The Florida Finish

Parker and I just arrived home in Scottsdale last night. We are so excited to be back and reflect on our adventures on the 2007 PGA Tour. As you may have seen, Parker finished 137 on this year's money list. Most of you might think that he missed getting his card by just a few, and well that may be true, another way to see it is that he finished inside the top 150 which means he is still a member of the PGA Tour next year and he is exempt to the 3rd Stage of Q-School where if successful, he can improve his status for 2008. It sounds complicated, but in summary, we are so thrilled with his accomplishments in his rookie season and by many pro's standards, finishing in the top 150 your first year is something to be very proud of.

It was great to finish off the season on a high note in Florida. After a series of missed cuts, Parker went by himself to the Ginn sur Mer Classic. We felt that it was probably best for him to get out there with no distractions and just focus on his game. He was just playing too well to continue to miss chances to compete on the weekend. Everything seemed to click and our theory proved to be correct - that week Parker played great and finished T-12 to move up the money list and give himself a little bit of cushion inside that top 150 money list number.

The next week I flew out to Orlando to meet him for the last tournament of the year. Growing up in California I had been with my family to Disneyland, but had never had the opportunity to see what Disney World was all about. I was shocked! It is practically its own city! Parker wasn't much for going to the parks that week...the crowds, lines, and roller coasters were not exactly how he wanted to prepare for the tournament. But early in the week I did get to go to Magic Kingdom (equivalent to Disneyland in CA ) with some of my girlfriends on tour. On Wednesday Parker and I made our way to another park, Epcot, for dinner. We walked around and visited all of the countries and ended up in Japan where we had a amazing teppanyaki meal!

At Epcot, Walt Disney World

This week was unique because it was a pro am format. Parker had the chance to play with MacKinzie Kline (15 yrs old) and Kelly Allen (14 yrs old)...definitely look out for both of these names in the future on the LPGA and PGA Tours!

Parker also had the chance to play with Tad Fujikawa as his professional pairing. It was a great opportunity for both of them, since they hadn't really had the chance to spend too much time together, though being from the same island. What fascinated me the most was that they played right behind Daniel Chopra who was the champion from the previous week's PGA tournament. Yet no one seemed to be watching him... all of the cameras and spectators were intrigued by the 16 year old from Hawaii who had just turned pro earlier this year. Everyone seemed to want to catch a glimpse of this 5'1'' kid who grabbed the golf worlds attention when he made the cut at the Sony Open in Hawaii in January. I had the opportunity to walk with his management team and his family who were all such incredible people. It made me think, what would i have done in his situation, do you jump on the opportunity while the media is on your side, or do you take the more traditional approach and progress through the ranks of amateur and professional golf - mastering each level? I have to think that it must be hard to go home after a round and have to work on your algebra homework? I don't know that the guys on tour would be able to juggle both? But I guess when he turned pro he knew that his competition wouldn't have to spend any of their time working on school work. Well, I still don't know what I would have done in his shoes, but what I do know is that right now he is loved everywhere he goes, and I just hope that his golf comes together where he is at a level that he can be competitive on tour. Until then I am confident that he is surrounded by a great group of people, and that is definitely a solid foundation for future successes.

With Parker's T-26 finish at Disney I can't express enough how proud of him I am. You are only a rookie once, and I know that we will look back on this year with amazing memories. I realize that all of the drama is surrounding the 125 number, but the truth for us is that we both consider his rookie season a great success - it was learning year to say the least, together we learned how to live on the road, adjust to knew cities week to week, manage being at "work" together, and balancing the intensity of golf as well as the enjoyment of the travel. It was truly an adventure. I know that on the golf end, Parker considers this year as a huge learning year as well and is looking forward to tackling the tour again with a little more experience under his belt in 2008.

Now it is a little R&R before he gets into those clubs again. (I think that they are still in the travel bag right now). :-)

Kristy