Every golfing locale in America has its one of two or sometimes even a handful of hot-shot amateur golfers. These individuals dominate the local golf scene, winning club championships, country opens, regional tourneys, while also competing on the state and national level. As they become more and more successful, they begin to contemplate turning professional, dreaming of walking the same fairways as Tiger, Phil and Sergio.
Each jump to the next level is a big one and while golfers must work arduously to keep improving, the most operative word about the climb from local hero to nationally-ranked amateur to mini-tour pro to a PGA mainstay is patience. You can”t just make it happen. Instead you”ve got to be patient in the belief that it will eventually happen for you.
The 2006 poster boy for this line of thinking is rookie Troy Matteson, the No. 36 golfer on the money list who was destined for a return to golf”s minor leagues as recently as Sept. 30 of this year.
Matteson grew up in Austin, Texas, and started playing the game as a 7-year-old. Austin has a noted golf tradition, having been the hometown of Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Tom Kite and Ben Crenshaw. Matteson dominated the local scene as a high schooler, leading his Anderson High School team to two state titles. Individually he was the winner of a pair of Texas schoolboy championships.
Troy went to Georgia Tech, a golf-rich program that has produced such names as David Duval and Matt Kuchar. While at Tech, he won six individual tournaments, took home the 2002 NCAAs, won the 2003 Eastern Regional by seven shots and was a three-time All-American.
Matteson got married and turned professional upon his graduation in 2003. In the early fall, he got in four Nationwide Tour events, made the cut in three of them and pocketed just under $8,000 in winnings, just enough to enter the PGA Tour”s Qualifying School. He easily got through stage one, came in first place in stage two, and was just outside the top 30 in the final stage, guaranteeing himself an exempt spot on the Nationwide Tour for 2004.
Matteson”s first year as a pro was a learning experience as he made 18 out of 28 cuts, won about half his money by coming in second at the Gila River Open and pocketed $114,000 while finishing 42nd on the money list. When he struggled, it was usually attributable to that one stinker round that left him beyond the cut line. For example, he shot 70-76 at the Carolina Classic, 76-68 at the Wichita Open and 69-75 at the Price Center.
When the 2005 season came around, Matteson seemingly had eliminated the bad rounds. He made 24 of 27 cuts, had 12 top-10 finishes, won at Virginia Beach and Adelphia, and pocketed $495,000, a Nationwide Tour record. His No. 1 finish on the money list got him a spot for the entire 2006 season on the PGA Tour. Mentally, he probably thought he was ready to make that next big step to golf”s biggest stage.
The 2006 season dawned and Matteson started out slowly. He made the cut in four of his first five tourneys, finishing 31st and Hawaii, 24th at the Bob Hope, 28th in San Diego and 27th at Pebble Beach. The tour headed to Florida and he came in 48th at Doral and 71st at the Honda. Because of his no-name rookie status, he didn”t get into the field at the Players Championship or the Masters.
When things resumed in early April, the bottom fell out. He missed the cut at Atlanta, did the same at Hilton Head and shot 80-76 to miss the cut at Houston. April was all about missed cuts.
A 52nd-place finish at the Wachovia was a brief respite, followed by missed cuts at the Byron Nelson, the Colonial, the St. Jude and Westchester. He didn”t get into the field at the U.S. Open and then made two cuts in a row, finishing 68th and 66th, respectively, at the Booz Allen and Hartford. Things got worse with missed cuts as the Western, Quad Cities, Warwick Hills, 84 Lumber and the Texas Open. The one bright spot was at Reno, where Matteson came in 18th and made $42,000, his biggest payday of the year. Nonetheless, he had won just more than $200,000 in earnings and was mired in 190th place on Tour. Q School was definitely in his immediate future.
Yet somehow it all turned around in October as he came in eighth at the State Farm and made $78,000. The next week he was sixth at Greensboro and banked $151,000. True, Tiger and the boys were at the Ryder Cup and the World Golf Championship across the Atlantic, but then again, two top-10s on the PGA Tour for a struggling rookie were big.
It got bigger the following week at Vegas as Matteson shot 67-65-64-69 for a 22-under-par total. He held off a fast-charging Ben Crane to win the Frys.com Open and pocketed $720,000. He was now exempt on tour through 2008 because of the win.
Matteson closed out the season in fine fashion, finishing four shots back and in a tie for second at Disney World and coming in ninth at the Chrysler in West Palm Beach. He had made just more than $1.5 million in October, had five straight top-10 finishes, totaled $1.75 million for the year, and finished 36th on the money list, good enough for a Master invite.
One single month had saved Troy Matteson”s season. It just may have saved his career. He knew he had the ability to achieve at golf”s highest level. He showed the patience when things appeared to be at their worst. He showed that he had what it takes to be a successful golfer at the highest level. Now, if he”s going to have a long career over the next two decades, he”ll simply need to display that patience over and over again.
