After tying for 20th at the Atlantic Coast Conference golf tournament last month, Chesson Hadley decided it was time to go back to basics. He headed for the putting green, armed with his trusty Odyssey Two-Ball putter and an agenda for improvement.

Hadley, a sophomore at Georgia Tech, methodically began his putting drills. First step: Make 100 three-footers. Second step: make 50 four-footers. The idea was to regain some confidence by seeing a succession of golf balls drop into the cup.

"I haven't made as many putts as I should have," Hadley said. "I haven't been scoring since I played well in Vegas. I just couldn't get them to go. The three-footers are pretty easy, but the four-footers are more difficult."

The drills have helped Hadley, which should aid Georgia Tech at this week's NCAA Central Regional qualifier in Columbus. The Yellow Jackets need to finish among the top 10 teams to advance to the NCAA championships May 28-31 in West Lafayette, Ind.

It didn't take the skinny, long-hitting Hadley much time to make an impact on the program after he arrived as a freshman in 2006 from Raleigh, N.C. After a period of adjustment in the fall, Hadley became one of the team's best performers late in the spring, when he tied for ninth at the ACC Championship, finished seventh at the NCAA East Regional and tied for fourth at the NCAA Championship. He was named honorable mention All-American.

It's been another good year for Hadley, who was at one time ranked as the No. 1 player in the country by GolfWeek. He won the Carpet Capital Collegiate in the fall and has had a solid, but not spectacular spring.

"It's been different this year," he said. "I was coming from behind and I didn't have any pressure. It was, just go play. This year I've got a lot of confidence, but I've also had a lot more pressure."

Now ranked No. 9, Hadley was named all-ACC, as was teammate Cameron Tringale. Hadley learned last month that he had been chosen to compete on the U.S. Palmer Cup team, a Ryder Cup-type competition featuring the nation's top college players. He's also a finalist for the Ben Hogan Award, given annually to the nation's best amateur, and the Jack Nicklaus Award, given to the college player of the year.

"I was ecstatic when I found out (about the Palmer Cup)," Hadley said. "I didn't really even think about it, but I'm looking forward to going to Scotland to represent my country."