Kyle Stanley turns pro: A path well-planned

Kyle Stanley’s vision of his golf career has been clear, leaving little to chance.

The week ahead of him – a professional debut at the PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship in Connecticut – has been something the 21-year-old Stanley, a Gig Harbor resident, has not only mapped out for months, but contemplated for years.

“I wouldn’t say at one moment becoming a pro golfer hit me,” Stanley said.

That is because long before he starred at Bellarmine Prep, or developed into one of the top amateurs in the world while at Clemson University the past three seasons, Stanley’s goal was to not only make it on the PGA Tour, but to win regularly among the world’s best professionals.

“He’s definitely different,” said Dr. Morris Pickens, a sports psychologist from Georgia who has counseled notable PGA Tour players, including 2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson, and Lucas Glover, the U.S. Open winner crowned Monday.

“One, he has unbelievable, sheer talent. A lot of people can’t do physically the things he can do. Plus, it’s the way he’s approached it. For a kid ready to go to college ... he didn’t want to go to party. He was going to college as the next step in the evolution of him being a great golfer.”

First came choosing a college program. He could have gone the traditional route for Northwest standouts, staying on the West Coast. Because of the exposure he was afforded on the American Junior Golf Association, he saw different parts of the country, and how serious golf was taken.

Ultimately, he chose to attend Clemson in South Carolina.

“The idea of going to school in the Southeast, he knew that was where the golf center of our country is,” said Matt Stanley, his father. “There’s a lot of interest in golf down there, much different than it is out here. And he also knew there would be fewer distractions there.”

Certainly, Stanley’s decisions from the get-go have been calculated – something Tacoma’s Brian Mogg can relate to.

Mogg came out of Lakes High School in the late 1970s, and decided to play golf at Ohio State University, where he was a second-team All-American in 1983.

“Here’s the reality of it – the PGA Tour is a tour east of the Mississippi River, but including Texas as well,” Mogg said.

Whether it be college tournaments or amateur events, Mogg quickly learned if he wanted to be serious about becoming a touring professional, he had to play on the East Coast.

Mogg was a member of the PGA Tour and Nationwide Tour for the better part of a decade before founding the Brian Mogg Performance Center, a teaching center, in Windermere, Fla.

“It was as good a preparation as I’ve ever done to simulate the (PGA Tour), flying to each city and that kind of thing,” said Mogg, who has met Stanley a couple of times. “From what I’ve seen, Kyle has done the same thing. He’s done his homework.”

Before this season – a year in which he won the Ben Hogan Award as the nation’s top collegiate golfer and finished as the NCAA runner-up for the second time in three appearances – Stanley began having thoughts about when to turn pro.

After the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines South Course, he announced he would return to Clemson for one more season as a junior.

“I knew I would have another year to work on things, and then I’d be ready,” Stanley said.

Practice efficiency, and course management, have been primary areas of focus in the past year.

Stanley has relied on the expertise of Pickens and Mike Taylor, a swing instructor at the Sea Island Golf Resort in Georgia who tutors a handful of PGA Tour veterans.

“A year ago, Kyle was developing into the types of guys on tour who are great ball-strikers, but only win four or five times in their careers,” Pickens said. “I know where Kyle wants to go. He doesn’t have small goals. To do that, he has to be great with his wedges and putting.”

It’s a logical formula Stanley has been following.

Golf mostly consists of what happens off the tee, and around the greens. So, the practice regimen Pickens and Taylor came up with last fall was for Stanley to spend most of his time working in those areas.

Wedge-shot practice varies, from developing different ball trajectories, to mastering spin control and distance control. Also, Stanley has invested more effort in his chipping and putting.

Even though practice sessions have been three or four hours a day, Pickens said if it was up to Stanley, he’d likely go longer.

“He is a Vijay (Singh) type practicer, and needs to learn how to cut that back,” Pickens said. “He needs to learn there is a balance in getting better (with practice), and saving energy to competitively play.”

On the course, the long-hitting Stanley is no longer programmed to just grip it and rip it off the tee. He’s experimented with hitting 3-woods and hybrids, even on longer holes, to set up playing a hole in a more productive manner.

“A lot of the mistakes I’ve made on the golf course, the vast majority were the result of poor decision-making,” Stanley said. “And when you get the opportunity to play with these guys (on the PGA Tour), and see how they get the ball in the hole, they don’t make a whole lot of mistakes.”

To handle business away from the course – travel planning, corporate galas, pro-am appearances and media requests – Stanley has hired SFX Sports, a management company out of Washington, D.C., to represent him.

“I am the type of guy who likes to know what is going on and anticipating things,” Stanley said. “That is why I have the help of a lot of people, to help me get through stuff I am not comfortable with. It’s hard to deal with that stuff alone.”

Stanley can play up to six more PGA Tour events this summer on sponsor’s exemptions. He can also get into other tournaments based on top-10s from the previous week, or in Monday qualifiers, or by earning temporary tour membership for the rest of the season.

To earn his PGA Tour card for 2010, Stanley will need to earn the same amount of money as last year’s 125th-place finisher. In this case, he would need to total $852,752 or better.

If he doesn’t accomplish that, Stanley would need to go to PGA Tour Qualifying School next winter. After making the cut at the recent U.S. Open in New York, he would be exempt from the first of the three qualifying stages.

The next chapter officially begins Thursday when, in front of a small group of friends and family, he tees off at TPC River Highlands for the first round of the Travelers Championship.

“Anytime you get away, and be on your own, it’s a huge growing experience, and has been for me,” Stanley said. “Now, the biggest challenges are dealing with the little things ... so I can play the best golf I can. From an experience standpoint, that can’t be taught. You have to get out there and get it. That is something I’ll acquire the more tournaments I play.”

Todd Milles: 253-597-8442

todd.milles@thenewstribune.com

THE KYLE STANLEY FILE

Age: 21 … Hometown: Gig Harbor… Height: 5-11… Weight: 170… High school: Bellarmine Prep… College: Clemson… Notable amateur accomplishments: Wins at the Southern Amateur (2006, 2008) and Sahalee Players Championship (2006). Twice the NCAA runner-up (2007, 2009). Was named Ben Hogan Award winner in 2009 as nation’s top golfer. Member of 2007 U.S. Walker Cup-winning team. … PGA Tour appearances: 2007 Arnold Palmer Invitational; 2008 U.S. Open; 2009 Arnold Palmer Invitational and 2009 U.S. Open.… Best PGA Tour finish: 53rd at the 2009 U.S. Open (13-over 293).… Caddie: Various.… Swing instructors: Mike Taylor, of Sea Island, Ga., and Todd Erwin, of Tacoma.…Sports psychologist: Dr. Morris Pickens, Sea Island, Ga.… Fitness instructor: Randy Myers, Sea Island, Ga.… Management group: SFX Sports, Washington, D.C.… Agent: Brad Bufoni, Milwaukee.… Home club: Berkeley Hall Golf Club, Bluffton, S.C.… Equipment company: Titleist.