Sunday, Oct. 24, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.
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This is the moment Cameron Percy thought about five years ago while he drove around the country trying to qualify for the Nationwide Tour.
Percy, a 36-year-old rookie from Australia, comes into today's final round of the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open two strokes behind leader Martin Laird at 17-under.
His path to the PGA Tour was anything but ordinary. Percy didn’t start golfing until he was 16 years old and didn’t play professionally until he was 25.
He spent a few years on the Australian and Asian tours, before flying to America in 2005 and traveling the country in hopes of catching a break on the Nationwide Tour. He looked back on those days after his 9-under 62 round Saturday at TPC Summerlin and described them as pressure-filled.
“You felt it every week,” Percy said. “You’re just anxious, nervous, irrational.”
But Percy caught his break and spent four years on the Nationwide Tour, with 13 top-10 finishes and more than $520,000 in earnings.
He broke through to the PGA Tour this year for the first time, but it has not gone accordingly. Percy has made only nine of 24 cuts and has never been in the top 10.
He’s 185th on the money list, making a strong finish in Las Vegas a necessity as only the top 125 automatically keep their tour card.
“You’ve just got to have a sort of ‘do-it’ attitude,” Percy said. “This is what I have to do. There’s no waiting for next week. There is no next week.”
Rebel roundup
No former UNLV standouts are threats to win the JT Shriners Open.
Chad Campbell, who took third in last year’s event after a three-way playoff, was three strokes back heading into Saturday but posted a 1-over 72. That puts his score at 9-under and 10 strokes behind the leader.
Chris Riley and Warren Schutte both shot over par Saturday, too. Riley finished his round at 2-over, bringing his score to 5-under. Schutte shot 3-over, putting him at 1-under for the week.
Two other Rebels, Charley Hoffman and Bill Lunde, did not make the cut.
Other notable scores
Rookie sensation Rickie Fowler is still in contention — barely.
Fowler is six shots back at 13-under after going 3-under for Saturday’s round. Fowler continues to draw the largest group of followers on the course.
One of the other pre-tournament favorites, Nick Watney, is one stroke ahead of Fowler at 14-under. Las Vegas native Scott Piercy, who entered Sunday with the lead last year, is at 10-under, and 2007 champion George McNeill is at 12-under.
Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
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