KEY POINTS:
The two Tims - Wilkinson, budding golf star and Brasher, former rugby league star and now golf caddy - begin their unusual pairing on golf's big stage this week.
Wilkinson leaves New Zealand today to prepare for the Sony Open in Hawaii starting on Thursday. It's his first
tournament as a fully fledged member of the PGA Tour.
Brasher, known best as a fullback for Balmain Tigers and the Kangaroos, re-invented himself as a caddy some years back, initially pairing with fellow Australian Terry Price before switching to Wilkinson, whose game and mental strength he believes has the quality to crack the big time.
Wilkinson admitted to some anxiety at the beginning of last year but this season has millions more reasons for a little more apprehension. He has played in this company before - once in 2003, once the following year - and he made the cut both times.
But this year it's for real. Instead of playing for a total purse of $500,000 a week on the second-tier Nationwide Tour, there'll be at least $5 million on the line every time he tees it up. The money he earned for the entire year in 2007 ($133,222, 49th on the Nationwide Tour money list) - he could earn any week on the PGA Tour.
"It's a bit different," the quietly spoken lefthander said from Palmerston North this week. "Well, put it this way: I want it to be a bit different.
"But I've been told that it's easier to make cuts on the PGA Tour than it is on the Nationwide Tour.
"And that's from guys who play on the PGA Tour."
Wilkinson has pretty much stayed under the radar during his professional career. He left the amateur ranks after being the country's top performer at the 2002 Eisenhower Trophy and has played in America pretty much ever since.
In the early years, he made do with mini-tours and Monday qualifying for PGA and Nationwide Tour events. That's doing an apprenticeship the hard way. But he persevered and showed glimpses of what he could be by finishing 27th equal in the 2004 Buick Championship in Connecticut, after a final round of 64.
In 2005 he could finally play full time on the Nationwide Tour and, although he's never actually won a tournament, progress has been steady. He's averaged $100,000 a year and has nine top 10 finishes.
But last month's PGA Tour qualifying tournament can be regarded as his greatest achievement. After initially being reluctant to enter because he didn't really think he was playing well enough, Wilkinson tied for 14th after a slow start to the gruelling six rounder and comfortably won his ticket.
However, he's well aware that the most recent New Zealanders who graduated to the PGA Tour, Michael Long and Steven Alker, couldn't play well enough to keep their card for more than one season.
"I'm pretty confident I won't be a one-year wonder," he says.
That confidence comes not only with the experience of making every cut in his limited opportunities on the big tour so far, but also from a close working relationship with his caddy - former Australian rugby league star Tim Brasher.
The one-time Balmain, Souths and Kangaroo player has been working for Wilkinson since the end of 2006.
"He's really good for me mentally. Just having been a professional sportsman makes so much difference, especially in difficult situations."
Brasher, now 36, has a 5-handicap but says the two often chat about pressure - something that transcends league and golf.
Wilkinson, who made 23 of 25 cuts on the Nationwide Tour last year, will play the first three events of the regular PGA Tour season - in Hawaii, at Palm Springs for the Bob Hope Classic and in San Diego. He'll probably get starts in at least three other tournaments before the Tour heads to Florida for the lead-up to the Masters.
Last year Wilkinson brushed off that early-season anxiety by finishing seventh equal in the Nationwide Tour's opening event in Panama.
He would love something similar this week in Honolulu.
In last week's column, reviewing 2007, I neglected to mention Gareth Paddison's win in France on the European Challenge Tour. It was the only win by a New Zealand professional in a 72-hole event outside this country or the Pacific region. Also in Europe, Simon Owen won the Italian Seniors Open over 54 holes.
