McLachlin masters
mind games

HE was, in his own words, a mediocre golfer at a big-time college program. Never won a tournament. And then he had to have surgery on his wrist.

And he couldn't swing a golf club for five months.

This is how Parker McLachlin prepared for his shot at a professional career.

He couldn't swing a club for five months.

He's been on fire ever since.

SO WHAT HAPPENED? McLachlin, a Punahou grad, is a new man now. He's a pro golfer now.

He's never looked back.

Last week, he was second at the California State Open. A $14,000 check.

He's won three tournaments on three different "mini-tours." Played in the U.S. Open.

"I wouldn't believe you," he said, if you'd told him he'd have this kind of success in his first year as a pro.

But something happened in those five months. That time off transformed him.

He got a new kind of coach.

"I took some time and actually worked on more of my mental game," he said, at a recent meeting of the Honolulu Quarterback Club.

He worked with a sports psychologist, Don Greene (the guy also helps world-class musicians mentally prepare for auditions). There were books, about 15 of them. Homework. Discussions.

It felt like the recent college graduate was still going to school.

But it was working.

He was getting better without making a shot.

"Just visualizing over and over what the perfect swing for me would look like," McLachlin said.

For five months, this is what he did.

"It just, it was falling back in love with the game of golf and learning more about the mental side of golf. And beyond that. It was kind of learning the mental side of life, and gaining a new perspective on life."

That's good, because pro golf is tough enough, out there, no matter your talent level.

"You're on the road, spending money on a hotel, the car, the gas, the food, all that stuff. On top of your $850 entry fee," McLachlin said.

"The last three Nationwide Tour Monday qualifiers that I've been in, there's been 90 guys for seven, or 100 guys for 14 spots. And the last three that I've been in I shot 69 and I missed it by two shots. I shot 67, I missed it by one shot. I shot 68, by three shots," he said.

But you can't wipe the smile off his face. It's tough, but he loves it.

He's close and he knows it.

The guy who couldn't win a college tournament is now a rising pro.

He's back at Q-School next month. Last year, he made it through the first stage. Make it far enough and you're in golf's AAA, the Nationwide Tour. Or all the way through and you're up with the big boys, "which is where everyone wants to be."

You have to like his chances. Those five months changed him. He's playing with the zeal of the converted.

"I think I'm just kind of living proof that if you change your mind-set and you change the way you look at things that, really, anything is possible," he said.