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Meeting Mallinger
by Jeremiah Oshan, Monterey County Herald
February 9, 2007
One could excuse even avid Monterey Peninsula golf fans for seeing the
name John Mallinger among Thursday's first-round leaders and assuming
an amateur's name made it on the list by mistake.
After all, the few who may have heard of him probably only remember
him as a participant in the California State Amateur at Pebble Beach,
most recently in 2001 and most notably in 1999 when he made it to the
semifinals.
It would be understandable if they hadn't heard of him since.
The Long Beach State product has spent the better part of the past six
years honing his trade on various professional tours, from the Hooters
to the Canadian to the Nationwide, before making his PGA Tour debut in
2006 and earning his Tour card before the start of this season. His
best PGA Tour finish is a tie for 43rd at last year's Buick
Invitational.
This is a new position for the Tour rookie.
"I'm just going to try and keep doing the same thing I'm doing,"
the
Southern California native said. "So far it's working."
Mallinger's name stands out among a leaderboard that includes Phil
Mickelson in a tie for the lead and Jim Furyk two shots back. Of the
15 players within three shots of the lead, he is the least
accomplished professional, never having won so much as a Nationwide
Tour event.
Mallinger started on No. 10 at Pebble Beach and opened with three
consecutive birdies. By the time he got to the front nine, he was
already 5-under and among the leaders.
"It was perfect probably for at least nine holes," he said.
"Wind
started picking up right around (No.) 3, maybe, so there was probably
13 holes I got that were pretty nice."
Mallinger got to 7-under with a birdie on No. 4 and then parred the
final five holes. The closest he came to bogey all day was a 15-footer
he made for par on No. 9, his final hole of the round.
"It was brutal coming in," he said. "It was blowing about
40 (mph) and
the flags were sideways, but I'm just glad we didn't get any rain
because it would have been pretty tough."
With rain expected today and some of golf's biggest names breathing
down his neck, it probably won't get any easier.
"Hopefully on Sunday I'll get to see how I fare with them,"
Mallinger
said. "It's just a learning experience. You get to watch something
like that and you learn from it."
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