TERRE HAUTE — This may be the year.
Don’t stop reading. This is not one of those sappy Chicago Cubs columns.
The wonderful year of the Bears-Colts Super Bowl and the first-place Chicago Cubs, 2007 may also be the year for Cloverdale’s Chad Collins to earn his PGA Tour card.
Collins, who did visit Wrigley Field for a Cubs game in June, is on track to have an amazing turnaround to his season.
This year, a record 25 golfers will graduate from the Nationwide Tour into the PGA, and Collins, who began playing full-time on the Nationwide Tour in 2005, plans to take full advantage of the opportunity.
Collins, reached Wednesday relaxing at his home in Cloverdale, said he’s hoping to climb into the top 10 and secure exemptions for as many PGA Tour tournaments as possible early in 2008.
“After the [Nationwide] Tour Championship [at Barona Creek], I’d like to be in top 10 on money list,” Collins said.
But at the moment, he’s enjoying some rare time at home since beginning the grind of a 21-tournament schedule on Feb. 18.
“It’s nice to be home and relax,” said Collins, who has earned $187,167 so far this season and bought a used Ranger bass boat a few months ago. “I go fishing, maybe play golf a little bit. It’s more relaxed, a totally different kind of golf.”
Collins will hit the road again in a couple of days after the Nationwide was off this past weekend. Up next is the Utah EnergySolutions Championships at Sandy, Utah.
Collins’ season got off to a rather inauspicious start as he missed the cut in 11 of his first 13 tournaments. But the first two tournaments at Australia and New Zealand are long forgotten.
After missing the cut for the ninth time, Collins made some changes. When he arrived for the Peek’n Peak Classic he gave up his TaylorMade Burner driver for a TaylorMade Superquad.
He switched putters from an Odyssey Whitehawk two-ball putter to a prototype Scotty Cameron style putter.
“I putted with it on the practice green and decided to put it in the bag,” Collins said. “That kind of turned everything around. My tee ball was hurting a little, but I wasn’t making any putts. I wasn’t scoring all that well. The switch of putters was the main thing that turned things around confidence wise.”
Collins tied for 15th at the Peek’n Peak to begin a stretch of six tournaments in which he wouldn’t finish worse than 17th. Not too shabby, but he wrote in his online journal on April 27 that he just had to stay positive.
“This year has been a grind indeed! I’m literally having the roughest start to a year ever in my professional golfing career. I’ve played in six events so far, made two cuts and only $8,000-some odd dollars. It has been a mental grind for sure.”
But now Collins, a three-time Division III NCAA champion at Methodist, ranks 13th on the money list with just eight of the 32 tournaments left on the slate.
In the past two tournaments, Collins has missed the cut and then tied for 66th last weekend in the Pete Dye Classic, but he’s still tied for 37th on the tour in scoring average at 70.86, including a Nationwide career-best round of 62.
“Other than that hot streak, I didn’t feel like I played all that well,” he said.
Collins is ready to get back to the course at Utah, which is followed by a tournament near Eugene, Ore., and then the Boise Open.
“After Boise, there’s a week off, and I’m meeting up with a buddy to go salmon fishing. The fishing’s really good on the Columbia River that time of year,” Collins said.
With some salmon to help recharge his batteries, Collins expects a strong finish to the season, with five tournaments remaining after his final fishing trip of the season.
“The higher I finish the more PGA Tour events I’m qualified for,” Collins said. “I feel like I’m going to finish in the top 25. I’d really like to win a tournament.”
Read more about Collins’ season at http://thegrind2007.com/journals/player4/.
Craig Pearson can be reached at (812) 231-4357 or craig.pearson@tribstar.com
Given to Fly
September 2, 2007
Given' to Fly: Collins on verge of earning PGA Tour card
- Given to Fly
-
-
GIVEN TO FLY: Come to expect new standards of excellence
Records are definitely meant to be broken; athletes today are faster and stronger than those in the past in many endeavors in athletics.
-
GIVEN TO FLY: ISU women have solid recruiting class
The caliber of athletes that the Indiana State women’s basketball coaching staff is bringing in is on an upswing.
-
GIVEN TO FLY: Major leaguers John, Dorsett meet up at tonight’s game
Terre Haute’s only two big leaguers of the last 50 years — Tommy John and Brian Dorsett — will catch up with one another today.
-
FOOT NOTES: Valley natives perform well on national stage
Several Wabash Valley natives continue to shine on the national track and field scene.
-
'Til It's Over: Sycamores ‘in a good place,’ but searching for more in MVC
Can Teri Moren lift Indiana State, last year’s seventh-place team in the Missouri Valley Conference, to one of the league’s contenders in her first year on campus?
-
'Til It's Over: Two sets of identical twins should keep North Central baseball a contender
The last high school baseball team standing in the Wabash Valley was the North Central, the Thunderbirds falling short 4-3 in the Class A Semistate on Saturday just one game shy of Victory Field.
-
'Til It's Over: Jarvis, Anderson confident Olney, hard work leads to Division I dream
Olney, Ill., population 8,000-plus and known for its population of white squirrels, might not be the dream destination for high school basketball players in Indiana.
-
'Til It's Over: Robinson 7-footer more focused in postseason; 6-foot Jones keeps producing
Robinson 7-footer Meyers Leonard is not going to be the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA some day, but his odds of reaching the league are pretty solid if his game continues to evolve as it has during high school.
- 'Til It's Over: ‘Stepping stone’ game points Sycamores in right direction Whether the win comes against a top-25 team or a conference pushover, ending a four-game losing streak is always a relief.
- 'Til It's Over: Indianapolis ISU recruit rolling along in senior season As Indiana State recruit Anna Munn approached Christmas with the Decatur Central basketball team, the senior guard didn’t seem to need much of a wishlist.
- 'Til It's Over: Magic’s still there for '79 Sycamores For the former Indiana State players who visited the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in late November, the weekend was a chance to relive memories with teammates and see Larry Bird’s career with the Sycamores celebrated again.
- CRAIG PEARSON: North has strong history in cross country state finals Vigo County is home to just four IHSAA state championships in team sports. Most recently, Terre Haute South won girls titles in basketball (2002) and tennis (2001).
- 'Till It's Over: It’s been rough year but no need to break up Cubs' core Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry is only in the first year of a three-year contract, and aren’t back-to-back division championships enough to keep him around despite this year’s season filled with bad luck?
-
'Til It's Over: Hansbrough, Hibbert give Pacers glimpse of future
You might have heard of the Indiana Pacers’ 2009 first-round draft pick. He was on the television once in a while during his four-year career at North Carolina.
- 'Til It's Over: Bertoli, Moore put on show in abundance of events “Anthony and Erica” may not have the marketing capability of “Dan and Dave,” but neither of Indiana State’s outstanding multi-event participants had let-down performances this weekend in the Missouri Valley Conference Championships.
- ‘Walking wounded’: ISU seniors return to provide spark All three ISU seniors will graduate in May, and all three will be in uniform today as Indiana State battles Bradley in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament quarterfinals.
- Given to Fly: Northview standout runner Thacker coming to ISU Doc Brown told an old-timer in a saloon in “Back to the Future III” that despite having automobiles in the future people run for recreation.
- Given to Fly: Schilli’s Rodman-like performance aids ISU With Indiana State’s women’s basketball team ranking eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference in field-goal percentage (36.5), the Sycamores need as many shot attempts as possible to maintain their standing on top of the league.
- Given to Fly: A classic in every sense of the word What tournament director and co-founder Gary Fears had in mind when creating the tournament came to fruition Tuesday. Marshall, with an enrollment of 438 students, became the smallest school to win the Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic in the ninth season of the tourney.
-
Given to Fly: ISU women should build confidence off strong outing
Indiana State did not pull off the monumental upset Saturday against No. 23 Kansas State, but the Wildcats are —aside from Connecticut in 2005 — the best team the Sycamores have played in the Jim Wiedie era.
- Given to Fly: ISU women's hoops team slides onto commercial radio Coach Jim Wiedie expects the Indiana State women’s basketball team to have a bit of a retro feel this season, meaning the Sycamores have the potential to get back to creating havoc with their full-court press.
- Given to Fly: ISU vets hope to prove pundits wrong Indiana State’s only two seniors were surprised to see they were picked ahead of just three Missouri Valley Conference women’s basketball teams Tuesday morning.
-
Footnotes: In first marathon, former Sycamore comes out a winner
Indiana State graduate Dani Prince made her debut in the event with a victory in the Columbus Marathon on Sunday.
Prince’s goal was a time under 2 hours and 50 minutes, and she ran a 2:48.56. -
Given To Fly: ISU volleyball turning things around
It was an extremely busy weekend for Indiana State athletics this weekend.
- Footnotes: Here’s hoping perfect weather is still around for Nationals in November The weather made for a perfect fall afternoon Saturday at LaVern Gibson Championship Course. For what it’s worth, the Farmer’s Almanac calls for more sunny conditions from Nov. 20-24, with the NCAA Championships falling on the 24th this year.
- Terre Haute natives cherish memories of ‘House that Ruth Built’ Yankee Stadium was packed as usual on Easter Sunday in 1979. George Steinbrenner’s Yankees were one loss away from being swept by the Milwaukee Brewers to start the season. That was no way for the two-time defending World Series champions to perform, so the boss had a conversation with his new veteran left-handed starting pitcher prior to the game.
-
Footnotes: Oregon men and women have strangehold on preseason NCAA cross countryrankings
The Oregon men and women were almost both unanimous picks as the No. 1 teams in the nation in the preseason cross country national rankings released recently.
- Given to Fly: Bronze medalist has strong ISU ties One of the remarkable American medalists of this 2008 Olympics thus far also provided one of the most sparkling stories in the brief history of the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course here in Terre Haute.
- Former ISU QB gets back to Amarillo This week, Indiana State signed its most highly-touted football prospect in years, and former quarterback Julian Reese is ripping it up for the Amarillo Dusters of Arena2.
- Indiana State track sending strong group to NCAA regional Three sophomore women and three senior men lead a large Indiana State contingent of track and field athletes into the NCAA Mideast Regional this weekend at Fayetteville, Ark.
- More Given to Fly Headlines
-
GIVEN TO FLY: Come to expect new standards of excellence
Probe Begins After Conn. Commuter Trains Crash
Coffee Run Leads to Hatchet Hitchhiker Arrest
NTSB Begins Investigation Into Conn. Train Crash
Conn. Commuter Trains Collide; 60 Go to Hospital
Lotto Fever Sweeps the Country
Fmr. IRS Head Insists No Politics in Targeting
NM Mom Chases Down Child Abductor
Raw: Gun Scare Mars Cannes Film Festival
Raw: Suicide Bomber Kills 2 Americans, 13 Others
China, Others Want What's Under the Arctic Ice
CDC: Fecal Bacteria Common in Swimming Pools
Raw: Texas Gov. Flies Over Tornado Damage
$1 Million in Jewels Stolen at Cannes Film Fest
Raw: Obama Sits Down With Elementary Kids
Raw: 6 Die in Russian Ship Fire
One Million Evacuated As Cyclone Hits Bangladesh
Raw: Driver Ejected From Truck, Over Bridge
Raw: Germany Protestors Picket Barbie House
Wash. State Releases Draft Rules for Legal Pot
Dying Man's Blinks Lead to Murder Conviction
Twiggy, the Water Skiing Squirrel
Sailor Surprises His Mom At Her CU Denver Graduation Ceremony
Official: ‘Amazing’ No One Was Killed In CT Train Crash
Coffee Stop Leads To Arrest Of YouTube Sensation Wanted For Murder
Bearded Dragon Reunited With Owner
Marine Reunited with Warzone Companion
Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool
Beyonce Is Pregnant!
SF baseball player overpaid $500,000 RETURNS money -- and team says KEEP IT
Dad returns from Afghanistan, surprises family during Rays' first pitch
See Jennifer Lopez's New $10m Hamptons Mansion
Woman tricked into taking abortion pill
Emma Watson Goes Pantless
IRS scandal: Republicans seek to tie Obama to agency's woes
Play of the Day: Flipping to Safety
Pregnant Kim Kardashian Squeezes Her Swollen Feet Into Stilettos
Top Videos of the Week: Angry Taco Bell Guy, Glacier Moves on House, Dog Hates Baths
Cindy Crawford Stuns At Cannes
