Last week, I was on the leading edge of one of the best feel-good golf stories of 2011. On Wednesday, I interviewed little-known PGA Tour rookie Scott Stallings for my New Hampshire Sunday News golf column. Stallings, 26, grew up in Tennessee but spent part of his teenage summers visiting his grandparents in New Hampshire and playing junior golf around the Granite State. Speaking from White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., where he was preparing for the Tour's Greenbrier Classic, Stallings told me about how his golf experiences during those summers helped him become the player he is today.
A former All-American at Tennessee Tech, Stallings earned his Tour card at last fall's Q-School. After missing his first five cuts in the big leagues, he broke through with a third-place finish at the Transitions Championship in March, earning $374,000. Entering the Greenbrier Classic, Stallings had posted four more top-25 finishes, putting himself in great position to retain his card for 2012 and qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs.
By Sunday night, however, Stallings had gone from unheralded rookie to PGA Tour winner. With rounds of 70-65-66-69 at The Greenbrier's Old White TPC course, he earned a spot in a three-way playoff with Bill Haas and Bob Estes, which he promptly ended with a winning birdie on the first playoff hole.
The victory earned Stallings more than $1 million and entree among the Tour's elite. Instead of flying to Reno this week for the $3 million Reno-Tahoe Open, he was bound for Akron and the Bridgestone Invitational, a limited-field World Golf Championships event with an $8.5 million purse. He also earned invitations to his first major, next week's PGA Championship, and a berth in next April's Masters.
All pretty heady stuff for a guy who just eight years ago was hiking the hills of Derryfield Country Club, a scruffy municipal course in Manchester, N.H., competing in the Red Ryan CYO Tournament, a staple on the New Hampshire junior scene.
Great article! From humping the hills of New Hampshire's junior circuit to elite pro status, quite a journey. Brings back memories of a CYO Tourney I watched a brother compete in years ago in MA. You never know what paths will be taken in the rounds of life. More Cullity please!
Posted by: B Hackett | 08/02/2011 at 12:35 PM
Wow! That's a relaly neat answer!
Posted by: Delia | 09/20/2011 at 12:10 AM