Wilkinson focused on keeping it simple

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Stan Badz/PGA TOUR

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Tim Wilkinson, who needs to jump 10 spots on the money list to qualify for next week's Nationwide Tour Championship at Daniel Island, took a big step in the right direction with a 3-under par 69 in Thursday morning's opening round of the Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open.

He cautioned, however, "It's only one round."

The 33-year-old Kiwi who has lived in the area for almost four years and practices at TPC Sawgrass often, tied for second place with five birdies and two bogeys in his round of 67 under cold, windy conditions.

Play was suspended Thursday due to darkness. The first round will resume at 8 a.m. ET Friday.

"We'll see what happens the next few days," said Wilkinson. "If I can put the ball in the fairway and keep rolling the ball well, it should be a good week. I tried not to play too aggressively. It was one of those days where it was windy and I wanted to keep the ball more on the fat side of the green. Just keeping the ball in the fairway was important today.

One of his two bogeys on the day came on No. 5 in front of a swirling wind. "I thought I hit a good shot and it came up short into the water," recalls Wilkinson. "I maybe got a gust there the wrong way."

Depending on the weather, he said he would be surprised if the winning score was more than 11-under. "The course is set up more like a PGA Championship," he said. "There's a premium for hitting the ball in the fairway. Since I've played out here under cold and windy conditions in the winter, I guess I've seen these conditions more than some in the field. That doesn't hurt."

Over time, Wilkinson has also picked up a few good short game tips from another local TOUR pro Vijay Singh.

The change in his game started to show results in September when he made up his mind to keep things simple and work on the things that work for him. "I hadn't played very well at all this year until that point," said Wilkinson, who has made five of six cuts since Sept. 1 -- including two top 10s (T8 -- Mylan Classic, T6 -- Soboba Golf Classic).

The first step is to get to Daniel Island next week. Plan B is to head back to the second stage of q-school in Panama City next month.

Wilkinson first earned his PGA TOUR card for the 2008 season, playing 29 events, earning $1,167,607 with a T2 at the Valero Texas Open and T3 at the Zurich Classic.