Rob Rashell is playing his first season on the PGA Tour. Throughout his rookie year, Rashell will provide a frequent glimpse of what it's like to break into the Tour.

DULUTH, Ga. — In the end, I decided on Raindelay. I thought with the almost three-day delay to the start of the Bell South, the name would be more than appropriate. I purposely omitted the space, mimicking the world of horse racing and horses having multiple word names with no spaces in between. During the Thursday and Friday of the BellSouth my caddie, Shane, got me started on the video game called Derby Owners. Along with a couple of other players, we invested many hours of racing and training, all with the end goal of passing time. I think I’ve found the cure for the weekly rain delay on the PGA Tour, plenty of horse racing.

Having an afternoon tee time on Thursday, our wave definitely got the better end of the draw. We didn’t have to be on call, ready to go whenever the Tour decided to get us going. A full wave of players had to finish before we could start and we were lucky enough to dodge the snow storm on Saturday morning that prompted another 2-hour delay. I’ve heard the weather in Atlanta is a bit unpredictable, but snow? Thus, we made our way to the first tee just after 3 p.m. Saturday, welcomed by 30 to 40 mph winds.

Rookie on Tour Return to Q-School Family, friends, fun Learning from Tiger Taking time off Practicing patience   Major highs, lows Open a thrill It's the driver Alligator ... yum! Clubs, car ready Raindelay by a nose Alternate anxiety Rain, rain go away Pebble amazing Home, sweet home Pro-Am popular Club changes Happy in Hawaii

We played only 13 holes on Saturday and were instructed to be back in position at 8 the next morning to finish our first round and continue directly into our second round. After the dust settled at the end of Sunday I was well short of the cut and made my way to the airport.  Another two-week break to get some rest and charge up for the heart of the season.

I have continually talked about giving an honest assessment of what is happening followed by plans to make improvements. After looking at my stats from the European Tour last year and the PGA Tour this year, one glaring weakness comes to the front in both cases, ball-striking. I realize that there are some players who are low in this category and have played well. I also know that there are no players in the top 30 of this category that aren’t playing well. So, how do I go from the bottom of this category to the top?

My golf swing doesn’t need a major overhaul, just some small refinements. I’m well aware of players making big changes in their golf swings and paying the price in the short term. My objective is to blend in small changes each day in working towards an end goal. Working hard on different drills and making the effort each day to get a little bit better. I also need to spend the time on the mental skills that are involved with playing great golf. Putting the package together won’t be easy, and I look forward to the opportunity to grow and get better. Even with the small amount of work that I’ve invested in the last three weeks I’m seeing exciting results with how I’m hitting it and know that I’m on the right path. 

The two main things I’m working on right now are setting the hands earlier in the golf swing and working the clubface to a square position at the top of my backswing. They are both small attainable adjustments to make me a more consistent player week in and week out. I’ll rely less on timing and more on the big muscles in my golf swing, the shoulders and legs.

I continue to enjoy the challenge of playing on the PGA Tour and look forward to each week.  I’d also like to throw in a quick thanks to the fellas in the lockerroom at the Bell South for dealing with 144 pairs of mud-drenched golf shoes, spending long hours in the night to get our spikes cleaned up and ready for play at daybreak of the next morning. As for Raindelay, I think his career is just getting started and both us are looking forward to a trip to the winner’s circle soon.

2005 results     How Rob Rashell stacked up on the PGA Tour this year. He made six of 25 cuts and earned $84,391. — 11/3-11/6: Southern Farm Bureau Classic (70-70-69-69—278, -10, 44th-tie, $9,070) — 9/22-9/25: Texas Open (67-73—140, Even, cut) — 9/15-9/18: 84 Lumber Classic (71-76—147, +3, cut) — 9/8-9/11: Canadian Open (72-73—145, +5, cut) — 9/2-9/5: Deutsche Bank Championship (75-73—148, +6, cut) — 8/25-8/28: Buick Championship (73-69—142, +2, cut) — 8/18-8/21: Reno-Tahoe Open (77-77—154, +10, cut) — 7/21-7/24: U.S. Bank Championship (71-72—143, +3, cut) — 7/14-7/17: B.C. Open (74-70—144, Even, cut) — 7/7-7/10: John Deere Classic (72-72—144, +2, cut) — 6/30-7/3: Western Open (72-72—144, +2, cut) — 6/23-6/26: Barclays Classic (75-73—148, +6, cut) — 6/16-6/19: U.S. Open (74-72-73-74—293, +13, 42th-tie, $26,223) — 5/26-5/29: St. Jude Classic (73-68-69-71—281, +1, 39th-tie, $20,090) — 4/28-5/1: Zurich Classic (74-73—147, +3, cut) — 4/21-24: Houston Open (78-73—151, +7, cut) — 3/31-4/3: BellSouth Classic (79-73—152, +8, cut) — 3/10-3/13: Honda Classic (73-68-76-70—287, -1, 58th-tie, $12,100) — 2/24-2/27: Chrysler Classic (71-68-71-75—285, -3, 64th-tie, $6,300) — 2/17-2/20: Nissan Open (73-72—145, +3, cut) — 2/10-2/13: Pebble Beach Pro-Am (72-75-73—220, +4, cut) — 2/3-2/6: FBR Open (77-74—151, +9, cut) — 1/26-1/30: Bob Hope Classic (66-76-73-72—287, -1, cut) — 1/20-1/23: Buick Invitational (73-72—145, +1, cut) — 1/13-1/16: Sony Open (73-67-74-69—283, +3, 56th-tie, $10,608)

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