This Green rookie knows his way around greens

Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2006 | 8:05 a.m.

The number of PGA Tour victories Tiger Woods has earned since turning pro in 1996

Nathan Green wasn't looking to shake up the golf world in his rookie season on the PGA Tour, but that's exactly what he has done in his first two starts with golf's elite.

Saying last week he only wanted to earn enough money to buy a new plasma television for his Dallas home, Green went out and finished in a tie for second place at the Buick Invitational after bowing out on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff with eventual winner Tiger Woods and Jose Maria Olazabal.

Green, 30, a native of Australia, burst onto the PGA Tour scene two weeks ago when he finished fifth at the Sony Open in Hawaii and earned a handsome $204,000 check. For his co-runner-up finish Sunday in La Jolla, Calif., Green pocketed $448,800 and now sits sixth on the PGA Tour money list.

"It's just been a big rush these last ... three weeks," Green said. "It was really unexpected. To come over and sort of achieve what I've achieved -- I couldn't have scripted it any better than that."

Green, who once worked in a crematorium his parents manage in Australia, said he wouldn't let his early season success go to his head.

"I've sort of overachieved on what ability I think I have," he said. "I'm just going to try and keep the same attitude up for the rest of the year, and if things go well, they go well. It's the best job in the world, so I'm just going to try and enjoy it while I'm here."

SUBHEAD: Still the one

Former UNLV standout Chad Campbell held onto the PGA Tour money lead despite finishing in a tie for 28th place Sunday at the Buick Invitational.

Campbell, who won the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic the week before, had shot sub-par rounds in eight of his first nine rounds of the season before opening with an even-par 72 in La Jolla. After carding a 6-under-par 66 in the second round, Campbell was 3 over for the final two rounds.

Campbell has earned $1,381,986 in three starts and is one of three golfers (Stuart Appleby and David Toms) who already have surpassed the million-dollar mark in earnings this season.

SUBHEAD: ALSO NOTED:

* Although he grew up about an hour north of La Jolla, Calif., Tiger Woods has made himself at home at the Buick Invitational. In nine appearances in the tournament, Woods has nine top-10 finishes, including four victories.

* Former UNLV golfer Charley Hoffman posted his career-best finish on the PGA Tour with his 16th-place tie Sunday in the Buick Invitational. Hoffman, a member of the Rebels' 1998 NCAA national championship team, finished 19th on the 2005 Nationwide Tour money list.

* The PGA Tour moves to Scottsdale, Ariz., this weekend for the FBR Open at the TPC at Scottsdale. Phil Mickelson is defending champion.

* The UNLV men's golf team will open the spring season Feb. 22 at the John Burns Intercollegiate in Wahiawa, Hawaii. The women's golf team opens its spring season Feb. 20 at the Wildcat Invitational in Tucson.

-------------------------

Brian Hilderbrand can be reached at 259-4089 or at bh@lasvegassun.com.