Kiwi golfer still yearns for PGA spot
In less than two weeks’ time, Tim Wilkinson will be winging his way from his home in Florida through South and Central America.
The Manawatu professional is New Zealand’s only fully exempt pro on the Nationwide Tour which starts its season in Colombia, Panama and Chile.
‘‘It’s always interesting to see different parts of the world,’’ Wilkinson said on a brief trip home.
Chile will be a new stop. He has played well in Panama previously and his first experience of the treelined course at Bogota, Colombia, last year was affected by rain. It was chopped to 36 holes.
‘‘It was like Taihape in the middle of winter,’’ he said.
With Bogota being 2600 metres above sea level, the ball travels a long way off the club, about 12 per cent further.
‘‘You need to take a driver with more loft.’’
Wilkinson might not hit as far as the big guys, but he has prospered on long courses on the Nationwide and PGA tours. ‘‘More and more it still comes down to putting and chipping, hitting the right shot at the right time.’’
To that end he confirmed he will be using the giant Orion golf Black Hawk putter on the tour. He first encountered it when he spotted PGA pro Matt Every using one at their Sawgrass base in Florida.
While it’s heavy, Wilkinson has been putting consistently in practice with it.
He has far from given up on returning to the PGA Tour where he spent three seasons, from 2008 to 2010.
‘‘I feel I could still be there if I hadn’t got injured,’’ he said.
That was when he tore a ligament off the bone in his right thumb in July 2009. It took him out of the game for five months and in 2010 he had to play on the PGA Tour on a medical exemption, and having to earn US$365,675 (NZ$446,474) in 12 events proved too tough.
‘‘I feel I am playing a lot better than I was then, technically, and hitting better shots.
‘‘I played quite well at the end of last year and I had a good chance in the last event of the year.’’
The 33-year-old talks about when he gets back to the main tour, not if. He knows he must get the job done when he has a chance to win.
The Nationwide Tour has strengthened since he first played in it in 2005. Last year, he earned $US92,747 (NZ$113,217).
‘‘The fields everywhere are a lot more equal and level now. You can be three behind and finish 20th.’’
Wilkinson was the sole Kiwi in the final stage of qualifying school at the end of last season. It was windy, which made it difficult to hole putts. But he refuses to be psyched out by the demanding six-round slog.
‘‘I just treat it like another tournament now,’’ he said.
He sees other New Zealanders like Danny Lee, Brad Iles and Josh Geary around the tour but, now married, he keeps to himself these days. It is his day job.
‘‘I’m a lot better at using my time, managing everything.’’
Most of the courses on the Nationwide Tour are very good; there are big crowds at some but not all events. Wilkinson plans to play 25 of the 27 tournaments this year and just one win might be enough to propel him back to the main tour.