Paycheck Gives Na His Biggest Move Up

Kevin Na, who dropped out of Diamond Bar High at 17 to try his hand at professional golf, earned the biggest paycheck of his rookie year on the PGA Tour last week at the Honda Classic, where he tied for fourth and made $196,875.

Na, who at 20 is the youngest player on the tour, earned his playing privileges for 2004 when he tied for 21st at PGA Tour qualifying school. His week at the Honda moved Na from 143rd to 66th on the money list and allowed him to crack the top 200 in the rankings for the first time at 199.

His parents emigrated from South Korea to Diamond Bar when Na was 8. Na became one of the top junior players in the U.S. and set his sights on a pro golf career, even if it meant skipping college.

He failed at qualifying school twice before making it last fall, but Na was making his mark on the Asian Tour, where he won the 2002 Volvo Masters of Asia and became the youngest winner in that tour’s history at 19.

The first paycheck Na cashed on the PGA Tour was the $16,800 he earned in his debut, when he tied for 41st at the Sony Open. He hadn’t finished better until the Honda and had missed three consecutive cuts.

All that changed with his nine-under 279 at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

“I had a little different attitude,” said Na, who lives in Rancho Cucamonga. “[Two weeks ago] I didn’t want to be on the road. I just wanted to go home. I had almost stopped caring. But I said, you know what, I’m tired, but I’m just going to grind it out, try my best and go home happy.”

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Tiger Woods, who begins his quest today to win Bay Hill for the fifth consecutive time, has won the last four by a total of 20 shots. Last year, he defeated Stewart Cink, Brad Faxon, Kenny Perry and Kirk Triplett by 11 shots.

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Gary Player, 68, was amused that players might be fatigued because of the 36-hole days the last three days of the match play event at La Costa. Said Player: “Anybody getting tired playing 36 holes a day should try lawn bowling instead.”

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Last week at Tucson, Liselotte Neumann observed her 400th tournament in a span of 17 years working with caddie Mark Scott.

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Before he won the Honda Classic, Todd Hamilton was best known for being a 38-year-old rookie on the PGA Tour who earned his first tour card when he tied for 16th at qualifying school after grinding it out for years on the Canadian Tour and Asian Tour.

His career ledger showed only four cuts made in 12 tournaments on the PGA Tour. But at the Honda, Hamilton birdied the last two holes to defeat Davis Love III by one shot, his margin of victory a four-foot putt on the 72nd hole.

Hamilton said later that it was just as he had practiced it growing up back home in Oquawka, Ill.

“When I was a kid, I used to putt in the house to the table leg, so I just pictured a table leg there and it hit the table leg,” he said.

Hamilton had an unusual method in his pre-shot routine on his putt that won the tournament. He bit his lip twice, on purpose.

“Just to wake myself up,” he said.

He moved from 95th to ninth on the money list, and with the top 50 earning invitations to the Masters, Hamilton will get the chance to take his table-leg approach to a greater stage than he probably ever imagined.

Hamilton is the oldest rookie to win since the tour started keeping track of such information in 1970.

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The deadline is Friday to apply for qualifying school for the ASGA Tour, a 15-event tour in two divisions, for players 18-47 and 48 and older. The nearest qualifying is at the 500 Club at Scottsdale, Ariz. Details: www.asgatour.com.

Marcus Allen, Drew Brees, Kellen Winslow, Rolf Benirschke, Leslie O’Neal, Kurt Bevacqua, Alan Thicke, John O’Hurley, Cris Judd and Alfonso Ribeiro are among the celebrities expected to play in the Fresh Start for Kids celebrity tournament April 5 at Morgan Run Resort and Club in Rancho Santa Fe. Details: (760) 632-7770.

Jim Brown, Isaac Curtis, Tommy Davis, Eric Dickerson, Chad Everett, Ed Marinaro, Carlos Palomino and Fred Williamson are among the celebrities expected to take part in the Leon Owens Foundation charity event July 19 at Coyote Hills in Fullerton. The foundation assists in providing funds for education for needy young people. Details: (310) 855-0172.

The 31st Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital Drive Safe tournament will be held May 15 at Valencia Country Club. The event benefits emergency and trauma services at the hospital. Details: (661) 253-8082.