Wilson seeks to finish season with flourish
| • | Michael Castillo gets promoted at Po'ipu |
| • | Kop final points leader for Burns Challenge Cup |
| • | Holes in one |
| • | Tour money leaders |
| • | Golf notices |
By Bill Kwon
Special to The Advertiser
Nothing better exemplifies the "haves" and the "have-nots" in the world of golf than the roads taken this week by Vijay Singh and Hawai'i's Dean Wilson.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
Ranked No. 1 and simply playing out of this world and out of his mind, Singh is trying to become golf's first $10 Million Man in a single season.
Dean Wilson is No. 125 on the money list with $514,311. The top 125 players on the money list are exempt for the 2005 season.
Wilson, not among the 200 golfers ranked, is just trying to keep his 2005 PGA Tour playing privileges.
Singh has the luxury of passing up the limited-field WGC-American Express Championship starting today in Ireland, and still should be able to easily reach his goal even if he took more than a week off. He withdrew to see to his hurricane-damaged Florida home.
On the other hand, it is imperative that Wilson play in the Southern Farm Bureau Classic, also starting today in Mississippi, to scratch out a high enough finish to add to the $514,311 he has earned so far this year, putting him 125th on the money list.
It is a precarious position.
With five events remaining, not including the Tour Championship limited to the top-30 money leaders, Wilson is right on the bubble.
The top 125 players are exempt for next year. The next 25 players on the money list (from 126 to 150) can enter only events that need to fill the field.
It is a bubble that can easily burst.
With more than 60 of the world's top players, minus Singh and Phil Mickelson, competing in the Amex Championship, the PGA Tour event this week affords a good opportunity for players on the bubble to improve their money rankings.
Wilson did just that at the Valero Texas Open when 24 of the best players from America and Europe were playing in the Ryder Cup.
The 35-year-old Kane'ohe native has made an incredible late-season drive to keep his card, which seemed an almost impossible task in mid-July when he missed the cut at the B.C. Open, failing to survive the weekend for the sixth straight tournament.
In fact, he hadn't earned a paycheck for three months — from May 10 through July 25 — when he finally broke through by finishing tied for 22nd in the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee to earn $33,600.
Since then, however, Wilson has been on a roll, earning nearly $400,000 to move up the money ranks. He recorded his career best finish, a tie for third, and collected his largest paycheck of $203,000 in the Valero Texas Open.
His previous bests had been a tie for sixth in the 2003 Chrysler Classic of Tucson and $168,700 in the 2003 Wachovia Championship when he tied for seventh.
He will need another similar paycheck or two to keep his playing card, or it's back to the arduous grind of Q-School again.
Wilson has a lot of fans here — and in Las Vegas, where he resides — rooting for him.
One of the remaining events he is definitely looking forward to is the Michelin Championship in Las Vegas.
He finished tied for 14th in the then-Las Vegas Invitational last year to earn $70,000, enabling him to finish 98th on the money list with $654,345, despite missing the cut in the final two regular-season events of the season.
Phengsavath's world
Then, there is yet a far different world of golf for Joe Phengsavath, where winning the Waikoloa Open's top prize of $5,000 is a big deal indeed.
Phengsavath
It will go a long way to help meet expenses when he goes to Malaysia for the Asian Tour qualifying school in January.
"It was a good weekend vacation," said Phengsavath, a former Hawai'i State Amateur champion who turned pro to try and qualify for the Sony Open in Hawai'i in January.
He shot a 2-under 214 at the Waikoloa Village Course to win his first open championship locally.
Not bad considering Phengsavath, who was born in Laos but moved to Hawai'i when he was 6, took up golf less than 10 years ago. Racquetball had been his sport before, as he won back-to-back national titles in 1989 and 1990 while still a student at McKinley High School.
Phengsavath, 29, plans to play in three November tournaments, including the Hawai'i State Open at the Hawai'i Prince Golf Course and the Governor's Cup at the Mid-Pacific Country Club before leaving for the Asian Tour School Qualifying.
It is a possibility that Regan Lee and Norman-Ganin Asao may try to qualify as well, according to Phengsavath.
Bill Kwon can be reached at bkwon@aloha.net.
