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.

HOUSTON — The last month has been a nice break. With the exception of the BellSouth in Atlanta, I’ve been at home in Scottsdale four of the last five weeks putting together a plan for the remainder of the year. I’m excited to get back into tournament golf and will be playing a lot over the next five months.

When the weather decides to cooperate, the PGA Tour has an opportunity to create the playing conditions it would like to see. The PGA Tour staff has a difficult task each week in creating the best tournament setup for the players. With so many variables, golf course setup can be a difficult task. I’ll give you an example of how the golf course can change using the recent Houston Open as an example.

The first hole is a reachable par 5, a hole I hit driver on every day. After hitting good drives in practice rounds on Monday and Tuesday I was left with 265 or 270 yards to the front edge. On Thursday afternoon, I hit a low tee shot off the heel of my driver and had 230 to the front, a difference of 35 yards. As the tournament week continues, the PGA Tour will continue to cut down the length of the fairways and turn the water off on the greens. The result is usually a much different golf course than what we see on Monday and Tuesday. I prefer these faster conditions because it shortens the course, makes the par 5s reachable and the long par 4s play shorter. 

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

Adaptation is the name of the game. Having a plan for the possibilities that lie ahead each week is extremely important, such as being aware of what the wind can do to the firmness of the greens or to the target lines on each tee shot. I continue to learn and evolve this year and am becoming a better player each week.

The golf this week was not very good. I’ve been working hard at home and feel like things are honestly getting closer. It's the first time I’ve felt like that this year. I talk each week about being very honest in my evaluation of my play and this week I got some aspects of my game working in the right direction. I’ve been working hard on controlling the distance of my iron shots and saw some good results this week in hitting the ball close to the hole. The seven birdies I made in the second round is the most I’ve made in a round this year, another positive. I’m making improvements and look forward to playing in New Orleans in the Zurich Classic this week.

One of the difficult things about being a rookie is getting into tournaments. Next week I’ll be in New Orleans and hoping to finish in the top 10, automatically getting me into the PGA tournament the following week. Without a top 10 finish I’ll be heading to North Carolina to try and Monday qualify for the tournament in Charlotte. Because of Jazz Fest in New Orleans and the tournament, I can’t find a flight to Charlotte so I’ll have to drive the almost 800 miles to Charlotte on Sunday night and Monday morning to make my tee time. If I don’t qualify for the Wachovia I’ll be back in the car, headed to Raleigh for the Nationwide tournament. As I said earlier, I need to play golf and I’m not concerned where I’m playing just as long as I’m playing.

The PGA Tour allows players in our category to jump back and forth between the tours because so many guys are unable to play from one week to the next. With Raleigh being so close to Charlotte, the tournament fits nicely into my schedule and keeps me playing tournament golf. I’ll be close to getting into the Byron Nelson Championship the following week in Dallas and expect to be an alternate hanging around hoping to get a chance to play. The learning continues and I continue to improve, I’m excited to be in the guts of the season and look forward to playing some great golf.

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)