For Na, It’s a Return to His Roots

Kevin Na doesn’t remember much about his first visit to Riviera Country Club.

It was in 1995 and he was 11, so his memory of it is limited.

“I just thought it was pretty cool to be out here,” he said.

Na, 22, is on the other side of the ropes now. The youngest member of the PGA Tour, he shot an opening-round, three-under-par 68 Thursday and broke par at Riviera for the first time in three appearances in the Nissan Open. He’s four shots off the lead.

But some things haven’t changed. “It’s still cool to be out here,” he said.

And quite a relief for him this year. Na, who attended Diamond Bar High and lives in Rancho Cucamonga, is making his season debut this week.

He missed the first five events because he broke a bone in his right hand in early January when an automatic door closed on it. It was a tough break, so to speak, because it kept Na from playing in Phoenix, where last year he was runner-up to Phil Mickelson.

But missing Riviera wasn’t an option. This is his hometown event, so even though he said his hand is only about 85% healed, he entered the tournament.

“I kind of pushed it to play this week,” Na said. “The doctor said it would be all right. I wasn’t 100%, but ... I wanted to play.”

He was getting antsy anyway. He has been playing golf for almost 15 years and isn’t accustomed to time off.

“While I was hurt I was itching to play,” he said. “I realized how much I liked being out here and learned how to appreciate it.”

This is the third year in a row that Na is the youngest player on the PGA Tour. He skipped his senior year in high school and turned pro at 17 after he reached No. 1 in the national junior golf rankings. He played two years on the Asian Tour before earning his PGA Tour card through qualifying school.

It’s surprising, he said, that he is still the youngest player.

“I sure don’t feel like it,” he said. “It’s my third year. I know I am, but even though I’m younger, there are still rookies so I can give them a hard time.”

Na finished 87th on the 2004 money list -- well within the top-125 cutoff to keep his card. In 2005, a pair of early runner-up finishes helped secure his card again. Three weeks after the Phoenix tournament, Na lost in a playoff at the Chrysler Classic of Tucson.

Na finished 67th on the season money list with $1,095,204.

“He’s going to be a force to be reckoned with out here,” said tournament co-leader Justin Rose, paired with Na on Thursday.

Rose knows a thing or two about turning pro early. He did it at 17 in 1998 and was the youngest on the European Tour. Rose struggled before gaining confidence, but said he was impressed with how Na has handled himself.

“He’s very confident,” Rose said. “He seems to know what he’s doing and he’s got a lot of belief in himself and as long as he keeps that, he’s going to do well.

“He’s got a very different game than a lot of the young kids coming through.... There are going to be plenty of courses out on tour that he’s going to be able to shoot very well.”

Riviera seemed to be one of them Thursday. Na birdied his first three holes and was briefly tied for the lead after he birdied his 10th and 11th holes to get to five under, before bogeys on his 13th and 18th put him back at three under.

“I was hitting it real well, so I had some hope,” said Na, who has undergone some swing changes after missing the cut in 13 of his last 26 events last year. “It was a pretty solid round for the first round of the year.”