Can Beltway's own bust out?
By: Craig Stouffer
Examiner Staff Writer
July 2, 2009
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| Steve Marino, a fairfax native, is looking for his first victory on the PGA Tour this weekend at Congressional. (Getty Images) |
Fairfax native expects lots of local supporters
The mistake would be to consider Steve Marino as solely the hometown favorite. He may very well lead the list of golfers most likely to earn their first victory on the PGA Tour.
The Fairfax native starts the 2009 AT&T National on Thursday coming off a missed cut last weekend in Hartford. But the performance still on most minds was just over a month ago, when Marino lost in a playoff to Steve Stricker at The Colonial.
"The thing I take away from that tournament is that I felt great in the playoff," said Marino. "I felt fine coming down the stretch of the back nine. I felt fine in the playoff. I wasn't overcome with nerves, and I wasn't freaking out because I was thinking about winning the tournament."
The second-place finish -- and the second of consecutive 68s on Sunday and his third top-10 finish this season -- put the 29-year-old well on the way to eclipsing the $2.1 million he earned last year, his second on the tour. It's just another among numerous reasons why Marino should be at ease at Congressional, where he posted an opening-round 65 last year to take the lead on day one on the way to a 24th-place finish.
On Marino's bag for the first time that weekend last year was childhood friend G.W. Cable, who has been there ever since.
"All we do is we're out there and we just kind of joke around with each other and just make it as fun as it can possibly be," said Marino. "I think that's where I need to be when I'm playing golf, and that's what he's helped with a lot."
Marino said the first year on tour might have shocked Cable, but at Congressional everything was familiar.
"We'd walk up onto the range, and everybody was like, 'Hey G. Hey G,'" said Marino. "It seemed like he knew more people than I did. It was crazy."
A platoon of supporters urged Marino on last year, including not only family, but a host of high school and college friends. Could they be the difference this weekend?
"They'd like to think so," joked Marino. "They'll be out again this year. It's always fun when your friends get to come out and watch you play, and they seem to really enjoy themselves out here."
Don't be surprised if Marino has a good time, and a good score, too.
