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The coolest things on Tour

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Posted: Tuesday April 11, 2000 01:31 PM

Bob Heintz, a 1992 Yale graduate, won the Nike Tour Championship last fall to finish sixth on the money list and earn his PGA Tour card for 2000. Each Tuesday during the season, Heintz -- who is traveling with his wife, Nancy; his two children, Eryn and PJ; and his caddie, Andy Goodwin -- will give us a glimpse inside the life of a rookie PGA Tour professional.

Monday, April 10

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- I'm guessing that we all saw enough coverage of last weekend's Masters, so I'll keep my comments brief. From my perspective, it appeared that Mr. Singh just outplayed the field, which makes for a less-than-controversial winner. What can you do besides take your hat off to him? That leaves me with two topics of discussion: the golf course set-up and Tiger Woods. I've been watching the happenings at Augusta National for many years, and I just can't get used to the concept of "rough" on that golf course. They can call it "the second cut" if they want to, but we all know that if it's longer grass than in the fairway, it's rough! Augusta was always unique with its fairways stretching from tree line to tree line, immaculate and perfectly striped by the armada of mowers. I know that if I were fortunate enough to qualify to play there, I'd want to play it as it was 10 years ago. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't go and be standing on the first tee with my hands trembling out of respect and awe for the beauty of the place.

MAIL CALL I'm at the tail end of a fairly successful junior golf career, but I've always had one problem with my game: By the 15th hole I seem to lose most of my motivation, even if I'm playing well. I was wondering if you could offer me any advice on how to remain motivated for 18 holes. —Lee Matheson, Halifax, N.S. When I was the assistant golf coach at the University of South Florida in the early '90s, the head coach was Chuck Winship. He is a solid advisor on the mental side of golf, and one of his concepts is that you should divide your round into smaller segments. For example, if you are very score-conscious, it could benefit you to approach your rounds as six three-hole segments. Just go out and play three holes at a time. If you try to break par on holes 1 through 3, then 4-6, and so on, you may end up forgetting about your overall score. Maybe this approach could help you when you lose focus late in the round. Another possible solution to your problem is to find out what motivates you the best. Is it statistical success? Is it hitting heroic shots? If you feel your motivation waning, just start to play for whatever gives you the most enjoyment. For me, it's hitting the ball close to the hole with an iron shot. So if I start to lose interest, I really try to focus on hitting fairways, so I have the best chance to dial in an iron shot. What PGA Tour player(s) do you look up to? —Gregg Kohansky, Roslyn, N.Y. I have to answer this one, because I recognize the sender as a fellow Yale golf alum! Gregg, I look forward to playing with you sometime, but for now I'll just answer the item at hand. I feel obligated to look up to the guys who have raised happy families while succeeding on Tour. This lifestyle can be brutal on marriages and families, so you have to respect those who have held together. Jack Nicklaus, Tom Lehman, Arnold Palmer, Mark O'Meara and Payne Stewart come to mind, although there are many others. It's difficult to balance the time I need to prepare for tournaments against the time I want to spend with my family. I hope to learn more about that from some of those guys. Any thoughts on heading down to Australia to play the events around the New Year? —Andrew Connell, Melbourne, Australia You are the first person to mention that possibility, and I admit that I don't know enough about the schedule there that time of year. I'm not even sure I would qualify automatically for those events. It's not likely that I would go without being certain of a spot in the fields. Another consideration is the tender age of my children. Since that is my offseason, I will want to be spending time with them. I'm not sure how they would handle the long airplane trip if I were to bring them along. So I would say I am not likely to travel to your neck of the woods this year, but I would love to bring the kids when they get older.

Just like everyone else, I was eager to see how Tiger would fare. Would he continue his march towards Jack's records? I could write for a while on this topic, but my feeling is that he was trying too hard. I felt as if I was sitting there watching Greg Norman in years past, with his deep hunger for the green jacket seeming to cause him great tension at the times when he needed to relax the most. It is possible to place too much emphasis on your performance during a particular week. Perhaps Tiger was a little too intense and upset his winning mental formula of the past few months. His toughest task in chasing Nicklaus will be to find the ideal mental state for the majors, taking care not to be too serious or too intense and cause himself to be more tense than usual. Please don't think that I'm ragging on Tiger for another top-five finish. It's just that he's after W's, not $'s!

Now that I'm done playing golf psychologist, let's move to the lighter subject of ...

Top 10 Coolest Things About
Being on the PGA Tour (So Far)

10. Getting gouged for hotels in every other town. NOT!!! It seems like we hit every town "in season" and often get hammered on hotel rates.

9. Courtesy cars. They are a wonderful perk, although I've only qualified for the privilege four times so far. The best one we've driven was the Chrysler 300M, which we got at the Hope.

8. Warm chocolate-chip cookies every afternoon at the Honda. You really can't beat chewy chocolate-chip cookies right out of the oven!

7. Being a member at TPC facilities. It is a treat to be able to play and practice at these top-notch courses.

6. Free phone and free computer. These tools have proven to be immensely useful.

5. Hitting balls next to Vijay Singh. It's neat to watch him up close as he builds his reputation for banging so many balls. He takes a break once in a while to trade stories with other players and caddies, too.

4. Hitting balls next to John Daly. Big John was lettin' loose on some balls at the Honda. I never really watched him that closely before, and it was truly impressive to witness his flexibility and clubhead speed.

3. Hitting balls next to Fred Couples. Freddie has always been a favorite of mine from watching the Tour on TV, so I enjoyed the chance to warm up next to him in San Diego. I figured it couldn't hurt to absorb some of his tempo before I played that day.

2. Awesome course conditions. I hereby admit to being completely spoiled. I try to remind myself each week how lucky I am to play on such gorgeous courses.

1. Just being here! It's an achievement in itself to arrive on Tour. Now that I'm done congratulating myself, I'll work on sticking around as long as possible.

I got edged out of the field for the MCI this week, so I get to look forward to my next event next week in Greensboro, N.C. The golf course there is called Forest Oaks. It is an older, classical design, and I've been told it should suit me well. I can't wait. I finally feel some momentum, and I'm eager to get back out there to see if I can sneak my way into contention. I also can't wait to put the finishing touches on my taxes. Until I do, I'll feel like I have some 20-pound weights on my shoulders! I'll really be ready to play when I get all of that taken care of.

Before I sign off, I want to update you on my quest to succeed in taking my own test. I have played three consecutive sub-par rounds from the red tees and I plan to add the fourth Tuesday, sending me happily back to the white tees! This is still my first attempt from the reds. I wasn't able to squeeze in the fourth round before leaving for Atlanta, and they wouldn't let me play from the red tees in the BellSouth! I haven't heard from any of you regarding your progress with the playing tests. Maybe Andy and I are the only ones trying it?

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions for topics you'd like to see discussed in future diaries, click here.

 

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