La Quinta, California ..
Rod Pampling heads into this week’s Farmers Insurance Open with a huge plus over many of his 20-something PGA Tour competitors and that he has competed alongside Tiger Woods.
‘Pamps’ knows what it is like to compete in a tournament featuring Woods and also how to deal with the buzz and excitement of playing alongside the 14-time Major Champion.
Woods returns to official PGA Tour competition exactly a year after a clearly then still injured golfer hopelessly missed the cut at Torrey Pines and a week before withdrawing after just one round of the Dubai Desert Classic.
It was not to early last month that Woods seemingly proved to the world he was fully-fit to return to the Tour after a superb ninth place in his own Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.
Rod Pampling tees off his 18th 2018 Career Builder Challenge with playing partner and fellow Aussie Geoff Ogilvy looking on.
“Seeing Tiger back on the Tour is going to be great and we all interested in what he’s going to do and I think if his head is in the right place, I think it could be a very interesting week,” said Pampling.
“That is where I feel Tiger has been lacking the last few years and that is he had looked as though he didn’t want to be there.
“Whereas now, and if he comes back and his head in the game, it is will be very exciting and it will be nice to see how this younger brigade of golfers was react in getting a dose of what Tiger had been handing out to all of us for so long.
“The great thing is that Tiger looks good and his body, as I mentioned, also looks injury-free and that is what we all wish.
Rod Pampling and Geoff Ogilvy 2018 Career Builder Challenge (Image – www.golfbytourmiss.com)
“Tiger for so long was so far ahead of everyone else and the great thing is that I personally have so many great memories of playing practice rounds with Tiger and then playing in competition with him.
“There was so many times that you just sit back and watch him and wondered then what you needed to do yourself because for so long Tiger just had it over all of us, and it was just ridiculous.
“Look, you could have the top-nine in the world playing in three groups of three and Tiger could play with me and whoever and we would easily have a bigger crowd out following than the three three-balls.
“It is just crazy what he brings to the table and that’s the aspect of the Tour that has been missing as you just don’t have those roars when he is around along with the mass crowds.
“So, I can’t wait for next week.”
Pampling will now get to Torrey Pines early after missing the halfway cut in his opening event of 2018 – the Career Builder Challenge at La Quinta in California.
The proud Queenslander found himself paired with fellow Aussie Geoff Ogilvy for the opening three rounds before missing Saturday’s cut with scores of 77, 66 and 73 for a one-over par tally.
It was Pampling’s first event since sharing 11th place some six weeks ago in the Australian PGA Championship at Royal Pines. Since then ‘Pamp’s’ has been chilling out taking in the Ashes Series from the comfort of his loungeroom and also spending time with the family at Noosa Heads.
This year marks his 16th season on the PGA Tour and for a player who has won three times and earned just shy of $US 16m in prizemoney.
And while having turned 48 last September, and with many already ear-marking him for the Champions Tour, Pampling is confident he can remain competitive on the ‘main’ tour otherwise he would not be teeing-up on golf’s richest stage.
“It is good to get back into the deep end and get the feet wet after a long break and I only arrived back in the States from Australia last Wednesday, so looking forward to another season,” he said.
“I’ve had a good break and while it is annoying to miss the cut there was plenty of positives in my game, so looking forward to Torrey Pines.
“So, it’s nice to shake off the cobwebs and looking forward to the New Year.
“I had a good couple of weeks up at Noosa and took the clubs with me and then also had a few rounds at R Q (Royal Queensland) before jetting back over here so it has not been a break where I didn’t touch the clubs.
“The good also is that it’s good to get three rounds under the belt at the Career and while I have goals this year like getting back to Augusta and play the four Majors, but then I am not that worried that much anymore.
“I just want to give myself chances and to have a couple of chances throughout the year when I am in contention as it’s fun to get into that situation and really test yourself.
“Unfortunately, at 48 years-of-age (smiling) you need that but when you up there and have that chance of winning then that is when this game is really exciting as you still want to be locked-in to a fight when it does come down to a crunch.
“The thing also I don’t think I would like to be taking up a place here on the Tour if I didn’t think I wasn’t competitive as I know I can still compete at this level.
“And in saying that, I know if I can play well a given week I can still be three-quarters of the field.”
