honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, January 7, 2009

LINKED TOGETHER
Dream tour for McLachlins

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Kristy and Parker McLachlin have been touring together on the pro golfing circuit since 2006.

RICHARD AMBO | The Honolulu Advertiser

spacer spacer

MERCEDES-BENZ CHAMPIONSHIP

WHAT: PGA Tour season-opening event featuring 33 of the 2008 tournament champions

WHERE: Kapalua Plantation Course (Par 73)

WHEN: Tomorrow to Sunday, from approximately 10:30 a.m. (10 a.m. Sunday)

TICKETS: $20-$80

TELEVISION: The Golf Channel — tentatively 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. all four rounds

spacer spacer

TOMORROW'S SELECTED PAIRINGS

Kapalua Plantation Course

11:20 a.m.—Steve Lowery, Parker McLachlin

12:50 p.m.—Ernie Els, Kenny Perry

1 p.m.—Justin Leonard, K.J. Choi

1:20 p.m.—Daniel Chopra, Vijay Singh

spacer spacer
Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

A win at the Reno-Tahoe Open earned Parker McLachlin a spot in this week's Mercedes-Benz.

GREGORY YAMAMOTO | The Honolulu Advertiser

spacer spacer
Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Daniel Chopra, of Sweden, will try to defend his title in the Mercedes-Benz Championship, which tees off tomorrow at Kapalua, Maui.

ERIC RISBERG | The Honolulu Advertiser

spacer spacer

2009 MERCEDES-BENZ CHAMPIONSHIP

WHAT: PGA Tour season-opening event

WHERE: Kapalua Plantation Course (Par 36-37—73, 7,411 yards)

WHEN: Tomorrow to Sunday, from approximately 10:30 a.m. (10 a.m. Sunday)

PRO-AM: Today, off Nos. 1 and 10 from 7 a.m. and 11 a.m.

PURSE: $5.6 million ($1,120,000 first prize, plus 2009 Mercedes-Benz SL550)

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Daniel Chopra (18-under 274)

TICKETS: Season pass $80; Pro-Am, first or second round $20 daily; third or fourth round $30 daily. Children 16-under free at gate with ticket-holding adult.

TELEVISION: The Golf Channel — tentatively 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. all four rounds

FREE SHUTTLE: From West Maui locations including Lahaina Cannery Mall, Whaler's Village, Maui Marriott, Hyatt Regency and Sheraton Maui

Mercedes-Benz Championship TEE Times

Kapalua Plantation Course First-round tee times

Tomorrow

First Tee, Hawai'i Times

10:45 a.m.—Marc Turnesa

10:50—Will MacKenzie, Cameron Beckman

11—Dustin Johnson, Davis Love III

11:10—Greg Kraft, Zach Johnson

11:20—Steve Lowery, Parker McLachlin

11:30—Richard S. Johnson, Ryan Palmer

11:40—Johnson Wagner, Sean O'Hair

11:50—Adam Scott, Chez Reavie

Noon—J.B. Holmes, Brian Gay

12:10—Geoff Ogilvy, Boo Weekley

12:20—Ryuji Imada, Andres Romero

12:30—Carl Pettersson, D.J. Trahan

12:40—Trevor Immelman, Stewart Cink

12:50—Ernie Els, Kenny Perry

1—Justin Leonard, K.J. Choi

1:10—Camilo Villegas, Anthony Kim

1:20—Daniel Chopra, Vijay Singh

spacer spacer

There came a time early in Parker and Kristy McLachlin's marriage when they realized the challenge of being together 24/7 was far better than being apart while Parker played professional golf. Their life has been a blur of warm weather, airports, beautiful resorts with beautiful people, resourceful online errands, the best golf atmosphere in the world and laundromats since.

Parker's drive off Kapalua Plantation's first tee tomorrow, in the first round of his first Mercedes-Benz Championship, will be yet another tangible reminder of how far the 1996 Hawai'i high school champion has come. It will also serve as sweet evidence of the part Kristy, his wife of four years, has played.

"The first three years I was playing professionally we weren't together so that was a strain on our relationship," Parker said. "For me, playing professional golf is really exciting and something I always dreamed about doing. The challenge of trying to get better and see how good I can become is real exciting. It's definitely an added bonus for Kristy to be there."

Added Kristy: "Now we can go out for as short or long as he wants. It's totally based on his energy and his game. I think if I was home and he had a pull to come home he would do it more based on us and family rather than on his own judgment."

As glamorous as tour life sounds, the choice was somewhat tough to make. Ultimately, the McLachlins figured now was the time to do it, before they started a family and had other obligations. Kristy started touring with Parker when he played on the Nationwide Tour in 2006, through his graduation to the PGA Tour in 2007 and his breakthrough 2008 season. He won the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open last year to qualify for Mercedes, tripling his earnings ($1.3 million) and moving up nearly 200 spots in the World Golf Ranking.

The couple met at the wedding of pro golfer Jason Allred six years ago. He is Kristy's "hanai cousin" and her family's only connection to golf. When she first told her parents what Parker did for a living, they asked what his "real job" was. She has never played the game nor has any real urge to try it.

Now, her parents are nearly as caught up in Parker madness as his — former Hawai'i high school athletic directors and coaches Chris and Beth. And, while Punahou graduate Parker works with a new swing coach and maps out 2009 golf goals, Kristy is right with him, taking care of anything and everything that could be a distraction.

Being together nearly every moment, "and me being present at his work, which is unusual" remains a learning process going into its fourth year. Kristy takes care of all the logistics involved in traveling the tour some 30 weeks a year, which is a $200,000 undertaking.

And Parker ... "I just kind of show up," he joked.

They fly to events Sunday night, spend Monday exploring the next new city. Often they do laundry — "maybe the most non-glamourous part of the tour," according to Kristy.

While he practices Tuesday and Wednesday, she is basically chained to her computer inside the hotel or private housing, paying bills and planning trips.

She breaks free a few hours Wednesdays to be with the PGA Tour Wives Association, which often schedules projects in tour cities. Last year, it helped build a Habitat for Humanity house in New Orleans and sent CARE packages to soldiers as a followup to a Texas luncheon with Women of Operation Homefront, which supports troops, families left behind and wounded soldiers and their families.

She watches Parker play tournament days, usually missing the front nine Sunday so she can pack up, check out and get ready to do it all again.

There are no complaints. Where else can Parker live out his dream and both of them see the country, drive a courtesy car each week, get over the disappointment of a missed cut at Fenway Park, sit in the front row of "Jersey Boys" on Broadway and eat at unique restaurants?

Parker and Kristy post a blog on parkermclachlin.com that tries to take fans "inside and outside the ropes" and, apparently, make them hungry. The couple searches out "exotic" and "hole-in-the-wall" local eating establishments. Some of their best finds last year were in Moline, Ill. — especially Whitey's Ice Cream, famous for shakes so thick they can be turned upside down with nothing spilling out — and Playa del Carmen, Mexico, where they ate shrimp tacos, guacamole, and arrachera (flank steak) all week, followed by cribbage games at sunset.

The McLachlins often spend off-the-course time with Matt and Sybi Kuchar and golfers they came up with from the Nationwide Tour. Movies and sporting events — this year they hope to watch brother Spencer and his Stanford volleyball team play — are a favorite pastime. Some of their most memorable moments last year were watching six fireworks shows from their hotel room July 4 in Washington, D.C., sipping wine at Harriman State Park in New Jersey and watching a "Justin Timberlake And Friends" concert until 1 a.m. at the Las Vegas tour stop.

Overall, they try to make the best of what they realize is a blessed situation. Last month, they took a vacation to Italy the same week as Qualifying School, a symbolic gesture after Parker advanced from the last two Q-schools. This week on Maui, they tried to set aside the last four days for each other before the "grind" of another season begins.

"I'm looking forward to Mercedes," Parker said. "I'm not sure what to expect with only 30-something guys there. I'm used to having 140 guys. I think that will be interesting. It probably won't feel like a normal tour event, maybe a little more relaxed and intimate.

"I'm thinking of it as a great opportunity on a golf course I've played a lot of times. I'm hoping to impart some of that local knowledge. It's a great opportunity to finish top five and win. The odds go up a lot with 30-something guys. To me, it will be a sweet opportunity to try and notch my second victory."

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.