dramatic as Donald’s domineering performance in the six rounds of match play at the Ritz Carlton Dove Mountain Resort.

Donald never trailed in any of his matches en route to his third and biggest win on the PGA Tour, but his first in five years.

The deepest he was all square in any of his matches was through 10 holes versus Martin Kaymer in the Championship Match, and Edoardo Molinari in the second round.

The Northwestern graduate trounced three Americans on his way to the title—6&5 over Charley Hoffman in Round one, 5&4 over Ryan Moore in the quarterfinals and 6&5 over Matt Kuchar in the semifinals.

Perhaps history will look to the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines as the last low point of Donald’s career, and the last high point of Tiger Woods’ career.

Woods beat Rocco Mediate in a Monday playoff to win his last (to date) major championship.

Donald had to withdraw during the fourth round on the 16th fairway after suffering a tendon injury to his left wrist which required surgery.

Donald came back at Tiger’s Chevron Challenge tournament late in the year; though he missed the Ryder Cup at Valhalla.

Donald, on the mend, had a decent year in 2009, and then again last year finishing second at East Lake in the TOUR championship. He was a member of the victorious European Ryder cup team in Wales last fall.

Now the artsy Donald has resumed his winning ways and is at his highest ever position in the world golf rankings at No. 3.

Woods, on the other hand, continued his winning ways in 2009, but then went winless in 2010 for the first time in his career and has yet to win his 15th major on the way to surpassing Nicklaus’ 18.

Golf’s “February Frenzy,” as coined on The Golf Channel by host Kelly Tilghman, produced outstanding drama over the five days of competition.

Steve Stricker on his 44th birthday was beaten by Matteo Manassero, a 17-year-old Italian golfer and the youngest ever in the event that features the Top 64 in the world golf rankings.

Tiger Woods, the No. 1 seed in the Sam Snead bracket, could not even tee off in his first round match against Thomas Bjorn until the first three matches of the day played through on the first tee heading to a sudden death conclusion.

Woods lost to Bjorn in 19 holes after watching defending champion Ian Poulter get beat by Stewart Cink on the 19th (first) hole.

Other No. 1 seeds, Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood, lost in Round 2 to Rickie Fowler and Nick Watney, respectively.

Kaymer, the fourth No. 1 seed, became the new World No. 1 golfer after his semifinal win over Bubba Watson. The 26-year-old is the second German to do so (Bernard Langer).

With another WGC event one week away, and the Masters only five weeks away, the real drama in golf may be upcoming.

Andy Reistetter is a freelance golf writer covering all four major American golf tours- the PGA TOUR, Champions, Nationwide and LPGA Tours.

 Reistetter resides in Pont Vedra Beach, Florida near the PGA TOUR headquarters and home of The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass.

 A lifetime golfer, Andy enjoys volunteering at the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Florida and pursuing his passion for the game of golf and everything associated with it.

 Please comment directly on this article or email him at AndyReistetter@gmail.com

Move over 20-somethings with three or more PGA Tour wins…there’s an “old guy” that joined the club on Sunday!

Aaron Baddeley, Champion of the 2011 Northern Trust Open at Riviera CC. Photo Credit: SuperSport

Aaron Baddeley, only 25 days short of his 30th birthday, won the Northern Trust Open at the famed Riviera CC for his third PGA TOUR victory.

There is a “young-gun” winning six-some now—Camilo Villegas, Hunter Mahan, Sean O’Hair, Dustin Johnson, Anthony Kim, and Baddeley. Johnson is the only 20-something with four wins to his name.

It has been four seasons since Baddeley’s last win at the 2007 FBR Open plus another year to wind the clock back to his maiden win at the Verizon Heritage.

The last of his four Australian tour wins also came in 2007.

Baddeley is back winning by two strokes after shooting all four rounds in the 60s.

The Aussie finished in the Top-10 for the second straight week after a T6 last week at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, marking the first time he has back-to-back top 10s since August 2007.

Baddeley had dropped to World Number 274 at the end of 2010. With this win he jumps from No. 224 to 73.

It was a challenging Sunday for the child of destiny, who came out on tour with so much promise and expectations in 2000.

Playing partner and gallery favorite, Fred Couples started the final round with three birdies though in the end would suffer a Sunday 73 to finish T7.

Baddeley certainly took notice but was not rattled.

“I was still just trying to focus on my game and just try to do what I needed to do,” Baddeley said. “I was still right there, I was still only one back. It wasn’t like I was three back. For me it was just trying to keep doing what I was doing.”

“I enjoy playing with Freddie. He’s really a great bloke.”

The father of two faced challenges early in the back 9 double bogeying the difficult par-4 12th hole.

But even then he still held a two stroke lead over Couples, Robert Allenby and Vijay Singh, who bogeyed the 13th.

After a bounce-back birdie made possible by a masterful long putt with lots of break, Baddeley put it into coast mode heading to the clubhouse.

“(I made) probably the best putt of the week right there. That really got me back on track.”

A great second shot on par-5 17th sealed the victory. Hitting from the 5th fairway Baddeley hit a high fade through a distant gap in the Eucalyptus trees to get back into position on the hole and career wise.

“Just being able to forget everything and being able to hit that shot, that’s part of the plan was just to be able to let it go and hit shots, so it was great.”

“It’s definitely been a couple of long years, but it was worth every bit, and I really feel that the last couple years is actually what made it easier today just because of having to battle and having to grow into so much for a couple years, the character that was just built in me.”

He credits being back with his childhood and long time coach Dale Lynch for the resurgence in his career.

“To be able to come home—come back to Dale really felt like coming home because it felt like I was becoming a kid again, and that’s what made it fun, you know.”

In reality this man of faith was never really far from home.

“I’m one to quote scripture a lot, especially when I’m out there. One of my favorites is 2 Timothy 1:8. It says, “For God did not give us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and a sound mind.” Whenever I get a little bit nervous I always quote that just because I know that — I mean, as the scripture said, it said God didn’t give us a spirit of fear. So, yeah, I always quote that. It helps calm me down just knowing I’m out there and the Lord’s with me.”

Baddeley is a man of patience with great humbleness as well.

Last summer at the Greenbrier he opened with a 65 and a rookie reporter asked him about his chances in the upcoming PGA Championship.

“I’m not in Whistling Straits right now. I got to win this week. I plan to be there. That would be nice. Have to have a good weekend and just try and get out there and have a chance to win on Sunday.”

Well that Sunday came and he made the most of it at Riviera CC.

Baddeley (73) is now the eighth highest ranking Aussie behind Robert Allenby (OWGR No. 26), Adam Scott (27), Geoff Ogilvy (28), Jason Day (40), Richard Green (60), Brendan Jones (64) and Stuart Appleby (68).

Baddeley is the third Aussie to win in L.A., with Scott winning in 2005 and Allenby in 2001.

This year’s International President’s Cup Team Captain Greg Norman took notice and issued a congratulatory note: “Riviera has once again given up a victory to an Aussie, proving that the quality of players coming out of my homeland thrive on tough golf courses. Aaron has been very successful on tough, demanding and difficult tracks with his previous victories and this victory is no different, and one that is long overdue! He now catapults himself into a strong position to secure a spot on this year’s International Presidents Cup Team. I have always been a fan of Aaron, and personally, I am proud of him and his victory at the Northern Trust Open. As Captain of the International Team this year, I know he would be a very valuable asset to the team.”

With time to earn a spot on the team or get a captain’s pick similar to Adam Scott in 2009 at Harding Park Baddeley knows what a spot on that team would mean.

“To play a Presidents Cup in Australia, that would be like an absolute dream. I remember watching in ’98 going down there and seeing the guys, Freddie, seeing Jim Furyk, seeing all the guys down there, seeing Norman playing, all those guys. I wanted to play in Presidents Cups. So it’s definitely something that I’m going to keep working hard towards to try and make that team.”

Baddeley is back in the Masters where in 5 starts his best finish is T17 in 2009, the year Angel Cabrera won.

“Yeah, I’m excited about that, very excited.”

As we all are with your victory in L.A.

Congratulations and Happy upcoming Birthday… you are coming into your prime as a golfer and it will be exciting to watch!

Andy Reistetter is a freelance golf writer covering all four major American golf tours- the PGA TOUR, Champions, Nationwide and LPGA Tours.

Reistetter resides in Pont Vedra Beach, Florida near the PGA TOUR headquarters and home of The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass.

A lifetime golfer, Andy enjoys volunteering at the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Florida and pursuing his passion for the game of golf and everything associated with it.

2011 PGA TOUR:   Will Last Week’s Top 10 Finisher Win This Week at Riviera?

Top-10 finishes usually signal better things to come on the PGA TOUR.

Jonathan Byrd, 2011 Hyundai Champion! Photo Credit: PGA.com

Look at Jonathan Byrd, who won his last event of 2010 with a dramatic playoff trump ace in Las Vegas. The next time he teed it up—granted, it was 2-1/2 months later—led to another playoff win in the season opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions at Kapalua on Maui.

Here’s another example. After finishing 6th at Disney two months earlier, Mark Wilson won the SONY Open.

Get the picture?

A good finish leads to even better things a couple months later.

Not so fast.

In the 3rd tournament of the year and only his 5th start in a PGA TOUR event, rookie Jhonattan Vegas won the Bob Hope Classic after finishing T57 at Waialae. “I hope to be the best player in the world, I know it is tough to achieve but feel I have the game and mentality to do it,” said the 26-year old.

Sound familiar?

Furthermore, Bubba Watson won the Farmers Open after missing the cut entirely in the Hope. And Mark Wilson rang the bell again with a playoff victory in the Phoenix Open after sandwiching a T57 between his two wins.

So much for the theory that a Top-10 finish one week is the antecedent to a win the following week.

Look at Carl Spackler, a.k.a. Bill Murray, winning the Pebble Beach Pro-Am last week.

“Cinderella story, out of nowhere, former greenskeeper, now about to become the Masters champion. It looks like a miracle—it’s in the hole! It’s in the hole!” It had taken Spackler over 30 years.

So what’s the point?

Well, D.A. Points finished 5th at the Farmers, then T18 in Phoenix before winning his first PGA TOUR event on the sun-drenched Monterey Peninsula alongside Murray.

Finishing towards the top—sooner or later—usually means victory is somewhere out there on the back nine on Sunday when things fall into place.

What do all six 2011 winners have in common?

All are Nationwide Tour alumni.

Is it hard work under similar tournament conditions that leads those in the top 10 to win?

The NWT alumni win count on the PGA TOUR is closing in 300. D.A. Points’ win on Sunday at Pebble Beach was No. 294.

The Nationwide Tour is only a little over 20 years old.

Let’s say the average number of PGA TOUR events is around 30 in that period. By that figure, 50% of all victories on the PGA TOUR come from NWT alumni.

Not bad—considering in the early 90s there were no NWT graduates winning, because there was no NWT to graduate from.

Let’s look quickly to last week’s Top 10 finishers to see who will win this week.

Count Nick Watney out as he withdrew from the Northern Trust Open without specifying why. Watney was T6 at Pebble Beach, where it was his fifth consecutive Top-10 dating back to last year’s TOUR Championship.

Hunter Mahan (2nd) finished strong at Pebble with a field best Sunday 66. A reasonable person would not bet against him this week.

Tom Gillis (3rd) came off the Nationwide Tour in 2009 and had three Top-10s in 2010. “I’m not totally satisfied with (2010). I thought I would have had more chances to win,” Gills said, fitting the NWT alum and Top-10 finisher profile to a tee.

Though he has played in 5 events so far this year, Spencer Levin (T4) might try a delayed Byrd-Wilson (“happy with time off”) formula to winning. “I am just going to go home, take some time off and enjoy this a little bit,” said the Q-School graduate. “Then I’ll start getting ready for next year.”

Steve Marino (T4), who started knocking on the door early in the 2008 Open at Turnberry (before being surpassed by Tom Watson), looks poised to make a breakthrough into the winner’s circle.

Aaron Baddeley (T6), who dropped the “stack and tilt” to regain his ball-striking form, also had a T8 finish in Vegas the week Byrd won. It is only a matter of time for the Aussie, who was beaten by Troy Merritt in the Kodak Challenge playoff.

Bryce Molder (T6) seems to be regaining his form after ending last year weakly missing three of four cuts.

Phil Mickelson is the obvious favorite of the four golfers who finished T9 to win for the third time as he tries to commute, weather permitting, from his home in San Diego to Riviera CC this week.

But don’t dismiss Steve Bowditch, Zach Miller or Jimmy Walker this week in the land where stars are born.

There is also Paul Casey, coming off his win in the Middle East who—along with reigning Open champion Louis Oosthuizen and 11-time European champion Robert Karlsson—will be making his U.S. debut this week.

So will we see someone from last week’s Top 10 win this week at Riviera?

Don’t forget defending champion Steve Stricker!

Andy Reistetter is a freelance golf writer covering all four major American golf tours—the PGA TOUR, Champions, Nationwide and LPGA Tours.

Reistetter resides in Pont Vedra Beach, Florida near the PGA TOUR headquarters and home of The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass.

A lifetime golfer, Andy enjoys volunteering at the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Florida and pursuing his passion for the game of golf and everything associated with it.

Please comment directly on this article or email him at AndyReistetter@gmail.com

The Cinderella Story! Photo Credit: Golf.com

Golf writer Andy Reistetter was on site at Pebble Beach to witness the modern Cinderella story of D.A. Points’ first victory on the PGA Tour and the triumph of Bill Murray, a.k.a. Carl Spackler, a.k.a. the regular golfer like all of us, in the granddaddy of all Pro-Ams at America’s home course Pebble Beach.

“Da Bears” didn’t win this year, but D.A. Points and another guy from Illinois, a comedian-turned-dramatic-actor who kept him loose, surely did win.

Two guys from the Prairie State dressed in blue and orange walked the fairways and putted the greens of famed Pebble Beach Golf Links on another glorious day on the Monterey Peninsula.

These were the same fairways where Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and last year Graeme McDowell won U.S. Opens.

It was fate, pure and simple.

The stage was the difficult, slightly uphill dogleg right 573-yard par-5 14th hole.

The stage of a tilted, tiny and tempest of a green where last year from the fairway Paul Goydos watched Bryce Molder made a quadruple bogey 9 and then did the same thing.

Points holed the improbable shot—a gap wedge from 107 yards—and then for added measure, made a putt of nearly 30 feet on the next.

The golf gods kept his tee shot in bounds on the 16th, and then the “Murray Magic” kicked in on the green to save the victory for self and team.

Though this time, the roles were reversed, and it was Points using Murray’s tactics to urge his partner on.

“Go ahead and make the putt, the crowd will enjoy that.”

Of course, Murray didn’t make his putt, though the still loose Points did.

Points got the point and made the knee knocker from six feet to seal the victories for the kid from central Illinois, and the no longer young in age man from the chick is in the car and the car won’t go “Chicago.”

As Murray would say, “Done, it was over after 14, 15 and 16.”

All that was left to do was throw ice cream bars to the galleries as the forever now joined partner twosome of fate made the final march to the awards ceremony on the 18th green.

Was it Carl Spackler and the Bishop playing in near picture-perfect weather?

There was a bigger story here for those of us who think two things usually go together—having the most fun and winning.

The world needs to take a less serious attitude. Maybe golf can lead the way in that regard?

Maybe “Murray’s Magic” was to have so much fun that it distracted Points from trying too hard?

As Points would say afterwards…”yes, I need to (change), I absolutely need to.”

Maybe, as Points said.

“Instead of boringly walking down the fairway, minding my own business and not saying anything,” other PGA TOUR players will do the same thing, and we will have the Rocco Mediates, Peter Jacobsen and Mr. Palmers of today and tomorrow out there on tour.

Maybe Jacobsen’s legendary pro-am partner Jack Lemmon finally made the cut?

“If you make the other person look good, then you don’t have to worry about yourself,” is how Murray put it in perspective afterwards, drinking a glass of red wine while addressing the media.

Maybe there is something in it for us heading into Monday morning at the office.

Winning at Pebble Beach with his childhood idol Bill Murray wasn’t just a “dream come true” for Points.

“I don’t think I could even dream it up.”

Dreams turn into reality at magical places like Pebble Beach.

As sponsor AT&T’s slogan urges, maybe we should “rethink possible.”

After all, two kids from Illinois showed the world today that it is possible…to have the most fun and win!

Maybe Ty’s advice to Danny is more than funny…

“There’s a force in the universe that makes things happen; all you have to do is get in touch with it. Stop thinking…let things happen…and be…”

…like Bill Murray and D.A. Points were this week at Pebble Beach.

Andy Reistetter is a freelance golf writer covering all four major American golf tours- the PGA TOUR, Champions, Nationwide and LPGA Tours.

Reistetter resides in Pont Vedra Beach, Florida near the PGA TOUR headquarters and home of The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass.

A lifetime golfer, Andy enjoys volunteering at the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Florida and pursuing his passion for the game of golf and everything associated with it.

Please comment directly on this article or email him at AndyReistetter@gmail.com

Mark Wilson Wins 2011 Waste Managment Phoenix Open. Photo Credit: Communication Links

Mark Wilson was never dead and gone from the PGA TOUR but he did rise again in Phoenix the day after his Packers won the Super Bowl.

Even last year when the 36-year old golfer was No. 140 on the Money List going into the last event of the season he was still alive.

Having won the 2009 Mayakoba Classic he was exempt for the 2011 season and he did not have anything to prove at Disney.

Or maybe he did?

He completely missed the 2010 Playoffs for the FedEx Cup.

Even though he had won twice on the PGA TOUR he never received an invitation to the Masters.

He has never played in a British Open. In fact he has only played in three majors and has never made the cut (1 U.S. Open and 2 PGA Championships).

Maybe the Magic Kingdom is where “the little engine that thought he could,” became something bigger and better and turned into the “Wilson-matic” we now see on tour.

Like shooting stars over Cinderella’s castle, Wilson’s four rounds in the 60s earned him a 6th place finish and vaulted him inside the magical Top-125 at No. 123.

Maybe he did have something to prove?

His strong finish at Disney notched only his second Top-10 of the year.

Now he has two wins in his first three events in 2011.

What the heck happened to the guy who went to Q-School for 10 straight years prior to breaking through for his first victory at the 2007 Honda Classic?

“The sooner you decide to just trust what you’ve got, the quicker you’re going to become a better player,” was Wilson’s attitude after beginning to work with Dr. Bob Rotella.

“I skated right through Q-school and then I won three months later at the Honda, my first win in 2007.”

Fast forward four years to yesterday in Phoenix.

“The old Mark would have been pretty upset with the tee shot on 18 in regulation, maybe would have chunked that 9-iron into the front bunker and made bogey and handed the trophy to (runner-up) Jason (Dufner). But the new one was just focused on, hey, I got this 9-iron out of the bunker and almost won the tournament that way. It’s almost a two-shot swing a lot of times.”

“For some reason at the end of last year, which was one of my worst years in recent history, it (Dr. Rotella’s advice) just popped back into my head, hey, I’ve got to just trust what I’m doing and just play my own game.”

Wilson has focused on two improvements to his short game to go along with that trusting attitude.

“I’ve got a new green-reading technique,” Wilson explained. “Dr. (Greg) Rose (of the Titleist Performance Institute) helped me split the putts into two parts always, and that really has helped me see the line better.”

“(In practice rounds) I try to throw a ball down inside 100 yards on almost every hole as an additional shot on the green trying to get that up-and-down.”

“Those two things have just really calmed me down, going, hey, no matter where I hit the ball I can get it up-and-down from inside 100 yards and therefore it’s going to be hard for me to make bogeys. This week and Sony I eliminated the bogeys a lot, and that has been a key.”

Everything seems to be clicking with victories coming easily and often for Wilson at a time when others, including Tiger Woods, find it difficult to win on the PGA TOUR.

Wilson is a cumulative 47-under par in his three starts this season.

Moving up to No. 51 in the World Rankings, he is at his highest level ever.

With that ranking comes more playing opportunities in World Golf Championship events like the upcoming Accenture Match Play and the Cadilac at the TPC Blue Monster at Doral.

“I see the snowstorm up in Chicago, and it’s like, why do I need to go back there? There’s no reason. Let’s just keep playing. So I plan to play — right now the plan is to play through Bay Hill.”

“I’m just enjoying the ride here and that’s just kind of the way I’m going to look at the year here, just ride this train as long as I can.”

Phoenix was good but it is over and the opportunity is today, tomorrow and the future.

We can all benefit from that attitude!

We like the “new” Mark from Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.

Congratulations Wilson, Congratulations Packers!

Andy Reistetter is a freelance golf writer covering all four major American golf tours- the PGA TOUR, Champions, Nationwide and LPGA Tours.

Reistetter resides in Pont Vedra Beach, Florida near the PGA TOUR headquarters and home of The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass.

A lifetime golfer, Andy enjoys volunteering at the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Florida and pursuing his passion for the game of golf and everything associated with it.

 Please comment directly on this article or email him at AndyReistetter@gmail.com

Bubba Watson, are you there?

Bubba Watson, 2011 Farmers Insurance Open Champion! Photo Credit Richard Mille

Those words have been heard since the invention of the telephone in 1876.

Following his best year in a four-year PGA TOUR career, the question wasn’t whether or not Watson would be out there on tour this year. The question was whether or not he could come back from a playoff loss to Martin Kaymer at Whistling Straits in the PGA Championship.

Question answered as Bubba Watson is now a two-time winner on the PGA TOUR.

Only five months after receiving the non-consolation prize of being a member of the 2010 Ryder Cup team, Watson has weathered the storm of personal loss and continued his trek to future golfing dominance.

“My dad is not here, Mom I love you,” were the words from his heart after beating a stellar field down the stretch at Torrey Pines, the San Diego muni better known as the world class golf course that hosted the dramatic 2008 US Open.

Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate played in the same field at Torrey Pines for the first time since Tiger birdied the last in regulation to force that memorable Monday playoff.

Rocco missed the cut by four strokes but has his recent four-hole-out victory at the 2010 Frys.com Open to accentuate his resume above and beyond the courageous battle against Tiger at Torrey.

Woods meanwhile was not as sharp as the 2010 PLAYOFFS for the FedEx Cup, finished T44, 15 strokes behind Watson. One has to wonder about his 74-75 weekend on the golf course on which he won six previous Farmers Open including four in a row only three years ago.

Woods has won 13 times in California and that other guy, the hometown favorite, Phil Mickelson, came close to winning his 13th California-style finishing one stroke behind.

So dramatic was the finish that Mickelson walked up to the 18th green and then had caddie Bones tend the flagstick while he struck his 73-yard pitch for eagle to tie Watson.

The staging was nothing less than legend Walter Hagen’s rendition in the movie Bagger Vance.

But one has to wonder about Mickelson who abandoned his aggressive “Masters 13th between the trees” style with a clean lie from 226 yards on the last even before Watson stroked in his 12-footer for the winning birdie.

Sure he went with driver off the tee on the narrow 17th to set up a sand wedge approach and finish birdie-birdie. But he did not finish off the tournament with a “W.”

Others in the stellar field right up there with Watson and Michelson heading into the final 18 holes included Bill Haas, Hunter Mahan and Anthony Kim.

Haas, the second round leader by two strokes, did record his fifth consecutive Top-10 going back to his second PGA TOUR win at the Viking Classic last fall. Son Bill failed to win another tournament that his father Jay won back in 1978 to go along with his first win- the 2010 Bob Hope Classic that Jay won in 1988.

Mahan, wed to former Dallas Cowboy cheerleader Kandi Harris only two weeks ago, faltered on Sunday with a 73.

Anthony “AK” Kim, with a renewed 2008 Ryder Cup like recommitment to the game, like Woods, had trouble on the weekend posting 71-72 and finishing T6, six strokes back.

The four rookies, including the leader Sunghoon Kang, that were among the leaders after Round 1 were no were to be found at the end of the tournament:  Kang (T51), Chris Kirk (T44), Keegan Bradley (T25) and Fabian Gomez (T65).

Experience like that on the PGA TOUR is priceless.

John Daly opened with a 67, followed with a 69 to stand T3 at the halfway point, but would go 76-79 to the weekend with no reports from the parking lot this year that he was giving up the game and launching another drama series on the Golf Channel.

The man who rose to the occasion again after winning for the first time last week at the Hope in the desert was Jhonattan Vegas. Also known as “Johnny Vegas,” as coined by the Golf Channel’s Phil Parkin on the Nationwide Tour last year where he finished 7th to get his rookie tour card.

The 26-year-old who won in only his fifth PGA TOUR start was paired with Tiger in the third round and played five strokes better than the 14-time major champion.

Neither Vegas, nor Mickelson heeded the “Rocco lesson” from the 2008 U.S. Open, i.e. hit the 18th fairway to have a chance to reach the green in two strokes. Vegas dunked his second in the water from the right rough and bogeyed whereas an eagle would have forced a playoff with Watson.

The pink shaft swinging Watson lead the field in driving distance (308 yards), greens in regulation (GIR) and was 13-under par on the par-fives for the week.

In the end it was Watson’s putter that came through at the end of the day. After missing two nine-foot birdie putts on 14 and 15, he drained another for par on 17 and then canned the winning putt on the 18th green.

No doubt long accurate drives, precise approach irons and streaky putting is a difficult combination to beat.

The only four-time winner in his 20s, Dustin Johnson made a Sunday charge posting a solid six-birdie, no bogey 66. Among the emerging next generation, Mahan, Kim, Sean O’Hair and Camilo Villegas each have three victories.

Bubba Watson becomes only the fifth lefthander to record multiple wins on the PGA TOUR joining the company of Mickelson, Mike Weir, Bob Charles, and Steve Flesch.

Watson answered another fateful call today at Torrey Pines.

Alexander Graham Bell might not have heard his reply on the internet or twitter.

Bubba Watson is now a multiple winner on the PGA TOUR and who knows what his next transmission to the golfing world will be.

Andy Reistetter is a freelance golf writer covering all four major American golf tours- the PGA TOUR, Champions, Nationwide and LPGA Tours.