Todd Hamilton is happy to be playing, and winning, on PGA Tour.
By BOB HARIG
Published March 25, 2004
PONTE VEDRA BEACH - The trip to the office can be fraught with frustration, but don't bother talking to Todd Hamilton about your long commute. He has the worst story beat by miles, all of them through the air.
Until he made it to the PGA Tour this year, becoming a "rookie" at age 38 and winning the Honda Classic two weeks ago, Hamilton used to travel from his home in Dallas to Japan, typically five times a year. He did this for 12 consecutive seasons on the Japan Tour.
Talk about your frequent flyer miles.
And that's just getting there. Having endured the 14-hour flight to Tokyo, Hamilton spent 4-6 weeks playing before returning to Texas for a two- or three-week break. Then he'd do it again.
"It was a big culture shock," Hamilton said. "If you don't play well in a strange country or a foreign spot, it's not like I could get in my car and drive down and see a movie on a Saturday afternoon after I had missed the cut or go shopping at the mall. It was really difficult, and it almost forced you to play well.
"I remember a stretch where I went over for six weeks and missed every cut. It was probably the longest month and a half I've ever had playing golf. It was so boring. I did have a portable DVD machine that I took over there, but you can only watch 15 movies so many times."
Hamilton has no such worries now. After eight trips through the PGA Tour's Qualifying Tournament, five years on the Asian Tour and those 12 in Japan, he made it where he always thought he should be: the PGA Tour.
And then, almost out of nowhere, he won the Honda Classic in the 18th PGA Tour event of his career. Hamilton rallied with two birdies on the final two holes March 14 to defeat Davis Love by a stroke. They were his only birdies of the day.
"For 16 holes I played like Hulk Hogan," he said. "And for two holes I played like Ben Hogan."
Hamilton also surpassed Hogan's career earnings in one day, banking $900,000 - nearly as much as he earned for winning four times in Japan last year - and secured a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour. Today he begins his first Players Championship at the TPC-Sawgrass, one of the many perks for his win. In two weeks he plays his first Masters. In January it's the Mercedes Championships for winners only in Hawaii.
It has been a long time coming for Hamilton, who grew up in Oquawaka, Ill. (population 1,500), where he learned golf on a nine-hole course. He played college golf at Oklahoma, where he was a first-team All-American in 1987, then set out to play the PGA Tour. And he could never get there.
He went to Asia and played in such places as Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia and Pakistan. Winning the Asian Tour's Order of Merit in 1992 gave him a one-year exemption in Japan, which had a bigger and more lucrative tour.
That's where he had success. He won 11 times in Japan, and though he never was where he wanted to be, he managed to make a nice living playing golf.
"It was just a matter of getting through the hurdles to get here," he said.
After those five initial trips through the qualifying tournament in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Hamilton didn't try again until 2001. He failed again after the 2002 season, but with an exemption into the final stage last year because of his play in Japan, Hamilton took advantage by finishing 16th (the top 30 earn cards).
"I think dreaming of playing on the PGA Tour since I was a kid and just finally getting out here it relieved a lot of pressure," he said. "I've been fortunate to play golf for a living. But there was always something that I didn't have, and that was my PGA Tour card. If I did nothing else, just getting the card I did what I wanted to do since I was a kid.
"There's probably a lot of other golfers who deserve it more talent-wise, but no one will appreciate it more."
Hamilton looks forward to returning to Japan - for a two-tournament trip this year. And no doubt, he will travel in first class.
