Friday, Apr. 11, 2008

Ex-PGA Tour golfer has found his game, shares Del Rio lead

Brent Schwarzrock, having spent nine long years climbing golf's steep mountain, believed he was too tired to continue.

Today, he's found his second wind.

Schwarzrock, a regular on the PGA Tour not too long ago, jump-started the Spring International on Thursday with a 6-under-par 66 to co-lead the Canadian Tour's inaugural 2008 tournament.

To hear him tell it, Schwarzrock, 35, came very close to locking his bag in the closet for good. The man who walked the fairways of the game's richest tour between 1999 and 2003, followed by a stint on the Nationwide Tour from 2004 to '06, retreated to his Georgia home in '07.

"After Q-School, I put my clubs away and played with my new-born son," Schwarzrock said. "I had no interest in playing golf at all for most of last year."

Fortunately for him, his agent coaxed officials into a berth in the Desjardins Montreal Open late in the Canadian Tour season. Not only did Schwarzrock give it a shot, he won the tournament, sinking a 40-foot bomb to beat Order of Merit champion Byron Smith in a playoff.

That gave Schwarzrock a two-year exemption on the Canadian Tour. Translation: He was spinning again in professional golf's universe.

"Something sparked me. I got the itch back," he said. "I don't enjoy playing golf at home. I enjoy the competition part of the game."

His younger colleagues on the CanTour might question their bad timing in having to deal with an ex-PGA guy. In 2001, Schwarzrock tied for eighth in the AirCanada and tied for ninth at the Kemper.

He echoed that form seven years later with birdies on all four of Del Rio Country Club's par-5s. Starting at the 10th, he overcame bogeys in the middle of his round at the first and third.

"The last few years I didn't take it as seriously as I should," Schwarzrock said. "I'm glad now to be playing anywhere. I'll get some tournament rounds in me this year. That's all I'll be doing. I'm a terrible planner. I'm day to day."

Scharzrock, a hard-to-miss 6 foot, 4 inches and 220 pounds, shares the first-day lead with a man he probably could javelin-toss across the putting green. Antonio Maldonado, 5-5, gave the International an early Mutt and Jeff act with his own 66.

Maldonado, from Queretaro, Mexico, is a three-time winner on the Mexico PGA Tour, where the top three money winners are granted exemptions onto the Canadian Tour.

Schwarzrock and Maldonado, two of 69 players who matched par or better in sunny and breezy conditions, are followed at 67 by ex-San Diego State star John Lieber and former U.S. Amateur runner-up Joel Kribel of Pleasanton.

Two Washington residents, Saint Mary's College product Joseph Lanza and Zack Shriver, lurk at 4-under 68. Lanza, who made 12 of 14 cuts on the Canadian Tour last year, tied for second at the 2007 Northern California Classic in Stockton.

For now, the projected 36-hole cut -- for the low 60 and ties after today's second round -- is even par.

Bee sports columnist Ron Agostini can be reached at ragostini@modbee.com or 578-2302