Lankford set for another shot in PGA Championship

By JASON FULGINITI

        Finding a comfort zone during high-pressure tournament situations is something Jeff Lankford has rarely had a problem with.

After all, how else could the 39-year-old teaching professional at Hickory Hills Country Club in Mocksville have become one of the most prominent players on the Carolinas Section PGA circuit?

How else could he have blistered the 6,750-yard layout at Surf Golf and Beach Club for a three-day total of 12-under 201 a few weeks ago, which enabled him to capture the Golf Design/Izod Club Carolinas Open in North Myrtle Beach by three shots – giving him the 12th Carolinas Section major championship of his career?

How else, a week prior to his victory at the Carolinas Open, could he have strung together those rounds of 71-74-73-73 at Twin Warriors Golf Club in Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M., which in addition to earning him a tied-for-ninth showing at the prestigious PGA Club Professionals Championship, also earned him a berth in the PGA Championship for the sixth time in the last seven years?

All of which brings us to the irony of Lankford’s current situation.

As he prepares to compete in the 85th PGA Championship Aug. 14-17 at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y., Lankford’s biggest concern has nothing to do with the status of his game.

An historically good driver of the golf ball, the 1986 graduate of North Carolina State – where he earned All-American honors his senior year – isn’t all that worried about the menacing rough that will no doubt await the slightest of errant tee shots at Oak Hill. Nor is he overly concerned with a set of greens that will likely be faster than Marion Jones in the 100 meters.

Instead, Lankford’s biggest concern, ironic as it may be, is finding a way to feel … well, comfortable.

“You can play tournament golf all your life, but until you experience that it’s hard to explain,” Lankford said, referring to the PGA Championship. “The more you play in it you get a little more comfortable each time. And for me, it’s not so much a week of getting my game in shape as it is about feeling comfortable. There are 10,000 people out there (watching you) and it’s just a totally different experience.”

        The experience of having played in five previous PGA Championships is what Lankford hopes will enable him to reverse a trend that saw him miss the cut at Winged Foot (1997), Sahalee (1998), Medinah (1999), Atlanta Athletic Club (2001) and Hazeltine (2002).

Making that endeavor all the more difficult, however, is the fact that Lankford has never even seen, much less played, Oak Hill.

“I talked to Jeff Peck, a club pro in Charlotte who used to live around (Rochester), and he told me it was a lot like Winged Foot,” Lankford said. “And if that’s the case, that means it’s just a great golf course, everything is right there in front of you, so it’s just a matter of going out there and playing your best.

“(Peck) said it’s an old-style course with a lot of tree-lined fairways, which is good for me because I’ve always considered driving as one of my strong points.”

In fact, it was the ’97 PGA at Winged Foot that Lankford said was his most memorable. Not just because it was the first time he had ever qualified for the event, but also because he actually gave himself a chance to be around for the weekend. But despite staying “right around par” after one round, Lankford eventually limped in with a second-round 77 to narrowly miss the cut.

The exact opposite occurred at Medinah in ’99, where despite a solid second round, Lankford couldn’t overcome the damage done by his opening-round 77, and was sent packing after two days.

“I just haven’t been able to put two good rounds together,” Lankford said.

For what it’s worth, putting two solid rounds together certainly hasn’t been something that’s plagued Lankford in recent weeks.

Using a red-hot putter to collect 12 birdies in the first two rounds of the Carolinas Open June 24-26, for example, Lankford finished things off in style one day later, posting an impressive 3-under 68 in the final round, which was good enough for a three-shot victory over Charlotte’s Kent Stauffer.

And while his game may not have been as sharp the week before at the PGA Club Professionals Championship, the Mocksville resident was able to scrape it around Twin Warriors Golf Club for a four-day total of 3-over 291, making him one of just 25 club professionals nationwide – and the only professional in the Carolinas PGA Section – to earn a berth in the PGA Championship.

“The conditions were so tough, and I didn’t feel like I did anything real great,” Lankford said about the CPC. “But I didn’t do anything real bad either. I just kind of hung in there.”

Which is exactly what he’ll be hoping to do in a few weeks, when he arrives at Oak Hill for another chance in the PGA Championship.

“Hopefully after two or three days of practice rounds I’ll feel comfortable with (the course),” said Lankford, who had it not been for a triple bogey in each of his first two rounds, probably would have played the weekend last year at Atlanta Athletic Club. “But I’m just not really comfortable with what mindset to take into the PGA.

“Whether it’s the PGA or one of our (Carolinas PGA) Section tournaments, I don’t go into the tournament thinking I should win. I approach (tournaments) as, if I play the way I’m capable of playing I know I can be in contention at the end of the week. If I go out and do what I know how to do, then hopefully it will be good enough. I don’t know … maybe that’s the wrong way to look at it.”

Or maybe not, considering the way he’s ruled the Carolinas Section PGA circuit the last few years.