Wilson won the consolation match to finish third. He earned $600,000. That pushed his career earnings to over $12.6 million. He also went to a career-high No. 24 in the world ranking. BY DOUG FERGUSON | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ADVERTISING
BY DOUG FERGUSON | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — The definition of a star on the PGA Tour can go beyond trophies, career money or Ryder Cup teams.
Tour officials were looking for a couple of players to be partners with two important clients during the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am two weeks ago. They settled on Ryan Palmer and Jason Bohn, two personable characters with five career wins between them.
The amateurs?
Mike Glenn, the executive vice president of market development of FedEx, which was in the final stages of renewing its sponsorship; and Brian Roberts, chairman and CEO of Comcast, which owns NBC Sports and The Golf Channel.
“I was pretty honored when the tour called me and Bohn,” Palmer said. “I guess they knew how outgoing we’d be. They said they wanted us to play with clients, but they didn’t tell us who. We got there and found out we were playing with two of the biggest check-writers in the business.”
Bohn took the unusual step of emailing their amateurs and inviting them to play a practice round on Wednesday. Teams typically don’t hook up until the tournament begins Thursday, but they figured it would be time well spent instead of spending the first hour or two in competition getting to know each other.
“We had a little game with them,” Palmer said. “We made sure we kept it small. We can’t afford what they can. We had lunch in the Tap Room afterward and we hit it off.”
It got even better.
Bohn and Palmer planned to grill steaks Friday night. They made a deal that if one of them shot 7-under 65, and they combined to post a 10-under par, they would splurge on a magnum of Caymus Special Selection cabernet sauvignon.
They talked about it all day Friday, but they failed to get it done.
“We show up Saturday morning at Monterey Peninsula, and the bottle of Caymus is sitting between the tees on No. 1,” Palmer said. “Brian had done it. It was in the morning, cloudy, real cool, and we get to the tee box and bam! A magnum of that Caymus. He had one of his assistants take care of it, and when we got done, he gave it to me. I’m holding it like a baby.”
THE JOURNEY
During weeks like the Match Play Championship, when Mark Wilson drives a courtesy car to The Ritz-Carlton to play for $8.5 million in prize money, it’s easy for him to remember how far he came.
After reaching the semifinals last week at Dove Mountain, he talked about his early days out of North Carolina when he began his journey on the mini-tours and played for money to pay the rent. OK, that was a slight exaggeration, but only because he lived at home.
“I was living with my parents and out of my Volkswagen,” said Wilson, who drove a 1998 Jetta. “That’s life on the mini tour. I was chasing my dream. I wouldn’t change my story at all. Those three or four years on the mini tour makes me appreciate more what we have out here. I remember the days of the loneliness out there and trying to find your game.”
There were not many five-star hotels. Some were lucky to have a street lamp.
“There was a place in Jacksonville, Ark.,” Wilson said when asked about the low point in his lodging. “There were a lot of critters in the room with me and my roommate. There was certainly no ironing board — not only in the room, but at the front desk. It makes me appreciate, like I said, the Ritz-Carlton.”
Wilson won the consolation match to finish third. He earned $600,000. That pushed his career earnings to over $12.6 million. He also went to a career-high No. 24 in the world ranking.
