Best of Both Worlds for Defending Champion Small
Mike Small continues to prove he can play the game, but is content with life as a coach at Illinois and as a teacher. He has banked $106,000 in two PPNC appearances and made the cut in the 2005 PGA Championship at Baltusrol.
By Roger Graves, PGA Magazine
This would be a difficult dilemma for most PGA Professionals, a true career crossroads for your typical teacher or touring professional.
If most PGA Professionals had finished second and then won the PGA Professional National Championship (PPNC) to bank $106,000 in two PPNC appearances, made the 36-hole cut in the prestigious PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club, played on the United States PGA Cup Team in Ireland, and earned exemptions to seven PGA Tour tournaments, they wouldn't think twice about postponing their career as a PGA Club Professional/coach/teacher to pursue fame and fortune as a full-time player.
But Mike Small is not your typical PGA Professional.
Give up his career as a PGA Club Professional and head men's golf coach at the University of Illinois in Champaign just because he breezed to a three-shot victory in the PGA Professional National Championship at The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, S.C., last June?
Forget his fulltime teaching and coaching career just because he shot 74-68 to make the cut at fabled Baltusrol in the PGA Championship last August, proving again that he can compete against the game's finest players on the game's most challenging courses?
Not Mike Small.
Playing competitively is one of those been-there-done-that sagas for the 40-year-old Small.
Today, the owner of the coveted Walter Hagen Cup, symbolic of the finest PGA Club Professional player in the land, is perfectly content coaching college students, conducting golf camps and teaching the game.
"Anytime you play well or win a significant tournament, you always think about playing fulltime again, but then reality hits you," assures Small, who competed in 134 events on the PGA Tour and former Nike Tour from 1990 to 2000.
"It would be a different story if I had never experienced Tour life. But I know what the travel and Tour life is all about, and I chose to make my living and feed my family in a different way in 2000. "The life of a touring professional is great if you're playing good, but if you're struggling out there and footing your own bill, it's not an elegant life. I always needed to play 30?35 events a year to keep my card, and that's tough on a family."
Small is now home much of the time, and he truly enjoys the coaching and teaching aspect of being a PGA Professional.
"You know, I was able to win the National Club Professional Championship last year, and I made the cut in four out of five PGA Tour events, so I really have the best of both worlds as a player and a teacher," maintains Small. "You might say I'm only a part-time player, but I don't mind that. I usually don't even work on my game until after the college season ends in late April or May, but right now I wouldn't have it any other way. It worked out pretty well last year, didn't it?"
Relatively low expectations for Small in 2005
Small showed up at the 2005 PGA Professional National Championship at Kiawah Island without playing in a single multi-day tournament in 2005.
Tournament tough? Maybe not, but riding the experience of finishing a single stroke behind Champion Bob Sowards in the 2004 Championship at Longaberger Golf Club in Nashport, Ohio, in his PPNC debut, Small conquered The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island with highly competent rounds of 73-76-71 and a closing 69 to cruise to a three-shot victory over Travis Long of Henderson, Nev.
"I didn't have a lot of big expectations going into Kiawah last year, although a friend of mine said early in the week that a lot of guys who finish second one year have won the next year," remembers Small, who won two Nike Tour events and earned $144,641 while competing in 39 PGA Tour events, including a tie for ninth in the 1998 Canadian Open, during a 10-year career as a touring professional.
"I believe golf tournaments mean a lot more to me now, because I'm not playing as many as I did in the past and you appreciate them more."
The hard part for Small is keeping his emotions in check coming down the stretch, while not playing as often as he once did. "That's one of the things I was proud of last year at Kiawah Island," he explains. "I thought I handled the pressure pretty well coming down the stretch. My heart was beating pretty fast and the adrenaline was pumping, but that's normal when you're in the heat of competition. It actually felt good to be in that position again."
The difficulty of the greens and challenge of The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island didn't surprise Small at the 2005 PPNC, since he returned scores of 75 and 76 the previous August in the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. What did surprise Small was the reaction to his National Championship at Kiawah Island.
"A lot more people know about it (the PPNC) than I ever imagined," chuckles Small. "Winning the National Championship was bigger than I ever imagined, and it hasn't hurt my recruiting at Illinois. People are always congratulating me and saying they saw me win it on The Golf Channel.
"The doors that winning the National Championship have opened playing-wise have been phenomenal, although I haven't had time to take full advantage of those playing opportunities with my coaching duties (at Illinois). I'll be doing a little more playing this summer, but I won't go overboard. I got into the Western Open in my home state (Illinois) by winning the Section Championship, and I'll play in Reno on the PGA Tour, the B.C. Open, the Southern Farm Bureau and a few others. It will be fun out there without the pressure of needing to play well to feed my family. That will make a difference."
He is preparing far more for this year's PPNC
Small will have his game tuned up a bit better for the 2006 PGA Professional National Championship at Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, N.Y. He was scheduled to compete in the EDS Byron Nelson Classic on the PGA Tour in May, while also playing in at least one Nationwide Tour event prior to the 2006 PPNC on June 22-25. But he won't come to Turning Stone overworked, since he was busy coaching the Illini in the Big Ten Championship and the NCAAs throughout May.
"Not being able to play in competitive tournaments much before the PGA Professional National Championship is not a big disadvantage," says Small. "I played so much on Tour during a 10- or 11-year period that I know how to prepare for a new golf course. I will get in there (to Turning Stone) a few days early to play the two courses, and I'll be ready. I've heard a lot of good things about both courses (Shenendoah and Atunyote), and it should be another great Championship. The majority of the players will be seeing the golf courses for the first time, so it's not like half the field will have a big advantage going in. I'll take a little different approach to preparation, since we'll be playing two courses instead of one."
What would happen if Mike Small comes up large again and becomes the first player in 24 years to win back-to-back PGA Professional National Championships? Would six more PGA Tour exemptions, an invitation to the PGA Championship at Medinah Country Club in his home state of Illinois, and another $67,000 convince him to revisit that career decision and consider becoming a full-time touring professional once again?
"It might be tempting if I win the National Championship again, but I'm not going to get ahead of myself and even consider that," assures Small. "There is kind of a double excitement for me going into the PGA Professional National Championship this year, because I'm the defending Champion and one of the incentives for playing well is qualifying for the PGA Championship at Medinah. I've played in four majors (two PGA Championships and two U.S. Opens) during my career, but I've never played in a major in my home state. Qualifying for the PGA Championship at Medinah is one of my primary goals."
Since Mike Small was born in Illinois, grew up in Illinois, and went to college at the University of Illinois, finishing in the top 20 at the 2006 PPNC to earn a berth in the PGA Championship Aug. 17-20 in Illinois would be "a dream come true."
Again, it would be the best of both worlds.