Isackson has different view of Open

Most of us watching the U.S. Open this week blanch at the thought of trying to hit fairways that are mere ribbons, at the prospect of staying out of rough that makes players look 4 feet tall, at greens on which dice could start rolling from a dead stop.

Then there’s Eagle Point resident Kris Isackson.

He can only wonder what might have been.

Isackson, 33, was one step away from playing in the PGA Tour’s second major, having made it through local qualifying to sectional qualifying early this month at Emerald Valley Golf Course in Creswell. His game was off, however, on the day he played 36 holes in hopes of snaring the available Open berth.

"That’d be pretty cool to be playing," says Isackson, a professional who moved to the Rogue Valley this year after growing up in Northern California and spending the past couple years in the San Diego area. "It was great to have a chance to play in the sectional. I watch it now and wonder what it would be like, but there’s always next year. Ultimately, it’d be awesome to do it."

Isackson was among six players from a field of 90 — 59 amateurs and 31 pros — to advance from local qualifying at Waverly Country Club in Portland in May. He shot an even-par 70 and tied for third.

"I felt I played OK, but not that great," he says, noting that he was 2 over through the first nine, then birdied holes 10 through 12 to get going. "My short game really helped me that day."

In the sectional, nothing seemed to work very well, and he shot rounds of 78 and 81 on the tough layout to finish well back of winner Jonathan Moore, who was fresh off winning the NCAA title.

"My short game wasn’t very good and my driving was bad," says Isackson. "I didn’t hit very many fairways, and at Emerald Valley, you have to hit fairways to have a chance to play well. It’s a super-long golf course and the rough is very thick."

In fairness, although Isackson refused to use it as an excuse, he was preoccupied before the sectional. His grandfather passed away a week before, and "I just didn’t feel like playing golf."

Other than a practice round the day before the sectional, he didn’t pick up a club for nearly a week.

Isackson has long harbored the dream of playing professional golf for a living. He’s gone to the PGA tour qualifying school a half-dozen times, thrice making it as far as the second of three stages.

"The whole secret is you have to get through the second stage," he says. "If you get through, you’re guaranteed some sort of status (on the PGA or Nationwide tours). If you don’t make it past the first or second stage, you fall back to zero."

In the late ‘90s, he came within a couple shots of the third stage.

Now, he’s making one, perhaps final, push toward that end.

One thing is certain: He is not short on persistence.

Isackson was raised in Trinidad, Calif., and walked on to the New Mexico State golf team. He earned a scholarship his final two years with the Aggies and was all-Big West Conference as a senior. He played in the NCAA Championships two of his three years at the school.

Having gone through the professional golf management program at New Mexico State, he tried his hand on minitours, then worked in several pro shops, notably Baywood Country Club in Arcata, Calif., but also at courses in Denver, Tucson, Ariz., and Santa Rose, Calif.

Until January, he worked for a liquor company in Carlsbad, Calif., but lost his job when his boss passed away. He and his wife, Amy, moved here largely to be close to family.

Amy teaches at White Mountain Middle School while Kris pursues his golf dream, playing in local pro-ams and other tournaments that allow him to hone his competitive instincts and earn a check.

Without a regular job, Isackson has been able to focus solely on golf. It’s manifested itself in some success — prior to the Open local qualifier, he won the two-day Grants Pass spring pro-am — but there are definitely challenges.

"It’s tough to play for a living when you don’t have sponsors," says Isackson, who is in Redding, Calif., this weekend at a pro-am. "You have to pick and choose what golf tournaments you can play. And it’s so expensive to play the minitours around the country."

He’ll play as many tournaments as possible this summer with an eye toward another shot at Q school in October.

"I’ve been doing this for a while, and it’s tough to do," says Isackson. "I’m not sure how much longer I’ll try to do it. There’s a lot of traveling, and you get tired of that."

SOME NAME PLAYERS were auctioned off at a dinner Thursday for the Chad Cota-Ronnie Lott Celebrity Shootout at Centennial Golf Club, and among the hottest commodities was former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Sterling Sharpe.

No wonder.

Sharpe’s handicap is plus 1, and he drives the ball well over 300 yards. Still fit and strong, he uses a Nike driver with a maximum head size of 460cc and a weight of nearly 100 grams, about 30 percent heavier than normal.

In a pre-tourney round at Eagle Point Golf Course Thursday, Sharpe used what looked like a hybrid to hit a 265-yard approach shot pin-high on the par-5 16th hole. It was a club he went to often off the tee, the better to manage his way around for an even-par round of 72.

Sharpe, who lives in Columbia, S.C., does NFL studio analysis for NBC and the NFL Network.

AT THE DINNER, an amusing exchange took place when Sharpe was greeted by a local fan. Well, sort of a fan. It went something like this:

Fan: "It’s Shannon, right?"

Sharpe: "No, that’s my brother."

Fan: "But you work for ESPN, right?"

Sharpe: "No."

Fan: "But you were great, right?"

Sharpe: "Now you’re getting closer."

NEIL LOMAX, whose own celebrity shootout was canceled this year when a couple of major sponsors dropped out, proved to be as good a sport as he is a golfer.

We weren’t even off the first tee when trash talking began, revolving around South Medford and Lake Oswego high schools, who have met up in marquee football and basketball games in recent years. Lomax’s son, Nick, led Lake Oswego to a football quarterfinal win over the Panthers as a senior in 2004, and the Lakers beat South for the state basketball title this year.

It should be noted Lomax didn’t start the woofing; another member of our group did. But the former NFL quarterback finished it in short order.

EAGLE POINT came to the rescue for Cota-Lott tournament organizers, making that course available on short notice for Thursday’s warm-up round.

The celebrities were to be treated to a round at Running Y Resort in Klamath Falls, but the recent dike break that submerged three holes necessitated some late scrambling.

Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 776-4479, or e-mail ttrower@mailtribune.com.