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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, July 17, 2008

GOLF REPORT
Playing in Milwaukee not a major letdown

 •  Shooting his age would be icing on cake for 90-year-old

By Parker McLachlin
Special to The Advertiser

2006 Hawai'i golf calendar
See a listing of all Hawai'i golf events this year.

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Aloha from Milwaukee,

Playing in a tournament that runs against a major championship isn't fun. I want to be in the major and I want to be competing against the best.

Do I feel like I'm at an advantage playing against a "weaker" field? It really doesn't matter if it's a great field or a weak field. You still have to play good golf. What does matter, though, is if we are playing in a tournament with or without Tiger Woods.

I remember this being a really good golf course. It's a public course, kind of like Torrey Pines. We play a lot of TPC courses and country clubs, and this is one of the very few public courses that we play. I appreciate playing public courses, as you all know I grew up on public courses. It's like having a tour event at Ala Wai, the course many of you know I grew up playing. The city and county of Milwaukee runs this place, and that's very unique out on the PGA Tour.

My goal is to be in the top 70 of the money list and I'm looking for a good finish this week or next week, which would get me into the PGA Championship.

A lot has been made out here recently of Kenny Perry winning three of the last five events but then "passing" on playing the majors — the U.S. Open and the British Open. I think with Kenny, he started out the year with a game plan to make the Ryder Cup. That was his goal because it's in his home state of Kentucky. He got so single minded and focused on doing that, that the major championships (U.S. Open, British Open) were not part of his plan. For Kenny, the plan has paid off. He's going to be playing in the Ryder Cup, which is his dream. At 48 years old, with the opportunity to play for your country in front of your home fans is going to be very exciting for him.

What's impressed me about Kenny is that he committed to Milwaukee a long time ago and didn't want to bail out on the tournament here. I think that's admirable. Even though he's probably the hottest player in the world right now, it's cool that he's staying in the states and putting on a show in front of all these fans here in Milwaukee. To Kenny, it's not about the money and the fame. He set out to make the Ryder Cup team and he's going to accomplish that goal. He still shows up at the pro ams on Monday, even though he's the hottest player in the entire world right now.

While I'm playing this week on the PGA Tour, my British Open pick is Aaron Baddaley. Aaron has the makings of a young star on Tour, and Australians have always done well at Royal Birkdale. While this postcard is coming to you from Milwaukee, I'm hoping that next year's postcard at this time comes to you from Great Britain.

Parker McLachlin can be reached at www.parkermclachlin.com

Join us as we take a tour on the PGA Tour with Parker McLachlin, a former Punahou athlete. McLachlin earned his PGA Tour card for this season. He joins Castle alum Dean Wilson as the only Hawai'i golfers on the PGA Tour. McLachlin, Waikoloa's touring pro, will write his impressions on events that he's just completed and tournaments that are upcoming on his calendar.