Patrick Sheehan is Nationwide Tour's Mr. Moonlight

Jan 31, 2007

Jan. 30, 2007

Professional golfers don't have theme songs. And that's a pity, especially in the case of Patrick Sheehan.

If they did, "Mr. Moonlight,'' written by Roy Lee Johnson and made famous by The Beatles on albums released in the United Kingdom in 1964 and the United States in 1965, would be ever so apropos for Sheehan, a 37-year-old journeyman from Rhode Island fresh off a tie for second in the Movistar Panama Championship, the first of 32 events on the 2007 Nationwide Tour.

Naturally, there is a story behind it.

Seems Sheehan was down on his luck and the state of his golf game near the end of 2006. Sheehan had crashed headlong into a brick wall on the PGA TOUR following a dismal season where he finished 165th on the money list and failed to regain his playing privileges in the annual passion play that is Qualifying School.

Desperate times called for desperate measures. Sheehan, done in by a rash of poor putting, decided to work out the kinks in his game on an obscure central Florida mini-tour. As luck would have it, it was named the Moonlight Tour. And Sheehan became, well, Mr. Moonlight.

Sheehan figures he made approximately 25 starts on the Moonlight, normally a series of one-day events where competitors played for a percentage of an $80 entry fee. There also were three two-day events where the buy in was $3,000. Sheehan won 17 times, including two of the three 36-hole tournaments, playing in as many as three tournaments a week.

"Before every tournament I tried to figure out the number it would take to win and then I went out and tried to shoot it,'' Sheehan said of his method for success. "I started seeing putts falling and got a little belief back in my stroke. That was very good for me.''

You bet. And winning on any level can provide booster shot after booster shot of an all-important commodity. That's confidence. Sheehan had it when he trekked to Panama City, Panama, last week. He also carried along the proper attitude, one that often is difficult to come by for veteran PGA TOUR players who must play on the Nationwide Tour.

Instead of grousing about his plight, Sheehan, who won almost $3 million while maintaining his PGA TOUR playing privileges for three seasons, embraced it. One door closed, but another opened, he said.

"This is where I belong,'' he said matter of factly. "I had a rough year. I didn't play or putt well. I made enough cuts (17 in 34 events), but I kept finishing 40th or 50th. You can't play mediocre golf and keep your job.

"So I'm looking at this year as a huge opportunity. They are giving 25 (PGA) TOUR cards now. This is the best way to get back out there.''

A good showing in Panama, where Hunter Haas, Jim McGovern and Sheehan finished behind Argentinean champion Miguel Carballo, who won by two strokes with a charging final-round of five-under-par 65, is a great place to start. Eight players who finished in the top 20 in 2006 were among the Nationwide Tour's 22 PGA TOUR graduates.

What's more, Sheehan, who made his way to the PGA TOUR in 2003 after finishing 12th on the Nationwide money list the previous year, liked what he saw in Panama and what he heard about the improvements in the Nationwide Tour during the off-season. He saw lots of rough and narrower fairways along with firm and fast greens.

"The course mirrored the set-up for a PGA TOUR event more so than when I left in 2002,'' he said. "That's good for everyone. You'll be better prepared for the next level if you play well here.''

Sheehan's theory appears on the mark as the Nationwide Tour has made a conscious effort to make playing conditions more difficult. As a result, players are more battle tested and better prepared when they move to the next level, golf's highest.

A record 12 Nationwide Tour players from a graduating class of 21 kept their cards last season. Eight banked more than $1,000,000. It appears the Class of '06 just might produce more of the same superlative play if the early season results are any indication.

Six of the 22 graduates -- Jeff Quinney (11th), Brandt Snedeker (13th), Andrew Buckle (17th), Craig Kanada (25th), Doug LaBelle (29th) and Cliff Kresge (30th) -- fit snugly inside the top 30 on the money list.

In addition, there are seven Nationwide Tour graduates currently in the top 30 in the FedExCup standings.

"Just look at what happened at the Buick (Invitational),'' Sheehan said, said taking note that Snedeker and Buckle entered the final round tied for the lead with Johnson Wagner (currently 40th on the money list) tied for seventh. "Those guys all proved they can play.''

Playing is something Sheehan will do -- until he drops. He entered an average of 33 tournaments per year in his four seasons on the PGA TOUR and plans to play as much as possible in 2007 in his quest to again become a player on the big stage in 2008.

"I'm going to play a lot,'' he said. "It's the beginning of the year and we have some built-in time off. There's two weeks now and another three after Australia and New Zealand (the next two Nationwide stops) so I won't run myself ragged for a while.''

What's more, Sheehan, who isn't a big fan of airplanes, knows he'll hit a welcomed seven-tournament stretch in the spring where he can drive to each event.

"Pure heaven,'' he said of his planned motorcade.

But next Thursday, he'll bite down hard on the bullet and begin an across the world trek that leads from Orlando to Lockleys, South Australia near Adelaide. It's five hours from Orlando to Los Angeles and then another 17 to the Land Down Under.

"It will be pure torture,'' he said. "But I have to do it. I'm a man on a mission.''

And it has nothing to do with moonlighting.