Aug. 13, 2007

Tulsa, Okla. - "It was one of the coolest things I've ever done," said Illinois golf coach Mike Small.

The setting was something special for a part-time professional. In front of a national television CBS audience of 550 million households stood Tiger Woods, celebrating his 13th major championship, and Small. It is tradition at the PGA Championship to honor both the winner of the event and the lowest scoring PGA professional in the final awards ceremony. Small received the latter honor prior to Woods receiving the Wannamaker Trophy as the champion of the 89th PGA.

For Small, it was the culmination of a busy, yet productive week of golf. After a couple of practice rounds at Southern Hills in preparation for his seventh major championship, Small flew back to Chicago to defend his Illinois Open title. After carding a 2-under par 70 on Monday, and having the second round rained out, Small fired a 6-under par 66 Wednesday to come from four strokes back to win his third straight Illinois Open title and fourth in five years.

Another rain delay forced Small to miss the awards ceremony as it was back to Tulsa for round one of the PGA. Starting on the back nine in round one, he carded three birdies in his first six holes, but finished the day +3. After a solid round two, which included four birdies and four bogeys for an even-par 70, Small made the cut at the PGA for the second time in three years and entered the weekend in a tie for 30th.

"There were a lot of similarities to two years ago (at Baltusrol in Springfield, N.J.," Small said of his other chance to play a weekend in a major. "It was really hot that year as well and I entered Saturday in a similar situation."

Small was one of two PGA professionals to make the cut, and he edged the other pro, Ryan Benzel, by one stroke. In addition to playing several days in a row, the heat, which reached triple digits all four days, posed an additional element. "It was even hot in the shade," said Small, who fired 78-75 in his final two rounds. "I ran out of gas on the weekend, but for a part-time player to make the cut at a major, I've got to be happy with that. I kind of ran out of gas on the weekend but for us realistically making the cut is the goal, everything else is gravy."

Small had several national media outlets, including TNT, CBS and ESPN News following his story. The pinnacle moment, though, came on Sunday, when he had a chance to share the winning moment with Woods and his family and a ten-minute conversation with the champ prior to the live television presentation. "We talked about Stanford and Illinois and about our rounds," Small said. "It was great for the University of Illinois to be mentioned in the same ceremony as Tiger Woods."

That's where Small's focus now turns. The dedication for the Demirjian Indoor Golf Facility is Sunday and Small's college teammate, Steve Stricker, who has one of the hottest games on tour of late, comes to town for his annual golf outing Monday. The first tournament for the Illini is just four weeks away.

At some point, Small will have a chance to kick back and appreciate his moment, but for now it's back to work.