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 Hicks, a teaching professional at Stadium Golf Center in San Diego who was voted the San Diego Chapter of the PGA's Player of the Year in 2007, knows that the number of PGA Tour exemptions available to club professionals has been dwindling over the years. "I think I've missed qualifying for the Buick three times by a single shot," he said. "The morning after this year's qualifier (where Hicks shot a 76 to finish nine strokes behind qualifier Paul Wise) a buddy e-mailed me and said I was in the tournament. He saw it in the newspaper. That's how I found out about it. I was pretty shocked." Hicks had been to the Buick many times as a spectator. During practice rounds he would videotape Tiger Woods and use the images to help his students. He also knew Woods liked to play practice rounds early on Tuesdays. "Probably the first thing that popped into my mind after I learned about the exemption was that I've got to play with Tiger," Hicks said. "I don't know if I'll ever play another Tour event, but I'll tell you what, I'm going to try and play with the greatest player of all time." Hicks arrived about 6:15 a.m. Tuesday and looked at the pairings for Wednesday's pro-am. He saw that Woods was playing the South Course. "I figured that meant he'd want to play a practice round on the North, so we headed over there," Hicks said. He nervously waited around the first tee of the North Course for about 10 minutes before deciding to tee off with the hope that Woods would join him. Hicks hit his drive and started walking, thinking his plan was shot. But in the fairway he turned and saw Woods and Bubba Watson waiting to tee off. "I wave them up and my heart is just pounding out of my chest," Hicks said. "They hit and I kept walking up to my ball. I wanted to hit before they caught up to me. They got up to their drives and I walked over toward Tiger and asked if I could join them and he said that would be fine, but that they played fast. I introduced myself to Bubba and off we went." Woods' desire for speedy play and the fact that he and Watson were relaxed helped put Hicks at ease. "I didn't realize Tiger and Bubba were such good friends," Hicks said. "There was a lot of laughing and joking. I just tried to stay out of the way. We were just flying. We skipped four holes and I think we played 14 holes in about an hour and 40 minutes. That probably took away a lot of the nerves." Even though his interaction and practice round with the world's best player lasted less than two hours, it was an experience that will last a lifetime for Hicks. "There was an aura about him," he said of Woods. "Maybe it was more confidence. He had a firm handshake and it was definitely a confident one. I mean there was Dave Stockton following us around, a gallery and a bunch of photographers. It was nothing for him. For me, it was exhilarating. It was a tremendous experience I'll never forget." |
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