Mitsubishi Electric Classic: Toms succeeds in Georgia

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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