10 TO WATCH IN 2003:
DEAN WILSON
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Dean Wilson has never done anything the easy way, so it figures his first tournament after securing his PGA Tour card would be a disappointment. Golfer gets his shot
at the PGA greenThe BYU grad is only the fourth
isle player to make the pro tourBy Paul Arnett
parnett@starbulletin.com
It took the 33-year-old Kaneohe native eight tours of duty before finishing high enough in the qualifying school to earn 25 tour exemptions in 2003. He used his first one at this week's Sony Open in Hawaii, but missed the cut on the Waialae Country Club course he knows so well.
The Star-Bulletin is spotlighting 10 people who may have a big impact on Hawaii this year.
While he was finishing up late Friday afternoon three shots shy of playing on the weekend, a half a course away 21-year-old Aussie sensation Aaron Baddeley made a birdie putt that tied him for the lead. Like Wilson, he is a tour rookie. That's how it goes out here.
Wilson is only the fourth person from Hawaii who has qualified to play on tour and the first in three decades since Larry Stubblefield managed to survive in 1972. Wilson gets one year and 25 tournaments to either win or finish among the top 125 money winners by year's end to keep his card. If not, it's back to the Q-school and the six-day, 108-hole march toward greatness.
Only the top 35 and ties graduate from the PGA Tour Qualifying School. Wilson led the first two rounds before settling comfortably into a tie for 11th, 12-under-par. Surviving that test is a major victory in and of itself for Wilson. He toiled in virtual anonymity on minor-league tours throughout the world, including Japan, where he won six times, since graduating from Brigham Young University in 1992 with a degree in secondary education.
Still, he earned nearly $1 million in Japan in 2001 and, through sponsor exemptions, has pocketed $71,399 on the PGA Tour. Wilson tied for 30th at the 2001 U.S. Open. His best finish on tour was a tie for 23rd at last year's Sony Open. It didn't turn out as well this time around, but Wilson has at least 24 more chances this season to make amends.
He now calls Las Vegas home, but this local boy learned to play on the Pali Golf Course as a youngster. The former Castle High player went on to BYU, where he eventually won the Western Athletic Conference individual championship in 1991. His college roommate was Canadian pro Mike Weir.
Wilson was the JPGA Rookie of the Year in 2000 and finished as high as second in yearly earnings on the Japan Tour (2001).
"It's very exciting to be a part of the PGA Tour," Wilson said. "It's something I've worked hard for many years. Hopefully, I can keep it. It's pretty much up to me."
