I havent even seen a PGA Tour event in person. I will soon though.

I had the chance in the mid 90's to play with a few tour pros. The one I had the chance to play with most was Peter Jacobsen and Brian Henninger. They both played at the course I worked. Mr. Jacobsen let me tag along one time and he was playing with a couple other people and he was joking, and laughing, talking on his cell phone, really just being like a bagroom employee, yet he was 5 under after 6 from the tips. AMAZING!!!! how good he is.

Mr. Henninger is about the nicest human being on the planet. Truly. He helped me with my swing a few times. He might be too nice actually. The year he made the run at the Masters he was in the grille talking about it, and everyone there had goosebumps.

Just my experience though.

I have played with a pro once well technically he was still an amatuer. I was attending the Stanford University summer golf program in 93 or 94. They had one of their hotshot young players out there on the range and the last day of the program we played the University course. We all got to play a couple of holes with him kind of like a mini playing lesson in course management. best part of the day was I hit my aproach shot and left it short and it plugged deep towards the lip of the bunker and I got schooled big time on how to hit that shot and get it out of the bunker. I was just going to take an unplayable and drop in the bunker and he was like no no no watch this burried his ball next to mine and blasted out to save par. It took me a few tries till I got it but I still remember that moment very well to this day. The funny part is I had no clue who he was until I was watching the US amatuer and I saw him win and then the 97 masters.

Played one hole with Phil Mickelson at a KPMG Consulting outing in 2002. You can see my post regarding that experience under the "Phil responds to SW" topic. Basically, he was great to be around, and there was none of the "phony" (as some people refer to it) attributes when interacting with him one-on-one. Hit hit a great drive on the hole I played with him, then hit an 8-iron from 173. He hit his drive about 35 yds past me, fwiw...

I played 9 holes with Brendan de Jonge (this years Nationwide POY) in October of 2006. He had just gotten his PGA tour card, which he didn't keep after 2007, putting him back on the Nationwide. He was a nice guy, a fairly good ball striker, and a very good putter. He wasn't intimidating to play with at all - just kind of a regular guy. We were both playing this course for the first time - Old Town CC (Wake Forest's home track) and played it from the tips. I was 1 under thru 6 and he was even. I bogeyed 7,8, and 9 and he played them 1 under so he shot 1 under and I shot 2 over. He ended up shooting 69 (played the back with a different group of 3, we rotated) - not bad for the first trip around that track, which is pretty tough. Goofy, but tough.

Have played with many club pros in tournaments - the most intimidating player I've ever played with is the current assistant pro at my club, Savio Nazareth. Simply the best ball striker I've ever witnessed. He just missed making it to final stage of Q school by 4 shots. He's working hard on his putting, and if he gets it going, watch out. The last 2 times I've played with him he shot 64. He shot 59 at our club last year.

I played with Jeff Klauk and with Bubba Watson when they were on the Nationwide tour. Jeff and Bubba were both great with our foursome. Helped with putts, told road stories, comented on our strategy, etc.

Bubba in person from the same tee box is something else.

AWSOME

I played 5 holes with John Cook. I went to school with his niece and she set it up when he was visiting. Incredibly nice guy.

-mini

I've played against Graham DeLaet when he was an amatuer winning the order of Merit year after year in SK. He has played the last two years on the Canadian Tour finished 4th on the money list last year, he played a couple Nationwide Tour events last year as well. Not sure if he is on the Canada Tour again this year or if he has went to the Nationwide. He was like I said 4th on the money list and like 25th in birdies so that tells me he has been playing good consistant golf, it wouldn't suprize me to see him playing on the big tour sometime in his life, I am sure he will never be a household name but he is one heck of a golfer.

Thanks,If I would only had known what the future held for him I would have had him sign some stuff and had a picture taken with him. Still a great memory for me and a lesson I will never forget, every time I have a plugged bunker shot now I get a good chuckle out of it and blast it right out.

Oooh man. Wait 'till you see their tempo in person... soooo smooth and effortless. I bet you'll play better golf after watching them. Find one with a body shape close to yours and watch his tempo.

When i was 15 (im now 26) the Nike tour (now nationwide) held a jr pro am when they had their stop here in south mississippi. I played with a guy named Jeff Brehaut who has gone through q school a few times and spent a few years on the pga tour. I know he won the event that i played the jr pro am in, which was cool. I also caddied in a nationwide event when i was 17. what is amazing is their ball flight. they can hit a full lob wedge, driver, 6 iron, whatever at the same height everytime. they also hit it very straight, and i dont mean hit a bunch of fairways/greens by shaping the shot but aim at a target, start it there, and not let it fade/draw.

I have played with Andy Bean, Lee Janzen, Paul Azinger, Marco Dawson, Rocco Mediate, Rick Smith and probably a few you have not heard of. Unfortunately it was a "before they were famous" situation. If you played Jr. golf in Florida in the late 1970's. you got to play with a lot of future PGA players. Of all of those players the most impressive at the time was Andy Bean. Janzen went to my high school and was younger, Janzen, Mediate and Dawson all attended college in the same town at the same time. Azinger did not play number one for his high school, a kid named Rick Stallings did. And Rick Smith was just starting to video tape swings, before he became a famous instructor. Bean was a college player, while I was still in high school and it was already appearant he would become a pro some day. With all of the others, there were literally dozens of other kids at least as impressive, it was just a matter of how much they continued to improve beyond high school. (Obviously I did not)

I played a round with Jim McClean two years ago at Doral. I went to his 4 day school and that was included in the package. I shot my then low round of 73 and he shot 72 because he made a par putt on 18 from about 20 feet. What a great day. Really super guy and helped alot.

I have luckily had the chance to play with Tiger Woods,Phil Mickelson,Vijay Sing and Camilo Villegas this past year, they were all around 10 inches tall,it was called EA Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08.

"I have played with a pro once well technically he was still an amatuer. I was attending the Stanford University summer golf program in 93 or 94. They had one of their hotshot young players out there on the range and the last day of the program we played the University course."

You seriously didn't know who Tiger was at Stanford? His deciding to go there was national news as was his career before (and obviously after).

My freshman year of HS(class of 2000), my golf team got the chance to carry the little player scoreboards in the pro-am before the Phoenix Open and the pro I got paired up with was Justin Leonard. He was super friendly and very easy to talk to even though I was nervous as hell. He was sponsered by Polo at the time and I asked him about how much stuff they sent him and they said he got a catalogue each season and they sent him whatever in his size and color. SO SICK! He signed a few balls for me, gave me tees and ball markers, and a hat(which I sadly lost). Super nice guy and still one of my favorites. Just hearing the sound of thier shots is awesome, so pure, every time. That THHWACK/snakebite sound.

Grew up playing with Wendy Doolan, were members at the same club and I was mates with her brother. Played in a fourball most weekends.

Have also played with Peter Lonard, Geoff Ogle, Ian Baker-Finch and Roger Davis.

Years ago I played 9 holes with Peter Oosterhuis (spelling?). He was the pro at Forsgate CC in NJ. I was invited by a consultant to join his group. He was getting a playing lesson from Peter, and me and another guy played along and watched.

Peter shot the most boring -3 for nine holes. Every drive straight, not overly long. Every iron straight, almost hit like a knock down, to the green. Every putt had a chance to drop.

He was a gentleman, and of course focused on his student. It was a great 9 holes.

Darren Clarke when he was a teenager - very long hitter, mullet haircut

Nick Faldo - 1 hole at a corporate event (and lunch after) - pleasant enough

Robert Garrigus - round at a course in San Diego - also very long, friendly nice guy.

I played with an LD pro and also two PGA pros. The LD pro is insane. I mean he was laying off drives and hitting it 330, no joke. He had a 48-49" 4x shaft. On a par 4 470 yard hole, it was slightly downwind, I ripped it 310 and kept up with the club pro, this LD guy had about 90 yards left. I couldn't believe that. He used a freaking 9 iron on the next 195 par 3. Oh, the pros were good too.

I have played with three different mini tour players. Not really names anyone would know though. I only remember two of their names. Daniel Jarvie and Troy Persson. The other guy was better though. He was 6 foot 9 inches and so long. I saw him shoot a 61 on the most challenging course I have ever played from the tips. I did get to attend the Senior US Open this year and those champions tour players are super impressive. I followed Jim Thorpe for 5 holes and that swing is so ugly but he hits it as solid as Vijay Singh. The most impressive golf swing I have seen was John Cooks though, Or the swing my character on Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 has. Probably the video game character.

Sadly no , I had heard stories of how great this guy was supposed to be, but how many times have we heard that before. I quickly took note of how damn good TW was as he was striping balls with incredible precision and control. He was bombing drives deep over the back fence 280 carry which was huge then.
I was a young punk high school kid,I had bigger things to worry about like girls and parties etc. I didnt follow golf that in depth, especially outside what the tour guys were doing.

Very very true - completely different than seeing them on TV. I love to find a pro that matches my body and watch the TEMPO. I keep thinkning to myself, I would have ot swing like a mad man to keep up with this guy, but their tempo and co-ordinating all the moving parts is wonderful to watch

Noteable Pros I've played with:

Wayne Levi - played with him when I was 16. Pretty nice guy. Ragged on me for being a Cowboys fan (he's a Giants fan). Only played 9 holes.

Jason Gore - Didn't say much as we were playing a mini-tour event. Hits the ball ungodly deep. Seemed pretty nice, but wasn't overly outgoing either.

Dustin Johnson - played with him when he was 16 years old or so. He hit the ball D-E-E-P back then.

Tom Scherrer - Played golf with him when I was a teenager as we're sort of from the same area of NY. His high school probably has the best HS golf tradition in the state. Not all THAT impressive as he isn't long and his putting was decent, but it just seemed like he never missed a shot so it's kind of odd to think he could ever shoot a high score.






3JACK

Funny you should mention Graham...I played against him quite a bit in the college ranks when he was at Boise State.

The first time I played with him was in the fall of 2002 at Boise's tournament, that year it was played at Spurwing CC. I shot a pair of 71's the first day for a 142 and headed into the last round in 2nd place alone...only a meager 9 shots behind Graham!!! So we played together the final round and I hacked around for a 78 to finish who knows where, while Graham played a very solid and conservative round of 70. He won by a bunch, can't remember the exact number though. He went on to win multiple events in college...he's a very solid player.

Did you see he played for the Canadian team in this year's World Cup in China?

And about the statement "I am sure he'll never be a household name..." I dunno, he may not be, but then again...

I've played full rounds with some Gateway Tour players in the Scottsdale Area. These are established guys with multiple wins. These guys aren't on the PGA...yet but they hit the ball every bit as good but maybe have the one funny shot or course mgmt error once or at most a couple times a round and it's that 1 or 2 shots that's keeping them from playing for the big purses. That's how close it is for a lot of these guys who are on a smaller tour, it's crazy.

Anyway, playing with them you just basically get tired of saying nice shot on the course. The best times with Pros is at the 19th hole. I have not met one pro who doesn't have amazing stories to tell!!

I can't wait. I plan on seeing at least one live day of the Sony Open here on Oahu next month. Job permitting. Too bad Daly wont be there so I can match up body types JK

I have played with a few - Larry Nelson, Joe Inman, John Inman. I also played junior & amateur tournaments with several guys before they turned pro. I grew up playing with Larry Nelson's kids so I have played with him multiple times. It is absolutely ridiculous how good he hits the golf ball - even for a PGA Tour pro. When he hits balls on the range, you can literally throw a golf towel over every ball he hits with a particular club. On top of that he is one of the nicest guys you could ever meet.

Playing junior golf in souther California i got to play with a few guys that got out on tour; Chris Tidaland, Jason Gore and Chris Riley. Was always in the age group just above Tiger so never played with him but saw him at numerous tourneys. Some guys you know they will make it. i remember playing in a match play qulaifier as a junior with Tidland and thought I did pretty good to shoot 76. he was in my group and shot 64 and had like 12 one putts in a row. also, Riley was the fasted player i have ever seen. played with him in the junior state am and he would hit shots when yours was still moving which i am not sure is even legal but there was not stopping this guy. played with him again in college and he was almost just as fast. you woud be talking to your tee shot and he would get up and hit while you were still mumbing. crazy. it's a lot of fun to see these guys still out there. i had Tidland up as a guest at my course a few times so to see him win this year was great.

I've played with Glen Day, Andrew Mcgee, Dr. Gil Morgan, and Anthony Kim. I got the opportunity to play with AK numerous times while at OU. I actually beat him one time out of the dozen or so times we played together. I shot 68 and he shot 70. At the time I didn't think it was any big deal, but now seeing what he is doing on the Tour, it's pretty cool. Something to tell my kids about!

I have played with 3 all in corporate events.

Sergio Garcia - nice guy, very talkitive, talked football and about a trip to spain i was going on. very easy to get along with especially for a Madrid fan... i actually was tied with him through a 3 hole stretch, then he turned it on....

mike Weir - a little on the quiet side, i got the feeling that he did not want to be there jumping between groups every 3 holes..

Richard Zokel - Really cool guy, very outgoing and great striker of the ball. wish i could have played the entire round with him.

I have in my days played with alot fo Canadian guys at AM events that are now pros, but no names that would be recognized.

Ya I did see that he was representing Canada, I was suprized to see him, but not suprized at the same time, he was really hot at the end of the season on the Can tour finishing T-2 at the year end Tour Championship.

Well I think he does have the head for it that is for sure, he is a solid player for sure and can just grind it out like no one else I have ever played with or against, I guess if he can get on the big Tour he seems to have that nack to play up to whatever level he is at, his rookie season on the Canadian Tour wasn't great but he really did well last year. I'm not even sure if he tried for Q-school this year or not, he wasn't in the final stage, would be good to see some progression from the Canadian Tour to the Nationwide, like say the top 5 go to the Nationwide or something.

I was in an outing this year at The International, and on the Par 6 Hole, They had Jamie Sadlowski hitting tee shots that could be used by the group. He is not a huge guy, a trim 5'11", 180, and hit one in high humidity, wet fairways, get this:

405 ALL CARRY (with his standard 7 degree driver)


I had to bushnell it back to the tee- after checking it three times, four hundred and five yards. Then the best part..

He pulls a hybrid and bombs it over the corner of the trees and carries it to the green from 250 yards out...

Insane physics- 13 seconds of hang time, a ball flight that looked unreal, and fastest hands I have ever seen. Plus, not a crazy back breaking muscled-up swing like Zubak...

And a great guy.

Myself and 3 friends played with a Hooters Tour Pro in a ProAm tournament at Dancing Rabbit Golf Club in Philadelphia, MS. At the time, each of our handicaps were in the single digits and I thought at least two of us could play well enough to justify some side bets with the pro to make the day interesting. Thankfully the pro was a good guy and refused the take our bets because he would have cleaned up. I was utterly amazed at how well he struck the ball on each and every shot. After the round, I asked why he wasn't on the PGA tour with his ability and he said it was not from the lacking of trying. He compared the beating he gave us that day with the beating the PGA Tour pros give him. I can't imagine someone with his talent not being able to play on the big tour.

I was lucky enough to get to play with Mark Roe one time. He lives in the same town as my parents and his kids and some of my friends' kids are the same age, so they know each other. Played in about February or March time and it was cold and pretty miserable weather. Greens not in good shape at all. He shot 66 and it looked like just about the worst score he could have shot. For me, the most impressive thing was his distance control. When I play, I regularly leave myself 20 feet short or 20 feet long of the hole. He was hitting it with a couple of feet of pin high all the time. If he missed it 20 feet left or right, he had a 20 foot putt. If he hit it straight, he had a tap in. That, combined with his short game meant that he never looked much like dropping shots and aside from one chip in (which fell in the dead centre of the hole), he basically looked like his birdies were chicken feed. Most impressive.

He was also an absolute riot to play with. Did not stop talking for hardly a moment (other than when people were playing) and the banter was coming thick and fast. All in all, one of the most enjoyable rounds I've played, despite the lousy weather and course conditions.

The Canadian tour definitely produces some good players for sure...maybe someday they'll be able to work some kind of Nationwide promotion schedule or something like that.

I've played with a bunch of good players over the years, plenty of which are or have given it a run on the mini-tour circuit.

I think Graham has a shot...seems like he's got what it takes between the ears, as you said. I mean sure, he hits it great, etc...but you can only hit a golf ball so well. Lots of guys hit it good. It's the "other" stuff they're lacking, and I think Graham's got it!

I already posted some of the guys I played with, but figured I would also add a story about my dad.

He played college golf in the early 1970s and was a pretty decent player. His school hosted a tournament each year and in the final round one year he was paired with Lanny Wadkins. I think Wadkins 2 or 3 back of the lead going into the final round and my dad was a distant 3rd about 7 back. My dad said that Wadkins hit it all over the course to places he had never even seen, but he would always get it in the hole. Wadkins was -6 going into the par 5 18th when he hit a good drive that ended up in a divot. Because a pond guarded the green, my dad assumed Wadkins would just lay up and try to knock the next one close. To my dad's surprise, Wadkins took out his 3 wood, said a few choice words over the ball, knocked it to about 3 feet and made eagle. Wadkins finished the round with a smooth 64 and won the tournament by 4. My dad shot even that day and said he hit the ball pretty decently. He said that round made him decide that he should get a real job because guys like Wadkins would keep beating him if he decided to play for living.

I have a couple of really good buddies who play on tour, to me it isn't a big deal because I see them as buddies and we been playing for years,,, but if it were a pro I never played with and only seen on TV it would be a huge deal.

I've heard from so many sources what a nice guy Larry Nelson is - it seems like a monumental snub that he wasn't or hasn't been chosen as a Ryder Cup captain. What's he have, 3 majors to Corey Pavin's 1??? I'm sure Corey's a nice guy too but shouldn't their records count too?? Anybody else surprised by this?

Used to play w/ Stan Utley quite a bit and also played 3 holes w/ Payne Stewart and his dad. I worked at the CC where Stan was a member in Missouri. He was playing a handfull of events a year on the Nationwide tour at the time (This was before he became the renowned short game guru we all know today). Payne and his dad were the group ahead of me and a buddy at a course in Springfield, MO. It was incredibly slow all day so they asked us to join them on 16 tee. Payne went birdie, par, birdie to shoot the course record 62. Don't know if it still stands or not.

BDLZ

Had to be '94. Tiger won the '94 Amateur before he even started school at Stanford......if I remember correctly.

That would make sense that was the summer between jr and sr year in high school and is when I started taking golf more serious. man time flies doesnt seam like it was 14 years ago. Damn Im getting old
Then it was the final round of the 95 us am I was watching. I remember saying to myself what a second that guy looks familiar, then it hit me "what a stupid I was". as they say the rest is history.

hahaha on a side note I remember his teamates calling him some goofy nickname it was that nerdy kid with the glasses and suspenders from some sitcom what was it Family something I cant think of the name though.

steve urcle

yup thats it. He was pretty scrawny back then too. I bet no one has the cajones to bring that nickname up again

I've played with several pros throughout the years, under varying circumstances.

Most of it came from the fact that I worked at Milwaukee Country Club just up the road from where they play the US Bank Championship, and a lot of pros stay at the club during the tournament. Through the years I got to play with Loren Roberts, Billy Andrade, Chris Smith, Curtis Strange, Ian Baker-Finch, Corey Pavin and several others I'm probably forgetting. Manuel de la Torre one of the top teaching pros in the country is the teaching pro there, so a lot of his students would come out and occasionally we got to play with them as well. People like Sherri Steinhauer, Tommie Aaron, Jerry Smith, Martha Nause, Pia Nillsson, and some mini tour players. I've also played with 3 of the 4 Wisconsin PGA Tour players, Skip Kendall, Jerry Kelly and Steve Stricker.

In high school, I played against a couple of guys that are out on the mini-tours, Jon Turcott and Jim Lemon both played at UW and are now on the Nationwide/Canadian Tours. I remember them being better than most, and good enough to earn a scholarship, but can't say I thought they would make it on tour.

The thing I remember most about them is how easy they made it look. They would be joking and not really paying attention because it wasn't a competitive round, yet they'd still shoot under par on a tough course(MCC held the Mid-Am this year). I remember one of the rounds I played with Loren Roberts, he'd just finished the first round of the GMO, and he came and played with the bag room staff at 6PM. He grabbed his staff bag and pulled out every other club to put in one of our carry bags, so he had Driver, 5 Wood, 3, 5, 7, 9, SW and Putter. We went and played the back nine, and he wasn't even really paying attention to what he was doing, he was giving swing tips and putting tips and telling stories about the tour. But when we added up the scores at the end of 9 holes, he'd shot 29.

My two favorites were probably Ian Baker-Finch and Jerry Kelly. IBF for a couple reasons. First, because he played with no woods, just 2-LW and putter. Second, because I beat him shooting 38 to his 40, and for that he gave me a Scotty Cameron Mizuno Tour putter. Kelly I liked because he's a big University of Wisconsin fan(his BIL is their golf coach), and I'm a fan of their biggest rival, Marquette. So throughout the round there was some good natured ribbing both ways. Anytime I missed a shot, he would blame it on the fact I like Marquette, and anytime he missed a shot I blamed it on UW.

When I lived in Salt Lake City they used to have a Champions tour event there. I had the good fortune of playing in the 2 day proam for 8 years in a row. I got to play with a lot of the Seniors. Just some names, Billy Casper, Lee Trevino, Frank Beard, Don January, Simon Hobday, Gene Littler. It was absolutely awesome to play with them and compare games. At the time I was around scratch handicap. The biggest difference by far between them and a fairly good amateur was their ability to get it up and down. Amazing short games. And their misses were much better than mine.

The most fun to play with were Don January and Simon Hobday. The only one that was somewhat of a jerk was Trevino. Don't know if he was just having a bad day.

If you ever get a chance to play with them do it. But be prepared to be the most nervous you've ever been on a golf course. I was a basket case on the first tee.

I've gotten to play with a guy who played all around the world in the 90's. His ballstriking was good, but not much different from mine. However, on the green it was VERY OBVIOUS who the amateur was... I now understand the difference between the good amateurs and the pros and it's not tee to green, it's all green.

I wonder how I would react. When I feel like I have nothing to lose and just swing freely I do well, when I think about consequences (shooting par on 9 holes, eagle putts, etc.) is when I hit some squirrely shots. I gotta think they expect everyone to suck so I would have not as much pressure, unless it was Tiger, then I would just puke all over myself.

The back fence at the Stanford range is longer than 280. The back hill is 285. Another 30 to the fence by lake log. When I kill driver I can get one on land on top of the hill and roll up by the tees at the end.

Phil's not on TW's game.