Inspired by 'American Idol,' Purdy cards inspirational first round  PGATOUR.com Correspondent FORT WORTH -- He estimates he voted 100 times. Maybe more. Had those thumbs going with text messages all night. Even lobbied in the locker room.  Ted Purdy had a personal reason to cheer on 'American Idol' winner Jordin Sparks. (Richard Schultz/WireImage)
Jordin Sparks was his girl. Has been all season. No wavering. No week off from voting. After all, her dad is his golfing buddy. So, yes, Ted Purdy was psyched when Jordin became the latest American Idol Wednesday night. Thursday morning, he was simply inspired. Purdy rode the emotion of Jordin's win to an opening 64 that left him one shot behind leader Anthony Kim at the rain-plagued Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, where first-round play was suspended for the day late in the afternoon with only half the field in the clubhouse. And, no, he couldn't wipe the grin off his face. Those things he's been working on for weeks now with Mark Winkley -- he learned the game from Davis Love, Jr. -- suddenly all feel into place. He didn't feel like he was working on changes. The swing was just there -- more circular, more accurate. As in 12 of 14 fairways, 13 of 18 greens and 26 putts. "It's effortless now,'' he said. ''It seems I can aim and shoot.'' He was working on it two weeks ago at THE PLAYERS Championship, but cost himself dearly at the second and 16th holes. Didn't trust the swing after an early snap hook and finished 8 shots behind Mickelson, tied for 16th. "I probably cost myself seven or eight shots on those two holes alone,'' he said. That he didn't play at all last week was a positive. He bought a lake house in Graford, Texas, on Possum Kingdom Lake -- about 70 miles west northwest of Fort Worth -- and the family moved in. With a new Chaparral 256 SSI water skiing boat on the dock. And with buddies J.J. Henry, Rory Sabbatini and Chad Campbell -- pretty good foursome, he said -- as lake house neighbors. "I had 130 grand in my pocket after THE PLAYERS,'' he smiled. Purdy also dropped a little on eBay, winning the bidding on a vintage pinball machine -- "Caddyshack-" inspired No Good Gophers -- signed by the late Byron Nelson and auctioned off by the Salesmanship Club. The money went to charity, the machine to his house in Phoenix, where three-year-old Sammy is already a whiz at it. Sammy also knows vocal talent. Or lack of it. "My singing? My three year-old thinks it's really bad,'' Purdy said chuckling. "He covers his ears every time I sing in the shower.'' Purdy, in his fifth season on TOUR, is your likeable next-door neighbor. He bears a double-take resemblance to two-time U.S. Open champ Retief Goosen and lets his brother -- an entertainment writer in Tucson -- maintain his Web site, www.purds.com. Even lets said brother post a for sale notice on the site for his house in Tucson. "I don't pay him, so he got a little free advertising out of it,'' Purdy said. "As long as he doesn't sell my house, I'm okay with whatever he does.'' Purdy has won just once out here, the 2005 EDS Byron Nelson Championship. A week after that win, he was here at Colonial Country Club trying to chase down eventual champ Kenny Perry. He tied for 13th that year; for 25th in 2006. In 2004, he missed the cut. All over the map? "Well, unfortunately, my career is all over the map,'' he said laughing.
But what he loves about Colonial is the old style. You shape shots here, work the ball both ways. No bomb-it, wedge-up here. In fact, he calls this a great course, one that could, if not for the infrastructure, host a U.S. Open. "I wish they would make more courses like this one,'' he said. "What I like about these old-style courses are the doglegs. I mean, what makes Augusta National so great are these big trees and pretty much every hole is you have to work a shot around the way the shape of the hole is.'' Purdy did just that Thursday. Starting on the back nine, he bogeyed his first hole, then birdied the next two and make the turn 4 under. He added three more birdies on the front, starting with a near-eagle-turned-birdie at the first. He moved to 7 under briefly with a birdie at 6, but bogeyed the seventh to finish at 64. "Anytime you birdie half the holes,'' he said, "you're going to have a good score.'' And now that he's got his swing changes down? You never know. He finished T24 at Wachovia, then T16 at THE PLAYERS. And now with the Jordin factor, you just never know. Purdy and Jordin's dad, Phillippe Sparks -- the former New York Giants cornerback -- play and serve on the board together at Moon Valley Country Club in Arizona. Purdy laughs that Sparks is a pretty good player because all he's done lately is play golf and listen to his daughter sing. Now he's known as Jordin's dad. Before AI, Jordin was Phillppe's daughter. Purdy likes the positive attitude he sees in the Sparks family and is hoping it will wash over him and his game. "Jordin's attitude was so positive,'' Purdy said. "I wanted to carry that positive feel onto the course.'' That, he did. Tired thumbs, proud friend-of-superstar's-dad smile and all. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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