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 from Phoenix, where I've just returned from the Wachovia Championship. Last week was the end of a three-week stretch that culminated with a 3-under par 69 in the final round.

I've started to play really well early in tournaments. Last year, I always finished strong but this year I'm putting myself in contention Thursday and Friday a lot more, and I'm learning how to deal with that. I started off strong at the EDS Byron Nelson and finished strong at Wachovia. That shows me that putting all four rounds together is right around the corner for me. I know it's right there. It's all about putting four together.

You might have noticed that guys my age have started winning on Tour. Anthony Kim did last week and Adam Scott did the week before. Johnson Wagner, who is also in his late 20s, and Anthony were rookies on Tour with me last year and have both won this year. All that really does is cement my belief that I can win out here. These guys are all guys in their 20s and so am I. I think it's really encouraging that the 20-somethings on the PGA Tour are doing well. There's a youth movement going on this year on the PGA Tour and I want to be a part of it.

Here's an interesting story from the road. After the tournament ended in Charlotte, I drove down to Jacksonville with my wife, Kristy, just in case I would get the call to play in The Players Championship this week. I was listed as the ninth alternate to play and I had never seen TPC Sawgrass before. The first 10 alternates are allowed to practice and play, so Monday I played the back nine.

It was a special moment, playing the famous 16th, 17th, and 18th. I knocked it on in two on par-5 16th and made birdie. Then, I hit a smooth 8 iron on the 17th (the island green) and made par. On 18, I hit a great drive right up the middle and hit a perfect 7 iron to 6 feet to make birdie.

So there I was, standing on the 18th green on Monday of a tournament week feeling great about my game, and I didn't even get in the tournament. So I flew back here to Arizona to get some rest in before next week's event in Atlanta, where I will be filming some new videos for www.ParkerMcLachlin.com. Enjoy your rounds out there on the Islands, and look for me at the AT&T Classic in Atlanta.

Mahalo,

Parker

Parker McLachlin can be reached at www.parkermclachlin.com.