Boo is back on Tour
(Photo Source: PNJ.com – John Blackie)
Twenty-two golf shirts. Seventeen pairs of pants. A pile of stuff, really, that Boo Weekley insists he’d fit into one bag.
Needing new shafts on a few clubs, he throws an extra 4-iron, 5-iron and hybrid in his bag. Tees, gloves and shoes were at the ready in the garage.
While his road trips usually range between four and five weeks, this time Weekley was preparing for the longest trek of his PGA Tour career. Starting with today’s first round of the Accenture Match Play Championship in Marana, Ariz., the Milton High graduate is slated to be on the road for 13 straight weeks after a month at home.
“It’s been good. I’ve spent some time with the family,” said Weekley, who has been home in Jay for all of February. “But I’m ready to get back on the road.”
Weekley — No. 50 in the world — is a 13-seed in the 64-man, bracket-style, match-play tournament. He tees off against England’s Justin Rose, the world’s No. 16 player and a fourth-seed in the tournament, at 12:05 p.m. Central Standard Time.
It will be Weekley’s first competitive golf tournament since the tour’s season-opening Mercedes Championship in Hawaii last month, where he tied for 15th. He followed that up the next week with a ninth-place finish in the Sony Open, also in Hawaii.
“I played at the Mercedes, played well and felt pretty good,” Weekley said. “I hit it good. I just didn’t putt it very good. The Sony Open (the next week) was kind of the same way. I felt like if I could have putted well there, I was hitting it good enough to win.”
Weekley flew back east from Hawaii, swung by the homestead, and then on to the Middle East for the Qatar Masters. After two lackluster rounds (74-73), he missed the cut and headed home on Jan. 23.
“I was just tired. I wasn’t ready mentally. So after that, I figured I would take a little time off and work on my putting,” said Weekley, whose round-trip flight time to Qatar and back took 29 hours. “And that’s what I’ve done a little bit the last two or three weeks. I feel comfortable with the way I’m putting it now.”
He’ll have plenty of opportunities to test his refinements.
After this week, Weekley will complete the four-stop “Florida Swing” (Palm Beach Gardens, Miami, Tampa and Orlando) through March. The first week of April, Weekley will skip the Shell Houston Open and head to Sea Island, Ga., to prepare for The Masters — the first major tournament of the season — which runs April 9-12.
It’s a long road ahead, but one Weekley is packed and ready for.
“I’m nipping to get back out there,” Weekley said.
By D.C. Reeves
Boo you did good in the match play. Dont get discouraged. It is a long season buddy.