This week’s PGA Tour Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii marks the first significant tour event — male or female — for 2011. But don’t get the impression that local tour players have been in hibernation in recent months.
Nothing could be further from the truth, this past fall especially.
This golf “off-season” was one of the more memorable of recent years for tour players with strong Colorado connections. Here’s a brief rundown on some of the most notable happenings:
— By virtue of placing among the top 30 players in the 2010 FedEx Cup standings in the fall and finishing the year in the top 50 of the world rankings, former Colorado State University golfer Martin Laird (pictured) will have a spot in all four of the major championships in 2011. He’s played in the other majors before, but April will mark his first trip to the Masters.
— After losing his PGA Tour card in early 2009, Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Brandt Jobe regained his exemption at age 45 by finishing sixth in the final stage of Tour qualifying in early December. Jobe’s quest for his first Tour victory — after three runner-up finishes — will continue. He needs to make just three more cuts to reach 150 for his career and thus receive an ongoing veteran membership on Tour.
— David Duval of Cherry Hills Village earned back fully-exempt status on Tour thanks to finishing in the top 125 on the Tour money list (106th) for the first time since 2002. 2010 had marked the first time in 16 years Duval hadn’t been fully exempt on the PGA Tour.
— Shane Bertsch of Parker enters the 2011 season with convoluted status, having two PGA Tour medical extensions in play at once. After breaking his hand last February, and a foot before that, Bertsch can improve his Tour status if he earns more than $605,575 in his next nine tournaments. In the bigger picture, Bertsch needs to tally at least $729,869 in his next 21 tourneys in order to remain exempt.
By the way, none of the players with local ties will be competing this week in the limited-field Tournament of Champions. The Tour’s first full-field event will be the Sony Open in Hawaii Jan. 13-16.
— As for the Champions Tour, it will be interesting to see how Craig Stadler of Evergreen responds after undergoing a total left-hip replacement surgery in September. Stadler has won eight times on the Champions circuit, but none since 2004.
— With his first Champions Tour victory, in early October at the Ensure Classic, Gary Hallberg of Castle Rock earned his largest tournament paycheck ever. The win made Hallberg just the fourth player to have won on the PGA, Champions and Nationwide Tours — joining Tom Lehman, Ron Streck and Keith Fergus — and it earned him a one-year Champions Tour exemption.
— Three players with Colorado connections will be LPGA Tour rookies in 2011 — former University of Denver golfers Stephanie Sherlock and Kimberly Kim, along with part-time Denver resident Alison Whitaker, who will be partially exempt. Sherlock and Kim landed full exemptions by finishing in the top 20 in the finals of Tour school in December, while Whitaker placed 22nd.
— Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond, Colorado resident and former University of Colorado golfer Matt Zions locked up his European Tour card in late October by finishing 15th on the 2010 European Challenge Tour money list.
— On the Nationwide Tour, former DU golfer Danny Wax earned an exemption by finishing 59th in the final stage of PGA Tour qualifying in December.
