Waiting Game : DeForest, 28-Year-Old Tour Rookie, Has Played in Only 8 of 21 Tournaments This Season

John DeForest expected life as a rookie on the PGA Tour would be difficult. Six months into the season, his expectations have been met.

At 28, DeForest is old as rookies go. He spent four years playing small tournaments up and down the East Coast, before earning his Tour card at qualifying school in 1984.

“I knew it would be tough,” said DeForest, who was among the early leaders at the Westchester tournament. “But by playing well and keeping a good attitude I thought I would at least have an opportunity to keep plugging away.”

However, his first six months have been a lesson in the reality of being a rookie on the Tour.

DeForest earned his Tour card by finishing in the top 50 at the PGA qualifying school. But instead of being allowed to compete with the PGA’s best, DeForest has spent much of the first half of the year waiting for a chance to tee off.

The all-exempt tour, instituted in 1983, has made it nearly impossible for rookies to play in the bigger tournaments. There are a number of criteria sponsors go by when filling fields for their tournaments. The first to be offered spots are big-name players and special exemptions, followed by tournament winners from the past year, then players among the top 125 money winners who have not been invited. After that come players from the qualifying school, in order of ranking.

That means DeForest has been doing a lot of waiting. He has played in just eight of the 21 tournaments held this year. In two of those tournaments he entered by paying $100 and earning one of four spots in a qualifer which is held the Monday before each tournament.

“A rookie is definitely at a disadvantage,” DeForest said. “You can’t select the tournaments; you have to play whenever you can. It’s not fair, but it’s his only chance to make it on the tour.”

In his last year playing the smaller tournaments DeForest made $38,000. This year he has made just two cuts and earned $2,000. He has also made about $10,000 playing in the pro-ams and other inducements that come with playing on the tour.

To minimize his risk DeForest put together a group of sponsors from his hometown of Catskill in upstate New York to subsidize him while he tries to make the big-time. He said almost all rookies use sponsors when they first set out.

“They (his sponsors) put up $45,000 which covers all my expenses,” DeForest said. “So I don’t have any fear of going broke. They get 75% of my winnings, which I think is very fair.”

Although his financial fears have been removed, DeForest, whose manner is deliberate both on and off the course, has put himself on a limited time schedule.

He has to think about his wife JoAnne and 3-year old son John.

“I’m trying to be patient, but if I don’t make it and re-qualify for next year, if I can’t get through the first year, then I’ll have to move on to something else,” he said.

Nonetheless, like all who chase a dream, DeForest sees more of the positive side than the negative. He claims he’ll be making more tournaments in the last half of the season as the bigger players take time off for the summer.

And all it takes is a couple of good finishes to make the top 125 on the money list. It can happen. Consider the victory by rookie Bill Glasson in the Kemper Open.

“All I need is one second place finish or a couple of top tens,” DeForest said. “If I make it through the first year then I think I’ll be around for a long, long time.”