Insider: All the pieces have come together for Spittle

text size

Stan Badz/PGA TOUR

In less than a year's time, Rod Spittle has gone from a qualifier to a Champions Tour regular.

Putting all the pieces together has been like a big jigsaw puzzle for Rod Spittle.

But Spittle's ability to complete the task was never in question. He had waited too long and worked too hard to reach the Champions Tour to let it slip away. The best part?

THIS WEEK

Tee times
Power Rankings
The course
Notebook
Video: Memorable moments
Schwab Cup standings

"It truly is more fun than I ever imagined, that's No. 1," said Spittle, who returns to San Antonio this week to defend his title at the AT&T Championship.

Spittle, a Canadian from St. Catharines, Ontario, was a college star at Ohio State University where his teammates were current Champions Tour colleagues John Cook and Joey Sindelar. While Cook and Sindelar went on to careers on the PGA TOUR, Spittle's road took a detour.

Spittle didn't turn professional until 2004, shortly before his 50th birthday. Instead of golf, Spittle carved out a career selling corporate insurance. He spent 25 years doing that but never dismissed the notion he might someday like a shot at the pro game on the Champions Tour.

In his first few years as a professional, Spittle managed to get into 31 Champions Tour events, with the first breakthrough coming in 2007 when he tied for second at the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn to win $128,000 and get into the top 50 on the money list for the first time.

The biggest success came quite unexpectedly last year at Oak Hills Country Club, the former site of the AT&T Championship. This year, the tournament is moving to the new TPC San Antonio.

Spittle made five starts in 2010. With the Champions Tour winding down, he open qualified into the AT&T Championship field, the final full-field event. He rallied with a final-round 67, featuring three straight birdies on Nos. 15-17, and won a playoff against Jeff Sluman. The victory made Spittle the 11th open qualifier to win in Champions Tour history. Just that quickly, everything changed for him.

The way Spittle figures it, the timing could not have been better. The aftermath of the victory was exciting and frantic. There was the 2011 season to prepare for and all the trapping that go with winning.

"I couldn't have won at a more opportune time," Spittle said. "With celebrating the win, Christmas coming, preparations for Hawaii and all the other things that were going on, we wouldn't have been good (to play) for three months."

And that coincides almost exactly with how much time Spittle had after winning the AT&T Championship.

"It gave me time to get rested up and ready for this year," said Spittle, who tied for 16th in his season debut at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.

It kicked off a very good year, indeed. Spittle has four top 10s, a second and a third in 22 events. He has won $691,184 and is No. 19 on the Money List, which gets him into the limited 30-man field for the Champions Tour finale at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship at TPC Harding Park, San Francisco, in two weeks.

In the second event of the season, Spittle tied for second at the Allianz Championship in February. He followed that with a T6 at The ACE Group Classic. The third-place finish came at the Principal Charity Classic in June and three events later he had a T7 finish in his return to Canada for the Montreal Championship. Spittle's best finish in a major was a tie for 12th at the Senior British Open.

There have been many adjustments and many discoveries this year for Spittle. The greatest benefit of having status on the Champions Tour is being able to plan and prepare. It eliminates uncertainty. The 24 events he is in line to play is the most he's ever played in any year, and that has required some adjustments. He's not complaining.

"It's so great to get a schedule," Spittle said.

"I knew it would be a bit of a roller coaster. It's the nature of the beast. I just hope I've done my part as eloquently as possible.

"I try not to get too emotional but this is especially gratifying. Everything has changed and I'd like to stay out here four, five more years. That's the game plan."

Playing full-time professional golf was never a life-or-death thing for Spittle. The Champions Tour is a second career, one that he cherishes, and one that he's still trying to grasp. He knows the second time around in 2012 will be a bit easier, a bit less daunting.

"It's still new to me," Spittle said. "I'm playing half the courses for the first time. It's a puzzle to put it all together."

Only two more pieces to go and the picture of Spittle's first full Champions Tour campaign will be complete.