Columnist Victoria Sun: Henderson’s Barlow is eager to return to links

Victoria Sun

Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2002 | 11:40 a.m.

Victoria Sun is a Las Vegas Sun sportswriter. She can be reached at victoria@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4078.

It has been almost five months since PGA Tour player Craig Barlow has played a round of golf.

Accordingly, the Henderson resident is itching to get back out on the links.

"I'm very excited to get back on the road," Barlow said. "I should be very fresh and focused this year.

"As the year goes on, I should get stronger. I've lost some weight and started taking my health more seriously."

Barlow is recovering from shoulder surgery he had on Nov. 20 to repair a nagging injury.

Before that, he pulled out of the Invensys Classic to have season-ending hip surgery in September.

"My doctor told me it would be six or seven months before I feel total relief," Barlow said of his hip. "It's not injured anymore, though. It's just about healed."

For the last month, Barlow has been working hard on his short game -- that's the only thing he can do for now.

"I've been chipping and putting a lot," Barlow said. "I've hit some irons, but I'm trying not to stress out anything yet."

Barlow said that he will try to play nine holes next week to test his shoulder.

He plans on returning to the PGA Tour at the Genuity Championship (Feb. 25 to March 3) at the Doral Golf Resort and Spa.

"I was hoping to get back two weeks earlier than that, and I probably could push that but I don't think it'd be beneficial for me," Barlow said. "I don't want to come back too early and re-injure myself.

"My shoulder feels great. My range of motion and strength aren't 100 percent yet. I'm still five or 10 degrees short of my normal swing, but the pain is gone."

Campbell, of Dallas, Texas, has made the cut in two of the first three events he has entered. He tied for 52nd at the Sony Open in Hawaii and followed that by tying for 16th at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, earning $60,000.

"I feel like I'm playing pretty good," Campbell said. "I'm definitely having a good time out there. This (the PGA Tour) is definitely where I want to be."

Campbell left UNLV in 1996 and spent the last season playing on the Buy.com Tour.