Japan's A Comfort Zone For Jones

Sun Herald

Sunday May 7, 2006

Peter Stone

BRENDAN Jones hasn't won the lottery, but his smile suggests otherwise. From three starts in Japan he's recorded a second, first and tied 23rd, with earnings of about $390,000, and thanks to the victory a couple of weeks ago he is exempt until the end of 2008.

His security blanket is at hand as he again contemplates life on the US PGA Tour.

Jones has been home for the past week enjoying a few beers, but heads back to Japan today for four tournaments before going to the US, where he has conditional status after finishing 144th on the money list last year.

Jones reckons he is guaranteed at least 10 more tournaments after making the cut at both Tucson and Pebble Beach.

"Now I can go to the States and enjoy myself," he said. "I know, with what I have in Japan, that it is not the be-all and end-all, that it won't be the end of the world if I don't get a full card back on the PGA Tour.

"I was so stressed out [in the US] last year, failing to keep my card and then missing by two shots at the players' school. Now it doesn't matter. I have Japan, which is my worst-case scenario, but also where I like playing because I can get home more regularly."

His coach Alex Mercer is confident, saying "He is coming along fantastically. We haven't seen the best of Brendan yet."

Mercer's milestone

TALKING of Mercer, congratulations to the coach and his wife Shirley, who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary late last month.

It is surprising he stayed married for even a week, given that on the second day of his honeymoon he played his first tournament as a professional at the old Lakes course.

He missed the cut, not unexpectedly, said Shirley. The pair returned to The Lakes, with family and friends, to celebrate their golden day.

Father knew best

FAREWELL Earl Woods. He trained a Tiger to become maybe the best golfer the world will know and, in the early days, was a proud yet down-to-earth father who was convinced of his son's destiny.

Tiger Woods played in the 1995 Scottish Open as an amateur, a protege in the making, and his dad walked every step of his son's progress to finish 47th behind winner Wayne "Radar" Riley.

Golf writers, myself included, walked with Woods snr to learn more about the young phenomenon and Earl Woods remained patient, insisting his son would be the greatest, throughout. Never once was a chat refused.

He knew his son was the goods and, after a while, the media didn't need much convincing.

Major attraction

ENTRIES for the US Open at Winged Foot, just outside New York, closed during the week with 8584 - the third-highest number on record - entering.

The youngest entrant was a 13-year-old from New York, and the oldest was a 75-year-old professional from Florida.

So far, 70 players are exempt. Four of them - Stuart Appleby, Adam Scott, Nick O'Hern and Mark Hensby - are Australians. You can safely add people such as Geoff Ogilvy, Rod Pampling, Peter Lonard and Robert Allenby, who will be in the top 50 in the world rankings by the cut-off date.

Appleby, incidentally, is now second on the US money list behind Phil Mickelson.

© 2006 Sun Herald

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