Join us as we take a tour on the PGA Tour with Parker McLachlin, a former Punahou athlete. McLachlin earned his PGA Tour card for this season. He joins Castle alum Dean Wilson as the only Hawai'i golfers on the PGA Tour. McLachlin, Waikoloa's touring pro, will write his impressions on events that he's just completed and tournaments that are upcoming on his calendar.

Aloha.

Before I delve into the details of last week's roller-coaster ride at the Nationwide Tour event in West Virginia, I want to talk about the re-launch of my Web site, www.ParkerMcLachlin.com. We've been working really hard to produces a site that continues to make it easier for you to follow my progress. Now, you'll be able to see some really great stuff, including interactive video tips, a blog, and photos from the Tour.

Last week was a week to remember. Going into Thursday, I was really focused on going out and winning the golf tournament. I showed up on Thursday morning after a great few days of preparation and I was excited to try out my new "aggressive" mindset.

On Thursday, I hit some really quality shots (hit 17 of 18 greens) and made a few long putts. Before I knew it, I had shot the easiest round of 63 of my life. I've shot some low rounds before, but that 63 just felt so simple and so easy. It was the way golf should be played (laugh).

I just kept telling myself, "It's a long week and 63 will only get you so far." I told myself that I had to go out there on Friday with the same mindset and keep the pedal to the metal.

I played a nice round of golf on Friday, despite some difficult circumstances. On the 14th hole, I was in the bunker and asked my caddy "how far to the hole?" He said, "I need to call a paramedic. I can't make it."

It was stifling hot, probably 100 degrees without any wind. I was so focused that my first words were, "OK, I'll guess I'll get my own yardage on this hole."

After realizing the severity of my caddy's heat exhaustion, we called the paramedics. (I heard that there ended up being four caddies per day who went down.) Without much else to do, I grabbed a guy out of the gallery. I asked him if he wanted to come out the last four and a half holes and he said, "Sure!"

I said to him, "I don't know if you have caddied before, but the best thing you could do is just lay low and be incognito."

So he says back to me, "I just don't want to say anything that screws you up."

I turned to him, chuckled, and said, "That's exactly what I mean. Let's just not talk about golf." So we spent the last five holes just talking about his job. (He wasn't too bad, because I ended up playing the last five holes in 2 under par.)

My regular caddy had some kidney problems, so I wasn't able to use him again. Instead, I used one of the caddies that caddied for one of my playing partners on Thursday and Friday. His name is Rick and he had actually lived on Maui for 20 years, so we ended up working well together and turned in a solid round.

Sleeping on a Saturday night lead is interesting. I ended up just sort of talking on the phone to people, and getting a lot of rest for Sunday.

The weather was so hot that it was tough to really do anything other than relax. My game plan the entire week was to stay aggressive, and with a seven-shot lead you almost think that you can ease off the gas a little bit and put it on cruise control.

When I look back on it now, I should have continued to keep making birdies and keep playing the golf course, as opposed to playing against the guys in my group. Rather than me dictating the situation, I let the situation dictate me. That's something that I am going to take with me the next time I'm in this situation.

In my mind, this is exactly what the Nationwide Tour is for. A mistake like that can cost you $1 million on the PGA Tour, but a mistake like that is not quite as costly on the Nationwide Tour. In my mindset, this is exactly why I came to this tournament in the first place. I wanted to get in the mode of winning a tournament, I wanted to learn how to deal with a Sunday lead. That mission was accomplished. This was an invaluable lesson that will serve me greatly on the PGA Tour where it really counts.

Starting next week, I'm heading back to Hawai'i for 12 days and I'll be working on my game on the Big Island for the next couple of weeks at Waikoloa. If any of you want to catch me practicing at Waikoloa, come on by!

Mahalo,

Parker

Parker McLachlin can be reached at www.parkermclachlin.com