Golf: Tataurangi learns value of patience

Phil Tataurangi is learning the value of patience, but there are times it doesn't come easily.

The New Zealand golfer is fighting his way back on the sport's toughest stage after having the last few years ruined by back problems.

Last weekend, he took another step forward when he finished tied for 34th at the Byron Nelson Championship in Tataurangi's American home base of Dallas.

It might not sound much, but it's all part of the process the 34-year-old must go through if he's to achieve his ultimate ambition of winning a Major.

Tataurangi has had six starts on the US PGA Tour this year. He's made three cuts, including a share of 64th at the Bell South Open in Georgia and equal 74th at the Houston Open.

Along the way he's produced the odd sizzling round, such as a 66 in the second round last weekend. But he's learning not to rush things or expect them to come back easily.

At the same time, he also has an unshakeable confidence that with his health worries behind him he can at least regain, if not better, his old standards.

He is in a small group of New Zealanders to have won a US PGA Tour event - Sir Bob Charles, John Lister, Frank Nobilo, Grant Waite and, with last year's US Open triumph, Michael Campbell - with his win in the Invensys Classic in Las Vegas in 2002.

Tataurangi insists that aiming to join Charles and his good mate Campbell as a Major champion is no mere pipedream.

"There's good signs every week that we're making progress," he said. "The competitor in you always hopes that it's going to go better than it has been, but when all's said and done the more golf I play the better I'm playing.

"I always thought it was going to be a long process, getting back to being truly competitive, and it's proving that way. Every corner I go round there's an extra challenge."

One is to string four strong rounds together. In Dallas, Tataurangi kicked off with rounds of 68 and 66 to sit with the leaders.

A third round 74 - "I played fairly well, but made three mistakes on three different tee shots and came away with two doubles [bogeys] and a triple [bogey]" - slid him down to a position from where he could not challenge on the final day, but did have the opportunity to push for a single figure finish.

Three bogeys in the first five holes did it for him. But then, in the course of the last 12 holes, Tataurangi zapped five birdies. So, the job now is to make those good moments count.

Tataurangi reckons it is misleading to simply think in terms of putting four good rounds together in succession.

"You never think, 'I've had two good rounds, now I've got to try and put two more together', however it might look like that on paper.

"It's more conditioning for four days. All the different things that go through your mind in those days, pacing yourself, making the right decisions at the right time and getting a little bit of luck as well."

Tataurangi needs to get inside the top 125 to retain his full Tour card for next year. At the moment, he's 198th. He's still got plenty of tournaments left this year and by chipping away, making a good number of cuts, he'll get close.

But his overriding ambition is winning tournaments, and in one sense, a victory will take care of the top 125 issue.

Tataurangi pointed out it's rare that a player will "hit the jackpot" and win a tournament out of left field. Success tends to come after several weeks of solid form.

Take Brett Wetterich, the Ohio player who won the Byron Nelson title. Tataurangi said, he'd played "terribly" at the start of the year, got a couple of top 10 finishes in the last month and that led to a win.

"You play your way into it. That's how it worked for me in the past. You don't necessarily make every single cut, but you string a few good performances together and get a bit of confidence up.

"Then if you find a course that suits your game, get your game in good shape that week ... you never know, all the stars may align."

Tataurangi has this week off, then plays the St Jude Classic in Memphis, and the Barclays Classic outside New York in the week before the US Open, which starts on June 15. He will be attempting to qualify for the Open.

The desire is back. Campbell's success acted as a spur. Remember, the pair were teammates when New Zealand won the Eisenhower Trophy in 1992, when Tataurangi also bagged the individual title.

He's also happy, doing what he enjoys and knowing he's able to contend again.