Columnist Victoria Sun: Practice makes nearly perfect for Anderson in Q-School play

Victoria Sun

Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2000 | 10:01 a.m.

Victoria Sun is a Las Vegas Sun sportswriter. Reach her at 259-4078 or victoria@lasvegassun.com

Former UNLV golfer Jeremy Anderson will never say it because he's way too nice.

Way too humble.

And way too classy.

Exactly the reasons why he is such an endearing person, one that the PGA Tour will be lucky to have once he makes it through the final stage of the tour's Qualifying School.

Which brings us to the second thing Anderson would never say, but more on that later.

The first thing he would never say is, "I told you so" to everyone who thought Anderson would have been better off playing in Hooters Tour or Buy.com Tour events after he graduated from UNLV in May.

Instead of playing in a bunch of tournaments, Anderson spent the summer in Las Vegas working on his long game and his short game. He did try to get sponsor's exemptions into PGA Tour events, but when he didn't get all of the ones he wanted, he stuck to his original plan.

He worked on his consistency off the tee, focusing on hitting the ball long and straight, improving his mental attitude on his long iron game and his putting.

"To be honest, I just didn't want to," Anderson said of playing on the Hooters Tour or Buy.com events. "I was burnt out after NCAAs.

"I needed time to relax and enjoy life. I spent a serious amount of hours working on my game so I could take my game to the next level. I feel really good about the things I worked on now that I'm putting them to work in tournament situations.

"I was disappointed not getting some of the sponsor's exemptions, but at the same time for the first time in four years, I was able to practice and get better. It was hard for me to do that in school because I was taking hard classes and had a full load."

So far, it seems Anderson made a smart decision by practicing instead of playing a full tournament schedule.

He finished first in the first stage of the PGA Tour's Qualifying School at the Dayton Valley Country Club in Dayton, Nevada, with a four-day total of 14-under-par 274.

On Tuesday, he shot a 5-under-par 67 in the opening round of the second stage at the Oak Valley Golf Club in Beaumont, Calif., and tied for second. Fellow former Rebels Charley Hoffman shot a 68 and Warren Schutte a 75.

Anderson started on the back nine and missed a 5-foot putt for birdie on No. 10, but rebounded with a four-footer for birdie on the next hole followed by a birdie from eight feet then a 30-footer for eagle.

Anderson went on to birdie No. 16 and made the turn at 5-under. On the back nine, he had one birdie and one bogey.

"This was the kind of start I was looking for," he said. "You can't win the tournament the first day, but you can certainly shoot yourself out of it.

"My confidence is really high right now. I can't wait to go at it tomorrow."

"I'm trying my very best to treat each one of these stages as every other tournament. I've played hundreds of tournaments in my life and the goal has been to win. I'm not thinking of it as being this life-and-death situation because that's unnecessary pressure."

The second thing Anderson wouldn't say is that he will definitely earn his tour card for next year.

"You just have to take things one step at a time," he said. "You can't get caught looking ahead.

"There are three stages. In my case I just keep things very simple."

Anderson did say, "Hopefully it will be my last (qualifying school) and I never have to go back."

I say count on it.