Marc Leishman: A Rookie Success
IN: News | by Anthony Powter | 15 Sep 2008
Marc Leishman’s playing days during his rookie year in the US were anything but easy.
In 2006 he missed securing a Tour card on either the Nationwide, PGA or Asian Tours. At the time Leishman understandably was feeling despondent. He knew that he had the game to play the main tours, but his chances in his first year as a professional had quickly slipped by.
Marc Leishman Audio Interview
“You learn a lot as a rookie,” said Leishman as he prepared for the recent Boise Open on the US Nationwide Tour, where he’s been playing the last eighteen months.
“My game is totally different to when I first came out on tour. You learn so much, if you don’t – you get left behind. This is no holiday out here like some view it, it’s extremely competitive.”
Leishman cut his teeth on the 2005-06 Von Nida Tour, having finished in the top five players from the 2005 Australia PGA Tour School. He won four Von Nida Tour events, the Toyota Southern twice, the Victorian PGA and the Cairns Classic.
In early 2006 the 23-year-old from Warrnambool, a coastal town on Lady Bay some 260km south west of Melbourne, was one of the hottest properties in Australian golf.
An aggressive driver of the ball, Leishman was posting low numbers in every Von Nida event he played, including securing his first professional victory in the Toyota Southern Classic in March 2006 at Woolooware Golf Club in southern Sydney. It was a victory of seven shots, where he held the lead from the first round after an opening 60.
With no US playing privileges in 2007 and only conditional status on the Nationwide Tour during 2008, Leishman, 25, has experienced his fair share of Monday qualifiers.
Despite the challenges, Leishman remains focused on the task at hand. He is also acutely aware that if he plays the remaining five Nationwide events this season well, many more doors will open.
“Every tournament out here is important,” he said after securing a T2 at the Utah Championship recently, his best finish on the Nationwide Tour.
“I’ve definitely realised that you have to post low numbers early in a tournament to have any chance of winning. The fields are so deep and there’s someone who will come in each time with a low number and pass you unless you’re also are scoring low.”
That’s exactly how he won his first two professional tournaments, the 2006 Toyota Southern Classic on the Von Nida Tour, and the 2006 Jisan Resort Open on the Korean PGA Tour. Leishman attacked the courses, posting low opening rounds and kept the momentum going from wire-to-wire.
Missing out on an Asian Tour card in 2005 had forced him to reconsider his options. Leishman searched for a tour to play following those earlier achievements on the Von Nida Tour knowing he had the game and he opted for the US.
With no playing status at the time, it was a bold move, but Leishman has never looked back.
With four top-ten Nationwide Tour finishes this season, including a T6 finish at the BMW Charity Pro-Am and a T9 result at the Livermore Valley Wine Country Championship, Leishman is now feeling at home in the US.
“It great to feel those competitive pressures again,” said Leishman currently 51st on the Nationwide Money List.
Like many Aussies before, Leishman was able to make his way onto the Nationwide Tour through his results on the two Australasian co-sanctioned events.
“I got off to a reasonably good start this year back home, which gives you the foundation to work with,” said Leishman about his T37 finish at the HSBC NZ PGA Championship in New Zealand and T41 finish at the Moonah Classic at Moonah Links on the Mornington Peninsula last February.
A T9 finish at Livermore Valley Wine Country Championship earlier in the season also provided the needed momentum to keep his focus and solidified his playing privileges in the US following the re-ranking on the Nationwide Tour.
“I’ve really enjoyed the second half of this season and with only five more events, the race is on to secure my place for next season,” he remarked. “It’s been difficult as I’m still getting a feel for the new courses and adapting to that, but my game is improving as is my approach to playing. It’s enjoyable that’s for sure.”
The transition from top amateur to professional tournament golf is difficult as Leishman will attest.
“You just have to keep shooting four good rounds on tour and put in there a 9-10 under-par-round to get a bit of pressure off and it’s such a huge step up.”
Leishman’s amateur achievements during 2005 included victories at the Lake Macquarie Amateur and the Keperra Bowl, as well as top-five finishes in major US amateur events like the Rice Planters Amateur, Players Amateur and the Porter Cup. Like all talented amateurs, professional golf seemed only a natural progression.
Leishman quietly announced that he would turn professional in August 2005 and at the time not a lot of people took much notice except for those who knew what he was capable of doing on the golf course. In his first professional event, a pay to play Grey Goose Tour tournament in the US, Leishman finished 3rd and banked his first cheque, US$13,000.00.
Leishman will keep his Nationwide Tour playing privileges for next season following a solid rookie year in the US, yet the race is on to progress as high up the money list that he can.
“Obviously I’d like to get inside the top-25 and progress to the main tour,” he says. “But if that does not happen, a top-40 finish will get you to the final stage of Tour School, so I’m aiming as high as I can with the remaining events.”
Leishman knows his game is there and it’s only a matter of time before the rewards will follow.
“I playing well enough at the moment to possibly win an event,” he says. “It’s close but obviously I cannot say that I’ll win this year, but it’s definitely just around the corner.”
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