For a die-hard Bayou Bengal from LSU, Georgia has long been a productive haven for David Toms.
Toms has enjoyed great success in Georgia, the highlight being his victory at the 2001 PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club. Now, having been on the PGA Tour Champions circuit for less than four months, he hopes to strike gold this week at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic at TPC Sugarloaf.
“Really good memories here,” Toms said. “Winning the PGA here, winning at Callaway Gardens, another good finish at the PGA (tied for fourth in 2011) at the Athletic Club and some good finishes over the years at the BellSouth. I’ve been here a long time.”
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The defining moment for Toms was the 2001 PGA, a victory that elevated his stature in the sport and opened plenty of doors. Whether it was the hole-in-one during the third round — which Toms said was his best shot during the remarkable week — or the wedge and putt o the 72nd hole to win the title and deny Phil Mickelson his first major championship, it was an unforgettable week and led to him being ranked among the top-10 players in the world for
“I remember hitting a lot of good shots, even some big up-and-downs early in the week to keep rounds going,” Toms said. “Everything fell into place and obviously the putter was good all week.
“It was one of those weeks that was just kind of magical. I couldn’t explain. I wasn’t playing that great going in but I thought I was close. That’s what happens sometimes. You get on a roll at a place you like to play and have some good results and it can turn pretty quickly.”
Since Toms is not in the Thursday pro-am at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic, he was planning to visit the Athletic Club and catch up with some old friends.
“We’re going to slide over there and play a little bit of golf, at least have some lunch, and bring back some memories,” Toms said.
Since he turned 50 on Jan. 4, Toms has been trying to create some new memories. After five starts on PGA Tour Champions, he ranks 19th on the money list, with his best showing a tie for fourth in the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai. He tied for 54th in his most recent start at the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic.
Toms remained competitive on the PGA Tour to the very end. He played 19 events last season, made the cut in 12 and finished second at the Sanderson Farms Championship. But he missed the cut at the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship and was eliminated after the first round of the FedEx Cup playoffs.
And when his birthday came around, Toms was ready to move to the Champions tour, where the tips of the tees aren’t quite as tippy.
“It’s kind of nice to be one of the young guys instead of being one of the old guys out there playing on the regular tour,” he said. “It’s very difficult to compete, but the courses are such that if you play well, I feel I can shoot a good score on them. Whereas on the Tour, some of them are so difficult the way they set it up and the length they play, you can play decent and not even shoot under par. It’s a lot more fun for sure. A lot more laid back.”
There’s another bonus, too.
“Taking a cart around on this (Sugarloaf) golf course is the pro-am was pretty nice, too,” he said with a smile.
Toms doesn’t have any specific goals for his rookie season. He certainly doesn’t expect to come in and dominate.
“I guess people hafe expectations of you to do really well if you’ve come straight off the PGA Tour,” he said. “But at the same time, it’s still golf. You’ve still got to play, you’ve still got to make putts, hit fairways and play against guys that have been the greats in the game forever.
“My expectations are to go out here and have fun and work hard on my game, continue to prepare for tournaments like I always have and take what I get.”
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Tee times
(THURSDAY)
First tee, morning
7:25 AM
Amateur: Silverio Colalancia, David Mueller, Tom Boney, Andy Kantor
Pro: Mark Brooks
7:35 AM
Amateur: Chris Breier, Rick Foster, Guillermo Juvera, Brett Sher
Pro: Jerry Smith
7:45 AM
Amateur: Dennis Cobb, Gino Frissora, Kevin McHugh, Edward Smith
Pro: Kevin Sutherland
7:55 AM
Amateur: John Schraudenbach, Steve Fisher, Les Bethune, Tripp Seitter
Pro: Jesper Parnevik
8:05 AM
Amateur: Scott Bull, Dean Datre, William McNutt, Mark Werthman
Pro: Kirk Triplett
8:15 AM
Amateur: Mike Dillard, Steve McCullers, Donald Benjamin, Ed Saxon
Pro: Scott Dunlap
8:25 AM
Amateur: Brian Batchelor, Dan Spinetto, Bobby Causey, Bo Causey
Pro: Scott McCarron
8:35 AM
Amateur: Thomas Slechta, Steve Tsukui, Gary Werner, Mark Dunlap
Pro: Jay Haas
8:45 AM
Amateur: Jeff Wessels, Chris Goede, Randy Beber, James Garvie
Pro: Mark O’Meara
8:55 AM
Amateur: Jerry Brown, John Maxwell, Corey Baker, Pete Peterson
Pro: Bernhard Langer
9:05 AM
Amateur: Kent Hora, John Mieras, Mike Robinson, Tammy Savoie
Pro: Miguel Angel Jimenez
First tee, afternoon
12:15 PM
Amateur: Reece Whitley, Mitch Whitley, Greg Cottrell, Ed Davis
Pro: Woody Austin
12:25 PM
Amateur: Pedro Cherry, Milfred McGirt, Eddie Meyers, Jerome Russell
Pro: Billy Andrade
12:35 PM
Amateur: Kazuhisa Nishikawa, Makoto Yoshizawa, Kazuyuki Hijimoto, TBD
Pro: Larry Nelson
12:45 PM
Amateur: Jimmy Britt, Ed Zipperer, Sammy Fowler, Peter Lambo
Pro: Fred Funk
12:55 PM
Amateur: Wayne Bartlett, Evan Bartlett, Joey Perry, Mark Papanicolaou
Pro: Joe Durant
1:05 PM
Amateur: Luther Brown, Gregg Brown, Moe Galante, Ron Griswold
Pro: Olin Browne
1:15 PM
Amateur: Michael Reiner, Clay Crumbliss, Russ Kiefer, Ben Harris
Pro: Jay Don Blake
1:25 PM
Amateur: Phil Wolfe, Charles Oglesby, Manfred Sandler, Dick Bishop
Pro: Tommy Armour III
1:35 PM
Amateur: Bradley Keeter, Norm Patterson, Eddie Fields, Patrick Burnette
Pro: Marco Dawson
1:45 PM
Amateur: David Weaver, Brad Nelson, Billy Horne, Shaun Rosemonod
Pro: Roger Chapman
1:55 PM
Amateur: Richard Drye, Terence Karshagen, Jeff Shaner, Mike Young
Pro: Brian Henninger
10th tee, morning
7:25 AM
Amateur: Brent Del Toro, Hugh Drumm, Bob Polito, Ron Young
Pro: Paul Goydos
7:35 AM
Amateur: Ryan Allen, Jarrad Jones, John Piro, John Reynolds
Pro: Tom Byrum
7:45 AM
Amateur: George Judd, Jason Joice, Scott Mello, Mike McGaugh
Pro: Mike Goodes
7:55 AM
Amateur: Steve Richards, Tom McGill, Buck Belue, Drew Taylor
Pro: Brandt Jobe
8:05 AM
Amateur: James Brys, Troy Griffith, Sam Hoff, Ernest Newell
Pro: Esteban Toledo
8:15 AM
Amateur: Allen Walker, Trey Gavin, Mark Gatlin, Arthur Gavin
Pro: Tom Pernice Jr.
8:25 AM
Amateur: Scott Graham, Thomas Lynott, Kyle Steffen, Naofumi Hara
Pro: Gene Sauers
8:35 AM
Amateur: Bob Douglas, David Feldman, Jeff Paikin, Suzanne Wiltshire
Pro: Jeff Sluman
8:45 AM
Amateur: David Reed, Barry Danz, Dennis Y’Barbo, Tom Porter
Pro: Jose Maria Olazábal
8:55 AM
Amateur: Joseph Cervantes, Bradley Larsen, Rod Lynch, Vince O’Toole
Pro: Andy North
9:05 AM
Amateur: Jeff Beyer, Scott Boxer, Tom Dowling, Atsuhiro Yabu
Pro: Tom Watson
10th tee, afternoon
12:15 PM
Amateur: Tim Arnold, Richard Keene, Shawn Tokanel, Scott Maness
Pro: Jeff Maggert
12:25 PM
Amateur: Jason Chandler, Clyde Strickland, Ken Strickland, Mike Strickland
Pro: Joey Sindelar
12:35 PM
Amateur: Michael Kidney, Charlie Collat, Jerry Hayes, Justin Gallagher
Pro: Steve Pate
12:45 PM
Amateur: Edries Rahman, Shane Slocum, Michael Slocum, Mike Slocum
Pro: David Frost
12:55 PM
Amateur: Jake Powell, Wendell Wright, Kyle Branch, Chris Fitzgerald
Pro: Sandy Lyle
1:05 PM
Amateur: Mike Hughes, Kevin Kester, Michael Stainback, Adam Wheeler
Pro: Duffy Waldorf
1:15 PM
Amateur: Kevin O’Brien, Eric Thomas, Grant Thomas, James Hauer
Pro: Carlos Franco
1:25 PM
Amateur: Jeremy Hainline, Steve Willy, Ben Schmidt, Whitney Crouse
Pro: Ian Woosnam
1:35 PM
Amateur: Victor Ragland, James Ryan, Larry Holmes, Ricardo McMillian
Pro: Paul Broadhurst
1:45 PM
Amateur: Dan Spinetto, Richard Herring, Pat Mooney, Kenneth Underwood
Pro: Glen Day
1:55 PM
Amateur: John Rasper, Heather Farag, Mark Goodson, Jim Pope
Pro: Rod Spittle
