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.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — I want to know how many people have tried alligator cheesecake, let alone heard of alligator cheesecake. I can now be placed in both alligator cheesecake categories and would encourage anyone to give it a try. It's a quality dish served as an appetizer at a restaurant in the uptown area of New Orleans. Our host ordered a handful of other starters for our table: rabbit, fried oysters, fried green tomatoes, all of these equally as good as the alligator. On Tuesday, a local restaurant sponsored a crawfish boil on the driving range. It included shrimp and oysters and made practicing fairly difficult for a majority of the day. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, I’m no stranger to seafood and I thoroughly enjoyed all that was on offer that day and throughout the week.

Unfortunately, I missed the cut in Zurich Classic and was a long shot alternate for the Wachovia Championship this week in Charlotte. As members of the PGA Tour, we can Monday qualify for tournaments we don’t get into. The qualifier had 130 players playing one round with the top four scores getting into the tournament. I shot 73 and missed by  three or four shots and decided to play the Nationwide Tour event in Raleigh, just a couple hours from Charlotte. For me, the best way to break out of a rough stretch is to play, play and play. Get as many tournament rounds as possible and play golf. I’m thankful that we’re allowed to play the Nationwide Tour on the weeks we don’t get in on the PGA Tour. The less attractive option would be a streak of five weeks with only one tournament start — not good.

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

I’ve been working hard the past couple of weeks and the results are beginning to show. I missed another cut, yet I am encouraged about how things are progressing. Despite the tough times during the beginning of this year I have learned a great deal about life on Tour and what it takes to compete and win. I’ve never been afraid of the difficult times. The opportunity to learn and grow in tough times is exponentially greater than in good times. Having the fortitude and patience to grow out of difficult times and get better is just another ingredient to a successful Tour player. 

Success in any field starts with a plan, a vision of the future and what I want that future to be. Having the patience and dedication to stick to that plan is a difficult, yet attainable goal. I am sure that over the past four or five diary entries I have written and re-written some of the exact same things. This repetition gives you a good idea about what I am going through and what I working towards, and for me acts as a great reminder to stay on track. The words I write are just as important as the golf balls I hit or the game plan I create each tournament. They all are connected and need to be headed in the same direction, one of improvement.

I think the easy way out would be to say I got some bad bounces or the golf course didn’t suit my game. Those to me are excuses. I’ll instead use each bad shot or tough finish as a learning experience, a chance to grow and get better, one tournament closer to breaking through and winning. I’m excited to be out here and look forward to each opportunity I get to compete.

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)